Oil Type/Brand and Oil Consumption/Burning

[actionstan]

Hello All,

This is regarding my 99 Saturn SL1 which are known for burning oil due to a bad ring design.

I was curious if anyone had any first hand accounts of using a particular weight/type/brand of oil that reduced or stopped consumption. I am currently using Valvoline MaxLife 5W30 and burn a quart roughly every 1200 miles, which I know could be worse, but I am wanting to experiment to see if I can find an oil that will reduce consumption even more, or possibly stop it. I have done about 4-5 runs of Valvoline Maxlife and have noted no difference in consumption, my thoughts are possibly, that MaxLife is a winner for leaks, but maybe not for burn off. Some High Mileage Oils actually advertise they reduce burn off such as the Castrol High Mileage Oil.

I have also heard both schools of thought on oil weight/type.. That a Heavier Conventional oil or HDEO may reduce burn off due to the thickness, and not getting by the rings as easy. BUT have seen people mention that if rings are worn and not completely shot, a synthetic/lighter oil may be easier to control for lower tension/older oil control rings and not burn as much.


So any input is welcome, and any first had experiences are extremely welcome, just curious if anyone has ever experimented like this before. For all I know.. no oil will help with a oil burn off issue.

Thanks!

 

[Quest]

It's a mechanical issue, so no oil (or lubricants of any sort) will stop it from burning through jammed oil control rings.

To deal with your issue is to first resolve the mechanical problem.

Q.

 

[Merkava_4]

You might try a high mileage 10W-40 in there.

 

[actionstan]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You might try a high mileage 10W-40 in there.


This is on my list of "To dos" in my experimenting. I have actually been topping off with 10w40 no difference noted yet..

 

[strat81]

I believe BITOG member "Turk" has reported good results of adding Kreen to his S-series. Might want to send him a message.

 

[KCJeep]

Originally Posted By: actionstan
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You might try a high mileage 10W-40 in there.


This is on my list of "To dos" in my experimenting. I have actually been topping off with 10w40 no difference noted yet..


Topping off with 10w40 won't do a lot thought it certainly won't hurt. It is much easier to thin a thick oil than thicken a thin one.

 

[gregk24]

Maybe switch to Maxlife 10w30. At any rate, I would stay with Maxlife, it takes a while for it to work sometimes.

 

[tiger862]

I'd stay with MaxLife. On my Vue 2.2L with Quaker State Ultimate Durability it used a quart at or about 3500 miles but with MaxLife it didn't lose any in the 4500 miles I put on it last oil change and it was also 10 months. The drives I do are hard on engine oils with me starting just about everyday and put very short trips similar to city driving with traffic and red lights. I normally change every 6 months but went over this time.