VX Oil Consumption

[CowboyErik]

I have several cars, none of them trucks; My Vehicross is a 1999, just got in in January. It consumes about 1 quart of oil every 500miles; I am not sure as yet if it is worse on highway or local; I am wondering how "normal" this might be for the Vehicross engine and where the oil might be going. I have absolutely no visible leaks. the truck has 100K miles and I've fully updated it; the fuel millage is below spec at 15MPG highway. I love my vehicross and recaro red leather anyway! Thanks all!

[Ldub]

Welcome to the fam...
That sounds excessive.
The first thing you should replace is PCV valve.(drivers side valve cover)
Then do a forums search (left sidebar) using "oil consumption" as your search criteria. You'll find volumes of good reading.

[nfpgasmask]

My wife thinks I am doing something wrong! And I keep telling her, no, tons of VXes have oil burning issues!!

I ran some Sea Foam through my crankcase for about 50 miles and then did a nice oil change and the oil consumption seems to have gotten a tad better.

Are you running regular oil or synthetics? I would say switching to synthetics with religious oil changes every 3000, change your PCV every or every other oil change, get a good K&N filter, and that should help as much as possible.

It is my thinking that all the VXes that have blown engines were burning oil and got too low. At least I HOPE that is the cause, because I am anal and I check my oil level at every gas fill up, sometimes more. And I carry 2 or 3 quarts with me every time I take a long road trip.

Anyway, definitely keep a watchful eye on that oil level, and take care of your VX. They are getting rarer and rarer! I don't wanna here about any more blown engines!!!

Bart

[kelvin]

1qt per 1k miles for my 99.

[VehiGAZ]

Cowboy, your mileage is pretty typical (members claim to get between 13 and 18 mpg consistently). Your oil consumption rate is high, but not uncommon.

Oil often gets past poorly-seated, old, worn piston rings and burns up in the cylinder very, very slowly - think like a microliter per combustion. You'll never see white smoke in your exhaust at that rate, but that's probably where it's going. Replacing the rings means cracking the engine open and pulling the pistons, and there really isn't a much bigger (and expen$ive) project than that.

You can try the seafoam treatment, replace your PCV valve, and clean the EGR valve and throttle body - these may help, but at 100k, my money is on the rings as the culprit. Just keep adding oil - it's a lot cheaper!

Good luck!

[kelvin]

here's a mystery... my engine burned about 1qt every k miles at 100k miles. but my new 50k motor does the same thing.... i think the oil might be getting lost somewhere else....

[Ldub]

Mbeach had a post in the long ago about losing oil from the rear of his valve cover gasket...it would leak out & vaporize when it hit his exhaust manifold.
He said he never noticed any smoke or smell, just got lucky while looking her over in great detail with a flashlight.
Just another theory...

[VehiGAZ]

Oh yeah, I forgot all about that! Good recall, Ldub! Yes, there are a few other ways that you could be losing oil, but they are fairly rare and weird like that.

Anyway, as suggested, search "oil consumption" and "oil loss" and read everything you find. You will come across all possibilities, so check them all out on your VX.

[Tone]

My ML (which also has an all aluminum block) also has a specification of up to 1qt of oil per thousand miles without there necessarily being a problem. And you sure oughta be checking your oil more often than that anyway! Stop yer whinin' and look at it as freshening up your oil between changes.

[VehiGAZ]

Funny, Tone (true though!) - at Cowboy's consumption rate, he will turn over all his oil every 5k miles! If only fresh oil freshened up the filter, he'd never need any service at all!

[psychos2]

do a search for pcv valve . Then follow the instructions and get rid of it. That is how I stopped mine. Now I use just under a quart per 3000 miles. And I am at 101,000 miles. shawn

[majork]

I dont think its given that you have to be resigned to oil consumption forever....there is some indication there was a flaw in the rings for at least 99 VX's

My 99 started using small amounts of oil since about 30K miles and now I am at 210K...sometimes it spikes up and then subsides.

Replacing PCV and cleaning EGR help some ....But basically its an engine production or design issue

Not every 6VE1 stamped out burns oil, in fact I would say that most probably dont. The 99 year seems to be worse than later years.

When my engine finally needs a rebuild (soon probably) I will replace with a 2001 remanned 6VE1 engine, from a known rebuilder...

Having discussed the oil problem with them, they said they rebuild the engines with different ring set than the OEM rings to handle oil burning issues...dont believe they would lie about it

[blacksambo]

Just an extra thought---try replacing the oil filler rubber gasket. Sure helped our '99's. Also, I think Purolator makes the best PCV for VX.

[etlsport]

where did u get the replacement gasket?

[blacksambo]

My Isuzu dealer, of course (German Auto Haus, Burnt Hills, New York). They do drop shipping, and they are $3,50 each.