[archer1965]

I have a ‘16 SS, never used oil until it hit the 12,000 mile mark. I’ve been on an oil consumption test with my dealership. This came about when “engine oil low” message was displayed last August about 2,000 miles into an oil change. Limped the car to the dealer and they found the engine oil was 4.5 qts low. Wtf?
They changed the oil and put me an this test every 500 miles. This mofo is using 1 qt every 500 miles.
I pretty much believe the engine is f***ed and they will have to tear it down to find out what’s wrong. I’m hoping it’s in the valve train, i.e. new heads. Not a fan of having the engine replaced in a car with <14K miles on it.

Elite Engineering, any thoughts? I followed the break in procedure in the owners manual to the letter. I also just purchased a catch can from you, which I will install after the dealer finds out what’s wrong.

[TheMaGikDucK]

roughly 34k on my car, maybe 10k track miles. Never able to notice any oil burned. I also drove it like I stole right off the lot.

[archer1965]

Originally Posted by TheMaGikDucK

I also drove it like I stole right off the lot.

I'm beginning to believe this is a necessary to properly seat the cylinder rings and valve seals, regardless of what the owners manual says.

[archer1965]

Dropped off my car at the dealership so they could get to fixing the engine.
Chevy told them to tear it down to the block and install new rings. If they find any scored piston walls, a new long block will be installed.
Needless to say, I’m fuking pissed. 13,500 miles and the motor needs to be torn down.
I’ve never taken this car to the strip or tracked it. Total bulshit.

[Marko]

Originally Posted by Elite Engineering

Hey all,

To give some insight into what causes these oil consumption issues one must understand what occurs when the engine is new. Now while all bearings, journals, etc. are already as smooth and perfect as they will ever be, the cylinder walls and piston rings need to "seat" in to each other. That is wear, or abrade into the proper shape to seal correctly. This is accomplished by an aggressive hone cross-hatch pattern cut into the cylinder wall. This will abrade the rings into the shape of the cylinder wall during those first 200-300 miles of running (best is first 50 miles which I will explain later). and to properly do so, the rings must penetrate the lubrication barrier the oil provides.

The problem with this in today's engines is a combination of factors. First, as the average new vehicle buyer has been conditioned to buy a car and aside from adding fuel, they expect to do nothing as far as care and maintenance until a message pops up on the dash instructing them to visit the dealer for service. How is this an issue? For one, as these engines are built with low tension piston rings to aid in less parasitic resistance so they can meet CAFE fuel economy standards. These rings put far less pressure against the cylinder walls to allow proper abrasion into the shape, or seating. The next issue is the oils that come in the engine when new are NOT a break-in oil like in the past, but the same oil your expected to use going forward, so that protective barrier is much harder to penetrate to allow the proper abrasion of the rings.

And finally, the owner’s manual instructs you to drive very easy that first 1000-1500 miles, and this on top of the other barriers to proper ring seating make it a gamble as to the rings seating properly in the brief window they have to do so, and that leads to most of the causes of excessive oil consumption. The proper way to seat rings involves loading them properly when new both through acceleration and engine braking deceleration. And this must be done in that first 50 or so miles. How? Well GM includes the proper instructions with replacement and crate engines as it is assumed the tech doing the engine installation is skilled enough to not drive reckless, but the average consumer is not. The liability of instructing the average new vehicle buyer how to properly seat rings and break in the engine is considered to much exposure, so your instructed to drive it easy. So you have say a 50/50 chance your rings will seat properly following their instructions. See, the rings need to load both during hard acceleration, and engine braking deceleration in order to evenly apply enough force on the back sides of the rings to allow them to "wear in" to the shape of the cylinder bores. And this window to do so is extremely brief. by 500 miles as a rule, a hard glaze will set in and cover the cross hatch and after that the window to seat your rings has past. Although the engineers at Amsoil have shown further ring seating can occur after this period when engines are run hard for extended periods on the dyno and further seat, you as a drive on the road are not able to subject the engine to those extreme conditions.

Here are the instructions directly from GM for techs and DIY builders:


And here are illustrations showing what occurs when rings fail to seat in this brief window:



And when they do not:



As you can see, this must be done when the engine is brand new, and then immediately drain that factory fill oil and all the debris in it and change, as well as change the filter. AC Delco/Motoscraft, etc. filters are great filters, I prefer anything made by WIX. Also, as all GDI engines experience many times the raw fuel washdown and dilution, NEVER run a super thin 5w20 oil!!!! This again is ONLY to allow the automaker to meet CAFE fuel economy standards. Your engine oil cannot properly protect when so much raw fuel is washing past the rings. This as well can contribute to excessive oil consumption. I realize it is difficult to understand much of what is in today's owner’s manuals is NOT on what is best for your engines life, but merely allows automakers to meet the ever increasing Government requirements, and these GDI engines you should not go as long as was acceptable between changes. Today's full synthetic oils do not "wear out" like old mineral oils or synthetic blends, they simply become overwhelmed with contaminates to the point they can no longer protect. What oil do we recommend? Amsoil 5w50 first, M1 15w50 is also a great choice, or if a "Walmart" oil, any full synthetic at least 10w40.

Now, if you have an engine you followed the owner’s manual break-in instructions and are consuming an excessive amount of oil, the only cure is to disassemble and re-hone cutting the glaze, install new piston rings, and start over. If you did not use oil in the past, and after 30-40-50k miles you begin to. odds are your piston rings have become stuck from the residue that forms in the ringlands and they cannot move freely enough to properly seal, so the addition of a truly effective catchcan such as our E2-X can allow the rings to free back up in most cases over time as we prevent the compounds that cause the build-up from forming further so they may self clean enough to again move freely. Also, and engine not running solvent soak can also free up stuck rings if performed properly.

Hope this helps those with engine oil consumption issues, and we realize many will ignore this and follow the owner’s manual which is fine as only YOU can make decisions on how to care for your car, but with so many complaints on these issues we felt it appropriate to share proper methods. And as always, drive carefully!!!

That’s impossible to do that with a brand new car. Unless they follow those procedures at the factory. All new cars have at least a couple miles on them before they’re test driven.

[archer1965]

Originally Posted by Marko

That’s impossible to do that with a brand new car. Unless they follow those procedures at the factory. All new cars have at least a couple miles on them before they’re test driven.

Those instructions are from Chevys performance website for CRATE engines. It's not intended for new vehicles. Regardless, if you buy a new car with less than 30 or 40 miles on the odometer, I would follow those instructions to ensure the rings are seated properly.