I have a 01 SC2 and I am going through at least a quart of oil in a week with this car. I drive about 800 miles a week for work and usally keep the speedo between 60 - 75 mph. I have no smoke from the exaust and I have crawled all over this car to locate a leak and have yet to find one. Is this common with this model and engine and is there anything I can do to prevent this. Thanks for any help guys I will take all advice and go with it.

 

S car engines are known oil burners -- and very efficient at it.

KEEP OIL TOPPED OFF-- do not wait for it to go down a full quart.

Oil gets past oil control rings and around valve guide seals.

How many miles on it?

 

I drive a 2001 SC2 and I seem to be going through a quart to a quart and a half a week of synthetic oil. The car does not smoke and I have searched top and bottom and can not find a leak anywhere. I put on a average of 600 miles a week ( All Highway) and was wondering if this is common with these motors. If there is anyway I can correct this I would be greatfull. Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

 

please try to keep related questions in the same thread.....

SO how many miles are on the car?

Kinda need to know in order to give you appropriate guidance.....that's why I didn't fully address the prevention/corrective measures part of your question...

Answer also depends on how long you expect to keep the car, etc......

 

Hey thanks for the reply and srry bout the double post. The car has 90,000 miles on it and I would love to run it till it dies.

 

Well, once the oil control rings seize in their channels on the pistons, they no longer properly sweep the cylinder walls, and oil passes into the combustion chamber of the cylinders. Valve guide seals are the other notorious spot where oil passes into the cylinders.

If you still have good compression in all the cylinders, I'd recommend an MMO or seafoam soak to try to free up the oil control rings. This MAY reduce your oil consumption but usually will not eliminate it.

Past that, you're looking at pulling the head -- and once you do that, there's a bunch of stuff you might as well do when it's open, so your rebuild cost goes up.

Most people just keep the oil topped off.

 

Well thanks again for the advice. I am only using the car as a work car so I am probably not going to throw a lot of cash into it. I do still have great compression on all the cylinders so I will just continue to top it off. Can I expect any other problems with this issue or will the car be happy guzzling the black gold with no side effects. Again thanks for the heads up on this issue, it sure had me baffled.

 

You'll need to pull and clean the EGR soon, as it will gunk up at a faster rate.

 

Perfect. Thanks a bunch for the advice. Will pull the EGR tomorrow and inspect with a proper cleaning.

 

Carterseth32, you might want to try the GM top end cleaner. You pull the plugs, and squirt it in each of the cylinders,let it sit overnight,then remove the excess,and change the oil. It works best in a warm engine, but take your precautions with the aluminum head/spark plug thread issue. I break the plugs loose when the engine is cold, then snug slightly and warm the engine. This takes minimal time and money and may work. If nothing changes, Derf's other mentioned culprit, the guides, are probably the problem.