Low Coolant and Oil

J

Jesus A Rodriguez

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I have 04 LS V8. I got my oil changed around May if this year. The computer is telling me 10 percent till oil change. I find that kind of quick it's only been 6 months. And I'm also low on antifreeze. Does this sound like a leak somewhere?
 
The oil change minder is a simple timer/mileage meter. It will tell you to change the oil every 5000 miles or six months, whichever comes first. This is the specified factory interval. If you don't like it, then go longer. (However, the older the engine gets, the harder it is on the oil.) Note that there are no sensors for oil level or condition. If you want to know how much oil is in there (and you should want to know) you will have to use the dipstick and check it.

You are low on coolant. Coolant is a mixture (usually 50/50) of water and antifreeze. The engine does not consume coolant. You have a leak. You need to replace all the plastic cooling system parts. There are many, many threads on here on this.
 
I've been reading them but I don't know where to start. What would all the parts cost me? I'm not that good with my hands yet as far as working on the car.
 
Wow, glad to see that more LS's are popping up in NYC. Which part of NY are you in?
 
fudge12 said:
Wow, glad to see that more LS's are popping up in NYC. Which part of NY are you in?
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lol.. imagine a NYC LS club
i've seen more and more lses in nyc ever sins i got mine we should all meet up on a weekend


i had a coolant leak on my v6 i changed the coolant tank and never had a issue again
 
Jesus A Rodriguez said:
I've been reading them but I don't know where to start. What would all the parts cost me? I'm not that good with my hands yet as far as working on the car.
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There's a thread here created by the user "SoulSoak" please search for it... I'm too lazy to do it. But it has all the parts, part numbers, average costs, how-to, etc.
 
^Lol

Harlem? I refuse to go back there after I had a bad overheat there when I dropped my visiting uncle and aunt last year. Turned out to be a bad degas bottle, leaky hose, and a cracked radiator. I had to run straight water on my way back to brooklyn. What made it creepy was that it was 11pm at night.
 
Here's one for the brain trust here. My daughter's 2000 V6 w/~185K miles seems to be loosing oil. The engine was steam cleaned so I could see if she had a leak. She was down about a quart over I guess is about 700 miles. I looked under and all around the engine and can not find evidence of a leak. There is no oily residue in either exhaust pipe, which seems to me would be present if she had blow-by. There was nothing more than a sooty residue.

Am I wrong in my exhaust assumption and does the engine need work? If so I guess it will be time to move on.....
 
I think that the cats if they are in good shape do a pretty good job of hiding oil consumption. Take the oil fill cap off while it is running (may have to give it some gas) and see if you can feel puffs of air.
 
Seems to be something with those 3.0 liters. My mother had a 3.0 Escape that mysteriously lost all of its oil between oil changes. Sadly she didn't catch it in time. At least you got 185k miles out of it and not just 80k..
 
joegr said:
I think that the cats if they are in good shape do a pretty good job of hiding oil consumption. Take the oil fill cap off while it is running (may have to give it some gas) and see if you can feel puffs of air.
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Thanks...... We'll do that today.....
 
LS4me said:
Thanks...... We'll do that today.....
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Hope you can save the car. I am sure it is in good shape otherwise.

I know that my dealership on a recent oil change did not spin the filter on tightly enough. I lost over 1 quart (maybe closer to 2) between oil changes.

I tightened the filter myself and stopped the dripping leak the first day, but over the next 3 to 4 months, the underside of my engine just got oily. I never did have any drips after that.

Can runs fine and strong today still. No more leaks too!
 
joegr said:
I think that the cats if they are in good shape do a pretty good job of hiding oil consumption. Take the oil fill cap off while it is running (may have to give it some gas) and see if you can feel puffs of air.
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Can't feel any, however, when I place a paper towel over the fill cap I can feel what I feel are strong air pulses.


voyeur said:
Hope you can save the car. I am sure it is in good shape otherwise.

I know that my dealership on a recent oil change did not spin the filter on tightly enough. I lost over 1 quart (maybe closer to 2) between oil changes.

I tightened the filter myself and stopped the dripping leak the first day, but over the next 3 to 4 months, the underside of my engine just got oily. I never did have any drips after that.

Can runs fine and strong today still. No more leaks too!
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I do my own oil changes and the underside of the car is spotless.
 
Oh, it also passed The People's Republik of Kalifornia's smog check with flying colors last August.
 
New info..... The car has been sitting for 3 1/2 days. Fired it up, let the idle stabilize below 1K and floored it. Blackish smoke was expelled and the exhaust had a alchohol/acetone type smell. No oil smell or blue smoke.
 
Strange update........


She called me today asking if I added any oil. I hadn't and asked her why she asks. She checked the oil today and it was at the MAX mark! HUH????!!!!???? Apparently the "missing" oil miraculously reappeared!! No, no oil has been added.

Hmmmmmmm.......
 
you ever get that part where you look at one side of the dipstick, it's low but you flip it over and the other side shows right at the full mark. weird huh! I get that on trucks a lot.
 
LS4me said:
...
Hmmmmmmm.......
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Was the car on a level surface both times the oil was checked? Were both check done about the same time after the engine was shut down. (It takes hardly any time for the xW20 oil to drain back to the pan, but maybe you have some clogs slowing it down?)
 
joegr said:
Was the car on a level surface both times the oil was checked? Were both check done about the same time after the engine was shut down. (It takes hardly any time for the xW20 oil to drain back to the pan, but maybe you have some clogs slowing it down?)
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Yes and yes. PCV???????
 
Got the car back...... Verdict.... NOTHING is wrong!! No leaks, PCV wasn't too gunked-up, plugs were free of oil. With the new plugs the car runs just as good as new!!

Oh well.......
 
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