oil consumption

[dsinclair]

Hi everyone. I own a 99 VX and I am leaking oil alot. Its not going on the ground or on the engine. It is not smoking. My tail pipe is black. I drive no more than 200 miles and I need to add 2 to 3 quarts of oil. My engine is clean. My warranty company is being real butts so I gotta figure out what to with my buggy. Help.

Diana Sinclair

[Ldub]

Mbeach had the same symptoms. IIRC, it turned out to be a valve cover gasket that was leaking onto the exhaust manifold & vaporizing.
If he doesn't reply to this thread, you could try to pm him.
Also, until this is resolved, check your oil more often, you should never have to add more than 1 qt.
Being 2-3 qts. low is VERY close to buying a new engine instead of some gaskets.

[Triathlete]

Search the old posts. There is a ton of stuff about oil consumption problems and fixes on this board. VXCaver had the same problem and thought he was doomed. It ended up being a very inexspensive easily replaceable part.

[mbeach]

There have been many "causes" of oil consumption, but I have only had experience with one of them. I wouldn't say that it's a failure of the 3.5L motor, it's just one of those things that you have to keep up with.

First off, stay away from Dennis Isuzu on Morse Rd. (I used to live in Columbus). They have zero clout with Isuzu, and they really don't care to work on them.

If you're not seeing the typical problems associated with a leak or 'burning' oil (out the tailpipe -blue smoke), there's another way to lose a lot very quickly. Our Dragon blew through a few quarts in one fillup (I check the oil at every gas stop). This just came out of no where -we drove it from Ohio to Alaska and didn't lose a drop. One day, it was just super low.

After jamming my head in between the engine and the firewall (on the passenger side) I found the source of the leak. It was a very high pressure jet of oil, it sprayed 1-3" before hitting the EGR pipe/exhaust manifold area and vaporizing. It made very little smoke. I was only able to see it with a flashlight at night. It was very cold (about 0F) and that helped me to notice the vapor. I also got a bit of hot oil on my hand -not the recommended method of finding a leak. I decided that a valve cover gasket/o-ring had failed. When it was replaced, all oil consumption ceased.

Get a new gasket from Merlin at St. Charles Isuzu -most likely the part will ship from Isuzu's warehouse in Cinci. It'll be on your doorstep in 2 days.

[kpaske]

I discovered a leaking intake manifold gasket by using a trick Tone posted a while back: with the engine running, spray some starting fluid around the edges of the gasket (in this case, where the intake manifold attaches). If the engine revvs up, it's sucking in the starting fluid, indicating where the gasket has failed. Replacing my intake gasket has improved my idle, gas mileage, and for the most part eliminated my oil loss. My loss was about a quart every 1000 miles and although there was some oil on my valve covers, there wasn't enough to directly implicate the intake gasket (I thought most of it was coming from the PCV valve... wrong!). The starting fluid left little doubt in my case. I'm not sure this method would work if it's a leaky valve cover gasket, but it's an easy way to eliminate other potential sources of oil loss. It works for sure on any gaskets on the intake (intake manifold, common chamber, etc).

[TechnoPope]

Hello mbeach,
I recall that you had a bad experience at Hatfield's Isuzu. I thought you had some success at Dennis Isuzu. Was that for your water leak? I am asking because I met another new Columbus owner Sunday and he asked for a recommendation. I think he reads our forums but is not a member.

[nfpgasmask]

OK, sitting at work, reading about oil consumption. Then, on my way home I stopped for gas and checked my oil. I'm only 1500 miles into my last oil change (which was also a switch to full Mobile 1 synth) and it seems that my '01 Ebony is also sucking oil. So, I will be adding some and changing the PCV Valve tomorrow.

Now, just to make sure, I did a switch to Mobile 1 full synth at Pep Boys last month. It is my understanding that I want to use Mobile 1 5w-30. I am going to Wal*mart to get some oil and I want to make sure I get the right jug.

Thanks to anyone who can answer!

Bart

[Child's Play]

nfpgasmask,
Not sure how many miles are on your VX in total, but since you just switched to Synthetic, you may want to change your oil again now that you have put 1500 miles on the VX with Synthetic in the crankcase. I believe Synthetics have a very high detergent level that "cleans" the inside of the engine. So, switching from "normal" oil to Synthetic, it is suggested that you change your oil sooner than normal the first time after switching due to all of the "stuff" being cleaned out from inside your engine and getting caught in the filter. Just a heads up on this, as this is what I did when I switched all of my vehicles to Synthetic.
Changing the PCV is definitely a good idea as well, and 5W-30 is fine, but living in Chicago during the summer, you can go with 10W-30 for summer months, and 5W-30 during winter months. This is what I do anyway.

[mbeach]

Hello mbeach,
I recall that you had a bad experience at Hatfield's Isuzu. I thought you had some success at Dennis Isuzu. Was that for your water leak? I am asking because I met another new Columbus owner Sunday and he asked for a recommendation. I think he reads our forums but is not a member.

Other way around -Hatfield Good, Dennis Bad.
Hatfield took care of my wife's truck while I was up here. Midas renegged on their offer to flush the transmission, so she took it to Hatfield where they squared her away.
Dennis did arrange the fix for my wifes leaking Dragon, but it wasn't Dennis' techs that did the work. They hired some outside contractor to fix the leak, and I quote "the same guys who fix the leaks in all of our cars...".
Kinda makes you wonder about the Chevrolet line...

[nfpgasmask]

Cool, yeah, I'm just under 27,000 miles. I was planning to do another change within the next week. Might as well be tomorrow. If you mix 5W-30 and 10W-30 does it mess anything up? I just want to know so I dont make any stupid mistakes. I guess I will go ahead and gitterdun tomorrow.

Thanks - Bart

nfpgasmask,
Not sure how many miles are on your VX in total, but since you just switched to Synthetic, you may want to change your oil again now that you have put 1500 miles on the VX with Synthetic in the crankcase. I believe Synthetics have a very high detergent level that "cleans" the inside of the engine. So, switching from "normal" oil to Synthetic, it is suggested that you change your oil sooner than normal the first time after switching due to all of the "stuff" being cleaned out from inside your engine and getting caught in the filter. Just a heads up on this, as this is what I did when I switched all of my vehicles to Synthetic.
Changing the PCV is definitely a good idea as well, and 5W-30 is fine, but living in Chicago during the summer, you can go with 10W-30 for summer months, and 5W-30 during winter months. This is what I do anyway.

[TechnoPope]

mbeach,
Thanks for the info. I had it backwards. I hope the Proton owner I talked to reads your post. I might need some service soon too. I will check out Hatfield's first. Thanks again.

[blacksambo]

In our two '99's we are running Mobil 1 5w-30 truck and suv blend; up from Mobil1 0w-30 and are getting quieter and more peppy performance. They both cost the same $21.38 for a five quart container that makes a handy dirty oil repository after you change it. This seems to be a good summer oil alternative. I will keep you posted on the mileage which is running close to 20mpg, but we're talking summer temperatures here and that always is better for mileage than winter.

[psychos2]

The 0W30 or 5W30 are for cold starting like in the winter.The summer months are 10W30 , 10W40 , or 20W50. shawn

[Tone]

I run 0W40 all year but that is what MB recommends. In the VX Manual it gives recommendations on what weight to use based on temps to be experienced before the next oil change.

[mbeach]

I had an "Isuzu Tech" (whatever that means nowadays) tell me to switch to 0W30 to quiet the engine down. It worked great, and I've done it to both of our VXs, as well as recommended it to two other VX drivers. It worked for each of them too.

I've started running 5W20, as it's generally more readily available (Mobil 1).