Eating Oil

[owoodu]

Hey Quick here is one for ya. Lets see how much you know about other cars.
Posted this in cadillac country, not much action over there though.

I just purchased a 2001 Olds Aurora with the V6 it is a MINI-NORTHSTAR and within the first month 1000 miles it needed 2 extra quarts. Seems to use 2 quarts every 1000 to 1500 miles.


Is this normal for the type of engine. I have the 50% warranty, but the dealer has been taking care of us, I beleive he will continue to do so. He already shelled out the money for 2 new hubs and 2 new tie rods. already this would have cost a few thousand but was N/C . They have a tracer in the oil now.
There seems to be alot of soot on the dual exhaust pipes.

Anyone have an idea what this is, and how much this might cost?

:V

 

[DLS8K]

Hey Quick here is one for ya. Lets see how much you know about other cars.
Posted this in cadillac country, not much action over there though.

I just purchased a 2001 Olds Aurora with the V6 it is a MINI-NORTHSTAR and within the first month 1000 miles it needed 2 extra quarts. Seems to use 2 quarts every 1000 to 1500 miles.


Is this normal for the type of engine. I have the 50% warranty, but the dealer has been taking care of us, I beleive he will continue to do so. He already shelled out the money for 2 new hubs and 2 new tie rods. already this would have cost a few thousand but was N/C . They have a tracer in the oil now.
There seems to be alot of soot on the dual exhaust pipes.

Anyone have an idea what this is, and how much this might cost?

:V

Sounds like your piston rings are shot. You're probably looking at an engine rebuild. Anyone else think this? You seem to have the tell-tale signs (excessive oil consumption.......excessive soot (caused by burnt oil)). I had a problem with this on my Mustang and am waiting to rebuild the engine as soon as I get my LS paid off.

 

[lsbit]

Hey Quick here is one for ya. Lets see how much you know about other cars.
Posted this in cadillac country, not much action over there though.

I just purchased a 2001 Olds Aurora with the V6 it is a MINI-NORTHSTAR and within the first month 1000 miles it needed 2 extra quarts. Seems to use 2 quarts every 1000 to 1500 miles.


Is this normal for the type of engine. I have the 50% warranty, but the dealer has been taking care of us, I beleive he will continue to do so. He already shelled out the money for 2 new hubs and 2 new tie rods. already this would have cost a few thousand but was N/C . They have a tracer in the oil now.
There seems to be alot of soot on the dual exhaust pipes.

Pretty common for them to use oil. I think the rule for them is 2 quarts in 3000 miles is acceptable. You are over that, obviously. I had the Shortstar and used just over a quart every 1000 miles. I got rid of it when it started having electrical problems. 2000 model with about 80k. Got the LS instead and the LS needs care and feeding too.

 

[Quik LS]

- how many miles on the engine?
- I am assuming no leaks - right?

one way to tell is if the plugs are fouling, normal or not - if the plugs are getting messed up then the oil is getting into the chambers and that's not good.

 

[owoodu]

Car has 60,000 miles on it now.

No visible leaks.

I understand that northstars consume oil, but Why?

 

[jlser]

I don't know about the V6, I had a 97 Aurora with the V8. Used about a quart every 3000 miles until the rear main seal started leaking. $2800 to replace it because the entire engine and transaxle has to be dropped and then the engine and transaxle have to separated. I decided to trade it in on the LS instead of getting it repaired. I did like that NorthStar engine though. Smoother running that the V8 in the LS and also better gas mileage. I don't know if the soot in the exhaust pipe is unusual. The chrome tips on mine were half black from the exhaust soot. Like Quick said, take a look at the spark plugs. If it's burning oil you should able to tell. Finding where the oil is coming from is another matter. Could be rings, valve seals, or even a bad PCV valve. If it's burning oil I would think that eventually it will foul the upstream O2 sensor and the check engine light will come on. Any blue smoke coming out the exhaust when you rev the engine? How about when you first start the engine after it has been sitting overnight?

 

[DLS8K]

Car has 60,000 miles on it now.

No visible leaks.

I understand that northstars consume oil, but Why?

If you have no oil leaks and you're losing 2 qts to 1000 miles, then its getting burnt up (most probably piston rings as i stated before). I wouldn't be worried so much about why northstars consume oil so much as i would about your car consuming that much oil in such a short time. If you're looking for an easy answer or fix or reassurance that 2 qts/1000 miles is good, you probably are not going to find it.

If it is piston rings........you're looking at 21.3 hours labor(assuming $100/hour) for a total of $2130. You pay half that. Tack on another 500 dollars worth of gaskets, rings, etc and you're looking at quite the bill. Just hope the bad piston rings haven't scored the cylinder wall and you're looking at probably double that estimate. Good luck though with your Olds!

 

[owoodu]

This is the Wifey with her Aurora 3.5