Oil loss in '06 Caravan

[ruxCYtable]

3k miles into planned 6k OCI and I'm down a full quart. No noticeable leaks anywhere. Running Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5W-20 right now. Don't usually plan to run syn in this vehicle but I got this fill for free. It's a short tripper, my wife's daily commute is about two miles. Van has 76k total miles.

Anything to be concerned about?

 

[RF Overlord]

I thought the proper oil for that car was 5w30?

 

[Warstud]

Is the Quaker State Ultimate Durability something different from what you were using? And is 5w20 the recommended grade? Maybe top off with something heavier.

 

[ruxCYtable]

Originally Posted By: RF Overlord
I thought the proper oil for that car was 5w30?
5W-20 is recommended but I do normally run 5w30.

 

[Sonic]

I have an '06 town & country with the 3.8 liter and it does the exact same thing. A full qt is added by the time I hit 3000 miles. Been using QS as well, 0w20 or 5w20 (synthetic). I'm gonna use high mileage oil next to see if it makes a difference on the consumption, it only has 55000 miles on it. I too have used 5w30 in it or sometimes mix 5w20 and 5w30 when I have partials sitting around.

 

[LeakySeals]

Rings are coked from years of dino, why your burning the syn like that. Eventually goes away if you stay with synth. Probably find the oil getting quite dirty too.

 

[zrxkawboy]

Originally Posted By: Sonic
I have an '06 town & country with the 3.8 liter and it does the exact same thing.


+1 with our '05 T&C 3.8, 85k miles. Runs great, though, so I'm not worried.

 

[Capa]

Originally Posted By: ruxCYtable
3k miles into planned 6k OCI and I'm down a full quart. No noticeable leaks anywhere. Running Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5W-20 right now. Don't usually plan to run syn in this vehicle but I got this fill for free. It's a short tripper, my wife's daily commute is about two miles. Van has 76k total miles.

Anything to be concerned about?


Which engine do you have? I have a 2006 Grand Caravan with the 3.8 engine and 71,000 miles and do a yearly OCI (about 8,000 mikes) and add about 3/4 quart at about 5,000 miles. I've seen a lot of people online complain about excessive oil consumption but, thankfully, mine doesn't suffer from that issue. This past March I put in some 0W-20 and no consumption issues yet. Previously it had done two runs of Mobil 5W-20 EP.

 

[ruxCYtable]

Originally Posted By: Capa
Originally Posted By: ruxCYtable
3k miles into planned 6k OCI and I'm down a full quart. No noticeable leaks anywhere. Running Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5W-20 right now. Don't usually plan to run syn in this vehicle but I got this fill for free. It's a short tripper, my wife's daily commute is about two miles. Van has 76k total miles.

Anything to be concerned about?


Which engine do you have? I have a 2006 Grand Caravan with the 3.8 engine and 71,000 miles and do a yearly OCI (about 8,000 mikes) and add about 3/4 quart at about 5,000 miles. I've seen a lot of people online complain about excessive oil consumption but, thankfully, mine doesn't suffer from that issue. This past March I put in some 0W-20 and no consumption issues yet. Previously it had done two runs of Mobil 5W-20 EP.
Mine is just the Caravan (not Grand) so I have the 3.3. Even though I'm not seeing any leaks I may go to MaxLife for my next OCI. Started MaxLife at 75k in our last car and ran it to 200k no problem.

 

[artificialist]

Every Chrysler 3.8 I ever worked with would burn at least 1 quart every 3,000 miles.

I don't really know why that is.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: ruxCYtable
3k miles into planned 6k OCI and I'm down a full quart. No noticeable leaks anywhere. Running Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5W-20 right now. Don't usually plan to run syn in this vehicle but I got this fill for free. It's a short tripper, my wife's daily commute is about two miles. Van has 76k total miles.

Anything to be concerned about?


Something's wrong with your PCV valve if it made it that long without a leak. Put a new Mopar PCV valve in it and watch your oil consumption go down and the outside of the heads under the valve covers get wet.

/yes, I sound like Im nuts
//no, that doesn't mean I'm wrong

 

[dave1251]

I think what yonyon stated should be the first course of action. I maintain a 2005 Caravan with a 3.3 and it see's a conventional oil change every 5-6K it currently has 112K on the engine and has yet to consume oil, knock on wood. But the owner prefers to use a mix of 5W30 and 10W40 because the 5W30 by itself is too "thin" at least in the summer. For some reason he prefers a mix of 5W30 and 10W30 in the winter go figure it is his van.

 

[67Customs]

Originally Posted By: Sonic
I have an '06 town & country with the 3.8 liter and it does the exact same thing. A full qt is added by the time I hit 3000 miles. Been using QS as well, 0w20 or 5w20 (synthetic). I'm gonna use high mileage oil next to see if it makes a difference on the consumption, it only has 55000 miles on it. I too have used 5w30 in it or sometimes mix 5w20 and 5w30 when I have partials sitting around.

I too have a 2006 T&C with the 3.8L and it goes through a quart (depending on the season) over the course of a 5k miles OCI. I was going through a quart over 3K miles, but I switched to High Mileage oils and it slowed to a quart over 5k miles (again, depending on the season. Sometimes it is less).

It has 108k miles on it. I purchased it used at 90k miles. I switched it to Mobil 1 0W-20 and did two runs of that. During that run, I added MMO for the make-up oil and to help M1 clean out whatever the PO left in there. After I noticed the consumption issue, I then switched it to Quaker State High Mileage 5w20 at 100k and it almost stopped. It fell from the top hash to the bottom hash during the 5k OCI, which is about half a quart. At 105k, I switched to NxtGen High Mileage 5W-20 (I got a good deal on it and QS came out very black and burnt smelling. I wasn’t very font of that.) and so far, at just under 109k, I have added 3/4 of a quart of Pennzoil Ultra 5W-20. At 110k, I’m planning on running Motocraft 5W-20. I kinda want to see if the High Mileage is really helping. If consumption increases, I’ll go back to a High Mileage oil and stick to it.

This vehicle was taken care of with regular oil changes conventional before I got it, so I don’t think it is a neglect issue. The more I read about it, the more I feel it is a common issue with this motor. To be honest, if High Mileage oil is keeping it to 3/4 to 1 quart per 5k miles, I’m good with that.

 

[otis24]

I purchased my 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan (3.8) new. It used about 3/4 of a quart of oil in 1200 miles from the start. That got me to searching the internet and I found this site. At about 36k miles, I switched to synthetic oil (Pennzoil Plat). Consumption dropped to about a half quart in 3k miles.

All of my research shows that slight consumption is normal for these vehicles.

 

[otis24]

I purchased my 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan (3.8) new. It used about 3/4 of a quart of oil in 1200 miles from the start. That got me to searching the internet and I found this site. At about 36k miles, I switched to synthetic oil (Pennzoil Plat). Consumption dropped to about a half quart in 3k miles.

All of my research shows that slight consumption is normal for these vehicles.

 

[jb10484]

I have a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 65,000 miles. We've had it for 6 years. The oil cap says 5W-20 but the owners manual says 5w30. I use the 5w30 just because that is what my other vehicle takes and I don't have to have different oils on hand. Depending on the oil I use my consumption is different. With Castrol GTX it used 1 quart every 3,000 miles. With Pennzoil conventional, its at least 1.5 quarts. I don't push the vehicle past the 3,000 mile mark due to the oil consumption. I used Pennzoil Ultra in it to clean out the engine from when I didn't care about it as much. I have the Ultra in it currently to see if the consumption will go down. The one unusual items is that mine doesn't have a PCV valve so I know that isn't the issue. My other vehicle doesn't use any oil and I push that one more.

 

[exman123]

I've got a 2008 TC with the 3.3L. Its got 114,000 on it and it uses 1 quart every 6k. I go by the oil change monitor and about 1/2 at 3k, it needs a 1/2 quart. This van is a fleet van that is my co. car andis driven 50/50 city/hwy miles thru mountains etc.

 

[Hokiefyd]

For some reasons, the 3.8L engines do tend to consume oil. The 3.3L engines tend to not use a drop. I've never known why that is, but it seems to be pretty repeatable.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: jb10484
I have a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 65,000 miles. We've had it for 6 years. The oil cap says 5W-20 but the owners manual says 5w30. I use the 5w30 just because that is what my other vehicle takes and I don't have to have different oils on hand. Depending on the oil I use my consumption is different. With Castrol GTX it used 1 quart every 3,000 miles. With Pennzoil conventional, its at least 1.5 quarts. I don't push the vehicle past the 3,000 mile mark due to the oil consumption. I used Pennzoil Ultra in it to clean out the engine from when I didn't care about it as much. I have the Ultra in it currently to see if the consumption will go down. The one unusual items is that mine doesn't have a PCV valve so I know that isn't the issue. My other vehicle doesn't use any oil and I push that one more.


I do not understand. You have to use more oil in your OCI but you will not extend your OCI past 3K which is a total waste of good oil, because you have to use more oil? If I had your consumption issues I would extend to at least 9K on my vehicles. But each is his own.