calbrit561

Details 99 c5 6sp convertible
car has 104k miles on it
headers, exhaust and tune no cats




So in april i had my oil changed and they put in 6qts instead of the 7 they normally fill me with. I noticed it when my car started making valve train noise and i checked the oil and nothing was on the dipstick. i drive about 2k miles at that level by the time i found this out. I went to the dealer and they looked it up and it indeed said 6qts. They apologized and gave me a free oil change. Now fast forward to today. Ever since then my car now burns oil at about 0.5-1qt every 1k miles. it has never burned a drop in the 4 years i have owned the car. I have alerted them to the issue and am waiting for a call back. Also in my DIC after about 1k miles my oil life is at 0% normally it would go off at about 2800 and this has now happened both times after my last 2 oil changes. I have the oil changed every 3k miles religiously. Also i had an independent and the dealer in question look at the car and both stated the car is burning oil.

So my questions are
What should i be worried about
how far should i escalate this
What future issues can happen from this
What should be a proper fix for my issue.


I drive the car like i stole it and its my DD. to give you some insight on how i drive I average about 14-15mpg in mixed driving and have never used 5th or 6th gear.

Also please don't tell me to do my own oil changes. I have started doing all of my own oil changes from here on out.

Murray Anderson

You're going to get varied opinions from one end of the spectrum to the other, here's mine...

A quart low isn't causing you your new issues. Continually Driving it like you stole it would cause you to start burning oil more so than a quart low at your last oil change. Best of luck with whatever you do

Edit... if after 2K miles there was nothing showing on the dipstick, you were missing far more oil than the quart you were shorted.

Regardless of the outcome, you should check your oil far more frequent than every 2000 miles

apex26

Agree with the above. You can buy a scope camera that plugs into your laptop for about $25 and stick it down the spark plug holes to see if the bores are damaged. I bought one off ebay and believe it or not it's called an "endoscope camera", with about 10ft of waterproof cable. Luck.

dbgoodwin

Dude how hard do you drive your car? I drive mine hard and it would still let me go 6500 to 7000 miles before being at 0% on the dic.

Having only 6 quarts shouldn't have caused any problems, I personally think you just had some coincidental timing. 6.5 quarts is GM spec, 6 quarts would have probably put it at the bottom of the safe range, or the middle of the safe range.

SG Lou

I do believe you had issues developing long before the quart low oil change. It just so happened to rear it's ugly head around the same time. IMO, the Dealer had nothing to do with it.

racebum

7 is overfilling, perfectly fine for track days but i swear engines are more prone to leaks when overfilled

as states 6.5 is spec and 6 is just fine, that's only 1/2 quart low

did they use some **** thin oil when they changed it? that could cause burning?

6 quarts on it's own will not cause engine damage in any way

VT noise can be a symptom of low oil pressure which again can be from a too thin oil and or your engine is just losing oil psi for one reason or another

Fastbird

1/2 quart won't cause any issues. Your responsibility as an owner is to ensure your oil stays topped off between changes. LS1's are rather common oil burners, and sounds like your car was eating it and you weren't checking the oil level.

1Willy1

what do u mean by "never used 5th or 5th gear? That might be the oddest thing ive ever heard someone say here.

Fastbird

Another thought.......lack of oil won't cause you to burn oil. Burning oil happens from things like bad valve guides/seals, poor PCV (sucking oil through intake, notorious LSx problem), bad piston rings. Lack of oil will cause damage to bearings and such, but not a spontaneous oil burning problem.

JR-01

A quart low should not be a problem as long as you had good oil pressure, unless you beat the hell out of it.

Rexde1

I rarely use 5th or 6th gear myself. The op might want an oil catch can the way he drives but it might be too late.

1Willy1

What do you do on the highway ? Just ride 4th gear all the way to red?

Vetteman Jack

Lots of good advice presented here. I do not see what the dealer did (short you 1/2 quart oil) as causing all the other problems. Good luck with your complaint to the dealer, but don't be surprised if they tell you the best they will do is give you the free oil change.

striper

If your description of your driving habits are accurate you've got to be one abusive SOB. Man, you never use 5th or 6th? If you were only a quart low it would probably still show on the dipstick. You must really beat the crap out of that motor. I must drive like a granny compared to you, because I thought I got on my car some of the time. My Z06 has a 153k miles on it and has been down the dragstrip many times and uses no oil between changes. I go by 50% on the DIC for changes. My previous LS1 Vette had 82k when I traded to the Z. It had many more runs down the strip on it than the Z and also didn't use any oil. I would have to say it's on you and I'm surprised the dealer was as accommodating as they were. Do you ever drive on the highway over 50 mph? ...and never use 5th or 6th?

runner140*

Could not agree more with you (8vette7). Point the finger at yourself...you created your problem. Don't blame the dealership.

runner140*

Very true, I also have 145,000 miles and burn zero oil. Sometimes we create our own problems.

runner140*

The dealer did him a favor, I'd offer him a half a quart of oil.

friou

I really don't like to be in disagreement with forum members but I believe that you need to look elsewhere, beyond a 1/2 quart short oil change, for your oil consumption issue. Hard use and lack of preventive maintenance? If so, that will do just about any motor in fairly quickly. Have to agree with other forum members above responding to your OP. Good luck and best wishes!

Velocity_Vette

What?!

I'm really sorry but this is possibly one of the stupidest things I think I've read on this forum. Please give a logical reason as to why you would not utilize 5th and 6th gear through normal daily driver usage? And don't say "lugging the engine" because that's not a thing with a C5. What gear are you in at highway speeds at 60-70 MPH? Are you seriously driving it at cruising speeds in 4th? That's not smart at all. What is the oil pressure at cruising speed? At idle? And both hot & cold in both situations?

I'm in consensus with everyone else; any issue with the car it sounds like you have caused. It's simply built up over time and now you're facing the blunt of it's results.

Six quarts of oil in the crankcase is not going to cause the problems you have described. You're technically not down a full quart since the actual capacity is roughly 6.7~ quarts, but with filter 7 is not going to hurt. It also doesn't matter if you change the oil every 500 miles or 5,000 miles. Excessive constant revolutions and improper vehicle usage is going to exaggerate wear and contribute to oil usage. There's a distinctive difference between a Corvette being utilized in performance driving aspects and it being "ragged out", hence the term.

There's nothing wrong with a good pull from a lower gear, but there are reasons why you reach top speed in 5th and the 6th is essentially an OD. I don't think I pass over 2,500 revolutions on a daily drive and utilize every gear in the set; 5th on the surface roads and 6th on highways.

Post the last eight of your VIN so I know what C5 not to buy in the future when it comes up for sale.

Shakeydeal

I rarely use 6th gear. Maybe only about three or four times in the year that I've owned it. But I use 5th gear every time I go above 55 mph.


Shakey