oil consumption

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fscarano

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I have Cadillac cts 2004 which uses about ½ qt ever 3200 miles. The vehicle is not burning oil, no visible oil leaks. Below is what the Cadillac dealer suggested I to do.

A dealer told me, use 10w-30 instead of 5w-30 and using synthetic oil in my 04 cts is the cause of my oil consumption. They recommended I switch to conventional or a blend. Is this crazy?

I consuming about 1/2 quart every 3200mi
2004 cts with 84.345 miles.
 
Oil consumption could be related to the nature of the engine; I've heard many Cadillac owners talk of this. It could also be linked to the way the engine was/is driven and broken in.

1/2 qt every 3200 miles? That's not the end of the world.

Using an oil that is approved against the owners manual spec (GM4718M) would be wise. No conventional or blend meets this spec; neither do most synthetics (as is stated in the owners manual).

You could bump up to a 10W-30, which may help with consumption during oil temps below operating temp.
 
1/2 quart in 3200 miles is not bad- esp with 84,000 miles. Goto 10W/30 as suggested.
 
Originally Posted By: fscarano

I have Cadillac cts 2004 which uses about ½ qt ever 3200 miles.


That really is nothing. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

What kind of oil? What oil have you used in the past? What type of driving do you do?
 
I never owned a GM product that DIDN'T use oil! Whatever window you change oil at... just add 1500 or so miles to it as you are increasing TBN with your make-up oil? Not likely that anything you do will reduce consumption to zero although certain tactics may half-it. Its my understanding that these are "loose-fit" engines for better fuel economy?
 
by saturn S series standards, that's PERFECT! many saturn 1.9 engines use 1qt every 1K or LESS! they have sticky oil control rings. but that's besides the point.
I'm curious, how long does it take for the caddy to get to the add 1qt mark? 6400miles? that really is hardly anything I would be concerned with.
 
That's 6400 miles/qt. A respectably low level of consumption for any engine.

Enjoy your ride, that low level of consumption is not an indication of a problem.
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If it were my car I wouldn't be looking for ways to reduce oil consumption by using different oils. Just pick an oil that's good for the engine and use it.

For the record, 3 of my last 4 vehicles used a lot less oil than that, one about the same as yours.
 
That's too little consumption to figure out. Some people have zero consumption for xxx miles ..then start to see some consumption. This you can nail down to some fatigue factor in the oil. Others just consume xx amount of oil per mile right from the start.

You specifying a 1/2 quart in 3200 miles leads me to think that you're not hitting 6500 with an OCI ..or at least never hitting a mileage where you consume a quart of oil.

So, what's your oil change interval ...and what time frame does that work out to in months?
 
Change brands of synthetic oil. The lowest Noack volatility oil that's somewhat easy to find is Amsoil. Use it in 10W-30 - I'll bet your consumption slows afterwards.
 
I’m using Mobile 1 synthetic as recommended by GM. I use the olm to schedule the oil changes id say 8 thousand when the OLM says 25%. Type of driving is 90% highway 10% stop and go.

Thank you all for your input.
 
Not bashing Mobil 1, but read around here, you'll find several people have higher consumption with Mobil 1. Try another local synthetic to see if consumption improves. If it does, try Mobil 1 for one more OCI and see if the consumption comes back. If it does, then you've found the culprit.

My grandmother had a 2000 Cadillac Deville that consumed 2 quarts by 2,000 miles. The dealership told her that "big cars use oil," so take the dealership's advice with a grain of salt. The engine in her car had improper piston rings, which was fixed for the 2004 models.

The thickness difference between 5w-30 and 10w-30 oils is not really that different, as the 5 and 10 do not indicate a physical weight, only an evaluation of a cold crank test. Viscosity is based on a range, at the operating temperature of 100 C, and may be similar or slightly thinner/thicker. Again, take the dealer's advice with a grain of salt.

If all else fails, through in a 50/50 mixture of Xw-40 along with your 5w/10w-30 and see if that improves anything.
 
Originally Posted By: ConfederateTyrant


The thickness difference between 5w-30 and 10w-30 oils is not really that different
You are right and in the case of M1, 5w-30 is actually thicker than their 10w-30.

As others have suggested, I would try M1 10w-30 High Mileage if you are looking for a thicker synthetic oil that could help with your consumption. As a cheaper alternative you could also try Valvoline Maxlife 10w-30 which is a semi-syn with a thickness close to that of M1 10w-30 High Mileage.
 
Oil is thick when you first start up your car. It thins as your engine warms up. The rings may allow for some oil consumption.

Sometimes a thinner oil will result in a better ring seal. I went from 1qt per 500 miles to zero consumption after changing from a 5W30 to a 0W20 oil.

More important may be the PVC system. Make sure it is operating perfectly.

Reading this may be useful:

These may help you understand viscosity, the first one is more complete:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=new_faq_item#faq_haas_articles

http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=258506&an=0&page=0#Post258506

aehaas
 
Originally Posted By: fscarano
I’m using Mobile 1 synthetic as recommended by GM. I use the olm to schedule the oil changes id say 8 thousand when the OLM says 25%. Type of driving is 90% highway 10% stop and go.

Thank you all for your input.


Okay, that's a bit more information. I find it interesting that the OLM is cutting you this short with that driving profile. It's very close to the non-OLM recommendations (although you would probably be out to 9k-10k) of 7500.
 
The 2004 Cadillac cts per the owner’s manual hold’s 5.6 quarts. I find at the recommended level its low on the dip stick, but at 6 quarts it reads full. So I have been adding 6 qts every oil change. I did purchase the vehicle used at the time of purchase the vehicle had 45,556 miles on it. I can’t say what the previous owner used for motor oil conventional or synthetic. I have used the recommended oil per GM standard GM 4718M there are only 3 synthetic oils that meet this standard, mobile 1, vavoline, and havoline synthetic. I don’t know of any conventional oils meeting the GM4718m standard. I will certainly try the recommendations you all have posted here.

Again I thank you all
 
i could be mistaken, but i don't think a dipstick has to be at the "full" mark for the sump to be full. as long as the level is in the hashmarked area, you will be fine.

overfilling on oil, even with .4 quart can cause problems...
 
Thank you every one with your comments/suggestions. I did some research on the suggested oils Maxlife mobile 1 hm. These oils don’t meet the GM 4718M oil standard. Even the full synthetic version of Maxlife does not meet the GM 4718M standard. Do you think this could be a problem? I’m not really sure why the Cadillac has to meet the GM 4718M standard.

thank you all
 
Originally Posted By: fscarano
Even the full synthetic version of Maxlife does not meet the GM 4718M standard. Do you think this could be a problem? I’m not really sure why the Cadillac has to meet the GM 4718M standard.

How old is this spec? And do these oils not meet the spec or just not care to list it? As best as I can tell this is an old spec. Any input from anyone else?

P.S. BTW was it in a manual that you had to use a GM 4718M spec'd oil?
 
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