New: Help Oil Issue!
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7th Gear
Joined: Apr 2009
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New: Help Oil Issue!
New Corvette owner, 6 months now, Bought a 2001 6 speed coupe with 21k miles from one owner. Car looks great, only put 1k miles on the car in 6 months but noticed it had used 1/2 quart of oil. Then read April Corvette magazine and saw that my LS1 was one of the 4 years which had ring problems and used oil. The magazine said replace the 2nd rings and or reroute the PCV system to the one the LS6 engine has. Has anyone out had any experience with this issue and a Dealer ? My car has only ever been touched by the dealer, not even a tune up yet! Any advice would be much appreciated !
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 811
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From: greenville north carolina
I too have heard this issue brought up and discussed. Going to the "stealership" they will rape you...did you get an extended warranty?
Best bet is to troubleshoot by doing searches on here like you have already, make one adjustment and see if that corrects the issue. My 01' burns maybe 1/8 of a quart every 3K...and there are no leaks on the "un-shiny" side.
Does anyone else have any advice or more experience?
One thing that I do, which is probably overkill is change the filter at 3-4 K and top off with a quart of Mobil 1...this could be where i am missing the 1/8 of a quart or so oil. Then at 3-4 more K; do a complete change. I do plan on switching to Amsoil on my next full change...which will probably be mid to late summer, right around when the next inspection is due.
Best bet is to troubleshoot by doing searches on here like you have already, make one adjustment and see if that corrects the issue. My 01' burns maybe 1/8 of a quart every 3K...and there are no leaks on the "un-shiny" side.
Does anyone else have any advice or more experience?
One thing that I do, which is probably overkill is change the filter at 3-4 K and top off with a quart of Mobil 1...this could be where i am missing the 1/8 of a quart or so oil. Then at 3-4 more K; do a complete change. I do plan on switching to Amsoil on my next full change...which will probably be mid to late summer, right around when the next inspection is due.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,799
Likes: 1
From: Northern Virginia
St. Jude Donor '08
Sorry to hear about your problem.
Might find the following information helpful.
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...il+Consumption
Might find the following information helpful.
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...il+Consumption
Racer
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 287
Likes: 2
From: Bay Area California
New: Help Oil Issue!
Try something simple. Switch to another oil brand other than Mobil 1, 5W30. There are more than several which do meet the GM 4718M spec (or don't) and another brand may reduce but not eliminate consumption. Your results of course may differ. Good luck...
A1
A1
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 811
Likes: 0
From: greenville north carolina
My sentiments exactly...When i switch over to Amsoil synthetic, what weight oil should i use???...117K on the clock, no mechanical issues.
Should i use the amsoil oil filter as well or what do you brothers recommend?
THanks.
Should i use the amsoil oil filter as well or what do you brothers recommend?
THanks.
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New Corvette owner, 6 months now, Bought a 2001 6 speed coupe with 21k miles from one owner. Car looks great, only put 1k miles on the car in 6 months but noticed it had used 1/2 quart of oil. Then read April Corvette magazine and saw that my LS1 was one of the 4 years which had ring problems and used oil. The magazine said replace the 2nd rings and or reroute the PCV system to the one the LS6 engine has. Has anyone out had any experience with this issue and a Dealer ? My car has only ever been touched by the dealer, not even a tune up yet! Any advice would be much appreciated !
Even if your car would have qualified for a warranty repair for this issue before the warranty expired GM isn't going to repair the car 5 years after it has expired. The choice you have is to add a quart of oil a couple of times per year for $10 or spend anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand to maybe reduce the oil consumption to a quart every 4K miles. If your spark plugs aren't fouled, your fuel economy is good and you have plenty of power don't fix something that isn't broken.
Bill
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The oil consumption issue was really an '01 manual tranny equipped C5 issue, but it did occur in the '00 6-speed car I had. At 11K miles, my car was using a quart of oil about every 1200 miles (at that time GM considered anything in excess of a quart in 2K miles to be excessive). I had the dealer do the repair under warranty - they did replace the #2 ring on each piston and did a great job. After the repair, I did not have any more problems with oil consumption.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,146
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From: Edmonton Alberta, Canada
I suggest going to a dealership and question them on what is acceptable oil consumption on your Vette. Oil consumption situations on low mileage GM's tend to be valve seals leaking and the catalitic converter scrubs it before it is blown out of the tail pipe...hence no smoke. I think you are well within acceptable limits, and dont sweat it. But go to a dealership to confirm. Heck they know your vehicle best! Rob
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 811
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From: greenville north carolina
I suggest going to a dealership and question them on what is acceptable oil consumption on your Vette. Oil consumption situations on low mileage GM's tend to be valve seals leaking and the catalitic converter scrubs it before it is blown out of the tail pipe...hence no smoke. I think you are well within acceptable limits, and dont sweat it. But go to a dealership to confirm. Heck they know your vehicle best! Rob
Thanks for the advice though...
Any opinions on Amsoil? Mine has 117 K on the clock, should i stick with the 5W-30 weight or a different weight???? Am thinking of making the switch...of course RP sounded good until all the reports came out six in one and half a dozen of another i guess...
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
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From: . New York
A quart in 2000 miles is considered acceptable by GM. I don't think it is excessive either. The ring replacement was for engines that used a lot more oil than yours seems to be using. How are you driving the car? LS1 oil consumption can be caused by driving around town with the transmission in the lower gears while buzzing the engine over 3500 rpms. Never heard of oil consumption being an issue for 4 model years. The only one I know of is the 01 model year. Since you bought the car from the first owner it is quite likely he/she never had an oil consumption problem or never saw it since they didn't drive the car enough or just drove the car differently than you do.
Even if your car would have qualified for a warranty repair for this issue before the warranty expired GM isn't going to repair the car 5 years after it has expired. The choice you have is to add a quart of oil a couple of times per year for $10 or spend anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand to maybe reduce the oil consumption to a quart every 4K miles. If your spark plugs aren't fouled, your fuel economy is good and you have plenty of power don't fix something that isn't broken.
Bill
Even if your car would have qualified for a warranty repair for this issue before the warranty expired GM isn't going to repair the car 5 years after it has expired. The choice you have is to add a quart of oil a couple of times per year for $10 or spend anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand to maybe reduce the oil consumption to a quart every 4K miles. If your spark plugs aren't fouled, your fuel economy is good and you have plenty of power don't fix something that isn't broken.
Bill
<sits back down . . .>
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 811
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From: greenville north carolina
Any opinions on synthetic Amsoil? Mine has 117 K on the clock, should i stick with the 5W-30 weight or a different weight???? Am thinking of making the switch...of course RP sounded good until all the reports came out six in one and half a dozen of another i guess...
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,336
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From: NW Arkansas
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
a quart in 2,000 miles is no where near excessive. a quart in less than 1,000 would cause concern. changing brands might lessen consumption, might not. just keep an eye on the dipstick and DIC and enjoy your ride.