Oil consumption

[shft22]

My D-Max has now 34000 miles, I usually change the oil every 5000 miles, using Rotela. Most of the times I check the level before I change the Oil, and is ok. But, yesterday afternoon, I started her up hot, and I notice that the oil pressure took more time than normal to go up, so this morning I check the oil level and she was over a quart low, it didn

[MNBowTie]

Shift22,


Just a Couple of Points/comments I would like to make:

GM, advises per a TSB: That normal oil consumption is 1 QT per 100 Gallons of fuel that is consumed. IMHO: Variables, in driving habits, speeds, load and temperature can differ in your 5K.

Be careful when checking the oil Level:

1. The vehicle is on level ground.
2. Two you have waited a minimum of 15 minutes. (I prefer to check before the first of the day startup).
3. Completely wipe off the tip of the dipstick before evaluating the oil level. This will prevent a false reading because of the notches.

[Turbo Al]

Zero oil consumption @ 25,000 miles, if it used 1 quart per 100 gals of fuel (mileage below 100,000) I WOULD BE #*&^%#.

[LarryM]

My '01 now has 65,000 miles on it. It has been plagued with intermittant oil consumption since the first oil change. The first two changes were Rotello and since then, Delo 400.

The worst it has ever been was just under two quarts in 3500 miles and the best is almost negligible at the same mileage. I can find no rhyme or reason to it. It just does it.

I will second the caution about reading the oil level. It's difficult with that dumb dipstick and un-level ground makes a very big difference.

If anybody ever figures this out, I sure would be grateful.

[hoot]

Depending on how hard I drive mine, I might use a quart between changes.... 5000-7000 miles.

I'm quite satisfied with that and actually consider it normal.

Mine was under the dipstik the other day. Added a quart to get it to the top. No biggy. One quart low should not effect pressure ramp up.

[ 04-11-2003: Message edited by: hoot ]</p>

[dmaxalliTech]

I have to agree with everyone that mentioned caution and consistancy when checking oil. It was mentioned that after starting truck and seeing oil pressure come up, only then was it checked and found to be low. This is considered normal cause you just pumped all that oil up in the engine. It is recommended by GM to allow 5 minutes for oil to drain back when engine is warm i.e. at operating temp. With a cool engine, allow 30 minutes for accurate reading. As always, remove and clean stick before checking level.

Also as noted above. 1 quart per 100 gallons of fuel is within spec and gm will not attempt repair on anything with in that. It is also expected to have slightly higher consumption with extreme use, towing, stop and start driving. Gm does not use a per mileage spec as diesels are usually considered commercial use and see prolonged idle. If you start seeing excessive blue smoke and increased oil usage, then be alarmed and have it checked out

[a64pilot]

Hoot,
There is a lot of evidence that an eng. that burns a little oil will out live one that does not. This is due in part to the compression rings being better lubricated than in an eng. that the oil control rings "scrape" the cyl bore clean.

[NWDmax]

My oil pressure normally comes up to max pressure on a cold start just before the charging(battery) symbol goes off.
I sometimes notice a lag before the gauge moves which I attribute to temperature and/or a "sticking" needle.
As long as the oil pickup is immersed in oil a quart low would have no affect on how quick the pressure rises.

[BROKERS]

As hard as we use ours,we burn a quart per 2000 miles on average in all D/A owned to this point.
No different than the PSD's .We see no problems with that.The new 6.0 PSD is using a quart per 1000 miles right now.The Cummins is using about a quart every 2000 miles also.

Later Tom