Brad Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Good evening Caddy drivers: Been battling oil consumption problems since I bought my car 2.5 years ago. Learned to live with the fact that my car couldn't go more than 1000 miles without using at least a quart of oil. As Guru says, oil is cheap. However, it has gotten worse over the past year and now the car is constantly using at least 1 quart every 500 miles. I have posted this saga before on this board and gotten excellent advice from everyone. Tried everything - checking the dipstick at various temps, filling only to the add mark, WOT treatments, 2nd gear WOT maneuvers and nothing helps. Additionally, I just got back from a 900 mile trip (used 2 quarts) and on the way back I figured I would continue the WOT treatments and as everyone says - do them until nothing comes out of the tailpipe anymore. Well........that didn't work either. Everytime I did it, more and more stuff came out. Was wagon training back with my brother and I hit it one time and this huge cloud of blue and black crap left him in such a haze he darn near ran off the road. So, against my better judgement I will be off to the dealer soon to try the next course of action. Already had the decarbonization done twice and have already done the oil consumption test where they give you the piece of paper to record your mileage and oil used. Hate to have them tear apart the engine, but there is something very wrong. The car shouldn't discharge that much crap out of the tailpipe. I'll never get through inspection.....Luckily, I am covered under warranty for all of this, so next week I will be back at the dealer and hopefully we can get this taken care of once and for all. I just have to make sure they timesert that badboy! Will post back all of my findings and fiascos. I love the car and hope I can get her running right again. Car also has a serious chuggle feeling that is getting worse at 2000 rpms/60-70mph, but that is another story altogether. --Brad Brad ---------------------------- 1999 Deville Concours [sOLD] Blk/Blk w/gold package Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAUL T Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Any particular codes showing up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted April 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Any particular codes showing up? None. The car isn't leaking oil either. Strange. I guess there are varying degrees of oil consumption depending on how aggressive the honing pattern is and I just got stuck with one that uses more than usual. I just hope it can be made right again. Brad ---------------------------- 1999 Deville Concours [sOLD] Blk/Blk w/gold package Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiden_kai Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 So, against my better judgement I will be off to the dealer soon to try the next course of action. Already had the decarbonization done twice and have already done the oil consumption test where they give you the piece of paper to record your mileage and oil used. Hate to have them tear apart the engine, but there is something very wrong. The car shouldn't discharge that much crap out of the tailpipe. I'll never get through inspection.....Luckily, I am covered under warranty for all of this, so next week I will be back at the dealer and hopefully we can get this taken care of once and for all. I just have to make sure they timesert that badboy! Will post back all of my findings and fiascos. I love the car and hope I can get her running right again. I've done a few of the re-ring jobs and so far they seem to have worked out well. The updated ring design should do a better job of controlling any oil consumption. For whatever reason, the amount of carbon buildup is very high on these engines. I just finished installing a set of updated pistons in a 2003 engine with 30k kilometers on it. The complaint was cold start piston knock and we tried the obligatory decarb treatments, but this engine was noisier then most. Anyway, once it was apart, it was amazing how much carbon was on the top of the pistons, and a few of the rings were stiff in their ring grooves. We have another 2003 engine that will be getting the updated pistons. I hope it's not a sign of things to come, as I'm not real interested in doing this job very often. By the way, you may have a hard time convincing the dealership to "timesert" the engine as they are repairing it under warranty. Lately, we haven't been able to just "timesert" across the board with low mileage warranty engines. If we happen to run into a problem, "then" GM lets us do the timesert procedure. So far, the low mileage engines on warranty haven't really been a problem. Hopefully, your problem will be cured. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted April 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Lately, we haven't been able to just "timesert" across the board with low mileage warranty engines. If we happen to run into a problem, "then" GM lets us do the timesert procedure. So far, the low mileage engines on warranty haven't really been a problem. Boy, that doesn't sound reassuring! I can see how this will go already......rings get replaced, engine put back in and in a year's time when my warranty is up the bolts strip out. BAM - stuck for a huge chunk of change. But I will try to be a glass is half-full type guy until I actually get this thing to the dealer. Thanks for your post, I appreciate any information I can get at this point. --Brad Brad ---------------------------- 1999 Deville Concours [sOLD] Blk/Blk w/gold package Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry94 Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Boy, that doesn't sound reassuring! I can see how this will go already......rings get replaced, engine put back in and in a year's time when my warranty is up the bolts strip out. BAM - stuck for a huge chunk of change. But I will try to be a glass is half-full type guy until I actually get this thing to the dealer. You should work a deal with the dealer and come up with a reasonable fixed charge to timesert the engine while it is apart. I think it would be worth a few bucks on your part just to have the additional confidence in the engine. Barry 2008 STS V82016 Colorado Z711970 Corvette LT-1 Coupe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 As for the carbon buildup. I expect that there are two major factors at work here. The Northstar engine is designed to burn EVERYTHING in the combustion chamber. In other words, there is not much left to be burnt by the CAT or blown out the tailpipe or anything, hence the outstanding power and good fuel economy we all have come to know and love. Second, may be the type of driving that those "problem cars" are faced with. Short trip driving, no WOT, not getting fully warmed up between trips all would contribute to excessive carbon builup. Not all of the cars will expierience this problem, unfortunately, the ones that do will probably be back if the owners driving habits do not change. I liken it to motor oil life. Most cars will get 4, 5, or 6000 miles (or more) on oil, but there is always that guy that drives 3 miles to work in Canada at below 0 temps that will need oil changes every 1000 miles. Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg P. Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Outside of driving habits, one other factor that affects Northstar oil consumption seems to be the fairly significant variability in the manufacturing process. I have owned two Northstars. The first used about 1 quart every 5000 miles. The second one used about 1 quart every 2500 miles. I drove both cars in the same manner. It is possible that Brad got one that is simply way off the low end of the bell curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted April 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2004 The first used about 1 quart every 5000 miles. The second one used about 1 quart every 2500 miles. I drove both cars in the same manner. It is possible that Brad got one that is simply way off the low end of the bell curve. Greg, I have a feeling that you may be right. Guru has explained the honing process in previous posts and it looks like that may be the case. Hard to tell without the official diagnosis from Caddy, but unfortunately I have to wait until Monday before I can speak with the Service Director - he's on vacation until then. I am really curious to see what they say - funny, I seem to be more curious as to how this all works than I am about the car being screwed up. It must be this heat wave.....lol Brad ---------------------------- 1999 Deville Concours [sOLD] Blk/Blk w/gold package Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted May 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Well finally heard back from the Caddy dealer today. Looks like they have me lined up to have the rings replaced on June 7th. No time like the present I guess. Loaner car has been arranged and they say they will need the car for a week. Will post back once I get more info/the car gets worked on. Very curious to see how this all shakes out. Thanks to all for the helpful posts. --Brad Brad ---------------------------- 1999 Deville Concours [sOLD] Blk/Blk w/gold package Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottt Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 Hey guys, Last oil change I tried a synthetic blend because I was using oil and I heard that synthetic oil swells the seals, and I thought it might help with consumption as well as leaks. I was using a quart about every 500 miles. Since using the synth. oil I have gone about 1800 without having to add a drop of oil. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyhorse Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 I am scheduled for the decarbonizing on my engine in a couple of weeks. I had my dealer start me a usage ticket about two years ago. I change every 3000 mi and had to put two qts this time. My car has 45,000 mi. I just wanted it on the record of the usage. No smoke,no leak.I'll see if their procedure works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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