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car's eating through oil.

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Old Mar 1, 2011 | 03:35 PM
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Default car's eating through oil.

I have a 04 auto Z and and I know they had some problems, but my car is absolutely eating through oil an absurd amount. everything seems to be running fine, but when i get on it i can smell the oil burning and i blow smoke out my tail pipes. suggestions??
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Old Mar 1, 2011 | 04:00 PM
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Buy a can of Engine Fix and you'll be fine... Good as new.
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Old Mar 1, 2011 | 05:16 PM
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You could check your plugs to see if you're burning oil or check for leaks. start there
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Old Mar 1, 2011 | 05:45 PM
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You do not mention miles. There are only so many ways for motor oil to get inside the combustion camber.

BTW the coolant looks clean - not milky looking?

Last edited by davidv; Mar 1, 2011 at 05:56 PM.
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Old Mar 1, 2011 | 09:26 PM
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piston rings? valve stems? bad bearings?
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Old Mar 2, 2011 | 05:36 PM
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70k miles. I just want to make sure it's nothing too serious.. cause i'm about to put my 3rd quart in since my last oil change.
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Old Mar 2, 2011 | 07:58 PM
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A quart every thousand miles is pretty bad, but not considered excessive for a high performance engine that otherwise runs OK.
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Old Mar 3, 2011 | 08:20 PM
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what kind of oil are you using? had bad oil burnoff with MOBIL 1 extended life bullsh!t. made my valves noisy as hell too.
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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 07:59 AM
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mobile 1. but I still don't think i should be going through as much oil as i'm going through... this is above me.. its going into the shop next week. =S
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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 11:53 AM
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Into the shop for what?

What could they find wrong that's less expensive to fix than spending several dollars on a quart of oil every thousand miles?

If it doesn't make sense to fix anything they'll find, why have them look at all?
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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 12:45 PM
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I have the same problem with my 07 Z and I use Mobil 5W-30 synthetic. Although i don't keep track of how much oil I pour in for refills, i believe it's somewhere around 1/2 quart every thousand miles or two... My garage has drips of oil imprints on the floor as well...

Please keep us updated on what the shop says...
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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 01:36 PM
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Originally Posted by ratz1400
70k miles. I just want to make sure it's nothing too serious.. cause i'm about to put my 3rd quart in since my last oil change.
Nothing serious. Are you kidding me. You are using one quart oil/1,000 miles? This IS serious.

Cylinders can not maintain the proper compression. Performance is adversely effected. This problem will NOT fix itself. It can only get worse.

In the meantime forget Mobil-1. You are throwing money out the window. Get the cheapest oil you can find at KMart. Besides what is the point of a oil change? 4 quarts oil/4,000 miles. You already CHANGED the oil.

Last edited by davidv; Mar 4, 2011 at 01:46 PM.
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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 10:19 PM
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Engine is failing and you need to rebuild. There are a lot of threads on here about oil burning (not consumption) where the symptoms are smoke out the exhaust, fouled plugs, bad gas/oil smell yet nobody wants to ever do a leak down test to confirm. I know it sucks to have to spend a few grand on a shortblock or a rebuild, but thinking the problem will go away by forgoing a proper test is just dumb.
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Old Mar 6, 2011 | 04:15 AM
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Originally Posted by ratz1400
I have a 04 auto Z ... everything seems to be running fine, but when i get on it i can smell the oil burning and i blow smoke out my tail pipes.
Are you seeing any signs of actual leakage, like oil dripping on the floor or pavement where you park? That sort of thing is less expensive to fix than overhauling the engine to replace the rings and valve seals that are the usual cause of the smoke in the exhaust.

If it's just a puff of blue smoke when you "get on it", I'd just live with it. If you're trailing smoke all the time or looking like a fogging machine, you need to decide if it's time to spend a bunch of money to fix the car, or just ditch the car and spend the money on a replacement.

It's really easy for a car to turn into a money pit once you get into major repairs.
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Old Mar 6, 2011 | 02:01 PM
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Nope. Had a minor leak an fixed it. But the oil kept burning. I just smell burnt oil and smokecomed out the pipes when I putsome throttle on
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 07:19 AM
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Would it be a bad idea to get an extended warranty and wait a few weeks to bring it in?
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 07:57 AM
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I don't think the warranty company would fall for that little trick.
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 08:39 AM
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Maybe this will cover it:

https://valvoline.promo.eprize.com/e...ligibilityReqs
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 10:12 AM
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Originally Posted by winchman
Thinking he said he was using Mobil !.
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Old Mar 7, 2011 | 12:15 PM
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Yeah, he did, and look what good that did for him. All he needs to do now is switch to Valvoline, get registered, comply with program, drive 'til it won't go anymore, and then get it fixed for free.

Personally, I'd be looking for a new (or newer) car.
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