Why do I keep burning up my 5w-20 in my 2005 Dodge

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First couple of years it always kept the same amount of oil. But now it is losing 2 quarts at least per oil changes with no leakage. Do I need to use another kind of oil? I have always used Castrol 5w-20 in this car.
Can anybody give me some advice?
 
First of all
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Tell us the use of the truck, how long is a OCI and how many total miles?

With that info, we can possibly help.

Take care, Bill
 
What is OCI?
It's my wife's car 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan Oil changed every 4,000 miles and has like 59,000 miles.
 
What is OCI?
It's my wife's car 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan Oil changed every 4,000 miles and has like 59,000 miles.
 
2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
OCI 4,000 miles
59,000 miles
No leaks
I was wondering about the 5w-20 is it thick enough?
 
Originally Posted By: Tony_Williams
First couple of years it always kept the same amount of oil. But now it is losing 2 quarts at least per oil changes with no leakage. Do I need to use another kind of oil? I have always used Castrol 5w-20 in this car.
Can anybody give me some advice?


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to another Mopar owner. We may be the last generation....
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What engine in that Caravan? I'm assuming a 3.8 or 3.3. My first guess would be to check out the PCV system and make sure its not ingesting oil that way. 2 quarts per 4k OCI is a quart per 2k, which by the "rule of thumb" is not excessive... but a Mopar 3.3/3.8 v6 should do quite a bit better than that. If it were a 2.7 I'd attribute it to the quirks of that engine, but I don't think they put them in minivans.

I know you said there's no leakage, but look to see if there's just a thin film of oil on the underside. Slow leaks can blow away and coat the underside without causing many drips.

A slightly thicker oil *might* reduce consumption, but I wouldn't try that until I'd ruled everything else out, or even tried a different brand.
 
I agree with 440Magnum, check out the PCV system first. If that doesn't work, your rings could be gummed up. In that case, ARX usually solves such problems.

Good luck!
 
Yep, definitely check the PCV system. Should be pretty easy, and it's a likely culprit.

If your engine has one of those little circular PCV valves, it'll be really cheap to replace. That's a good thing to do preemptively.
 
Try some Pennzoil Platinum 5w20 (Walmart), replace the PCV valve and see what happens. You can run the Platinum 5000 miles. Use a Mopar or Napa Gold oil filter.
 
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I would replace the PCV with an OEM one. They are cheap enough and this could easily be your problem. Don't just check it by tapping it etc. as this won't reveal a true problem.

If this doesn't work, then try a 10w30 oil in it. These engines generally work better with a 5w30 or a 10w30 if it's a 3.3/3.8

If it's still using oil with a 5w30 or 10w30 then do an Auto-RX treatment as you probably have a stuck ring, because the 3.3/3.8 aren't known for using oil even after tons of miles!

Good Luck.
 
As StevieC said replace the PCV valve, and make sure you get the original factory valve and not an aftermarket valve. Aftermarket PCV valves are not as good as the OEM.

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Tony, I poked around over at allpar.com a bit and numerous people over there also recommend checking for cracked, hard, and/or mushy pcv hoses. They "claim" that is a common problem on the 3.3.

Good Luck.
 
My Dad has a 2000 Caravan with a 3.8 He bought it used and the PCV hose was clogged up as well as the valve cover for the PCV side.

It had sludge in the engine and hard carbon flakes all over. I bought a new PCV hose and covered the hose with corrugated plastic.

I did 2 ARX runs on it.
 
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