Where is my Oil going..

[01SsRacing]

so this is the second time that inbetween oil changes that ive gotten a low oil light... no leaks that I can find and the car doesnt smoke at all! S*** car is like new I just broke 40,000 miles! Is this just and LS things?

[Guerrillakilla13]

huh..Do the next oil change yourself to make sure your not losing any quarts; that or simply check it regularly. Could be a system malfunction if you really aren't losing anything.

[Redrokit8]

If you are having someone else do your oil changes, make sure they put in the required 5.5 quarts and not just a 5 quart container like most US cars require.
I agree that if you had a leak it would show on the lower portion of motor or supports.
You should probably get a compression check and leak down check to verify rings and valve seals. It's a PIA but you could be running with a broken ring that will only get worse and potentially cause serious damage
I'm of the opinion that your motor will normally go easily to 100k and not consume that much oil. I personally would not follow the factory maintenance schedule. I will always change oil/filter every 3 months or 3K. It's an old habit but I've never had premature engine wear in any vehicle I've owned. Maybe old school but the internals are like factory new.

[pajeff02]

Is the oil actually low on the dipstick or is it a faulty sensor on the side of the oil pan?

Could be sucking it through the PCV system into the engine and slowly burning it over time. Have you replaced the hoses and omitted the valve or anything? The stock PCV system isn't all that great a setup. FWIW - most of us run aftermarket catch cans, I have the Elite Engineering setup on our car and it works great.

[2002ssslp]

It may be a bad intake manifold gasket.

[FinZ28]

How often are you checking your oil, and how low is it when you check it?

[SMWS6TA]

How much consumption? A quart every 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000? The interval matters. Around 4-5000 not that surprising or much to worry about. Under 3000 depending on your driving then yes there is a need to be concern.

Early LS engines love to burn oil. It comes from several factors like engine wear, aggressive driving, and the POS PCV system that GM put on them like Jeff pointed out. If you have a shop do the oil change it could be that they didn't give you the correct level of fluid. Its not hard to believe that some shops short change their customers.
I had one argue with me that all I needed was 5 quarts and that the owners manual was just a guide. Needless to say I never went back to there again.


You could also be having leaks in places you don't expect. These are just some things to give you an idea of what it could be and possible areas to look at.

PCV - The design of the OEM drives oil into the PCV and then recirculates it back into the intake thus burning it out the exhaust. Not enough to cause smoke but it still gets burnt off. Catch cans help a lot even some of us have done the LS6 VCT mod, but I'll say that doing that mod you need to be very sure you want to do this. It gives not performance gains but moves the PCV under the valley cover tray like the LS6. If you are not mechanically incline then I don't suggest this for you to do. Just letting you know it is one of the options.

OPSU - it's located on the drivers side just behind the intake manifold. If it's never been changed it's very possible that you could be having a leak there.

Bad rings/ head gasket - like you sad you would see some smoke and if it was a head gasket leak you'd be having other issues too.

Bad Oil level sensor - it is a 12 yr old car and this stuff does break.

Oil weight - using to thin and it gets by the rings, to heavy and well bad for the motor.

[35th-ANV-SS]

I would also recommend that you check your oil level more regularly.

[pajeff02]

It may be a bad intake manifold gasket.

I'm not sure how this would have any impact on the engine's oil level, or use of oil. The intake is sealed off from the engine internals by an aluminum valley cover. A bad intake gasket would result in a vacuum leak though and he would probably have idle and fueling issues.

[2002ssslp]

I'm not sure how this would have any impact on the engine's oil level, or use of oil. The intake is sealed off from the engine internals by an aluminum valley cover. A bad intake gasket would result in a vacuum leak though and he would probably have idle and fueling issues.

ooops, my bad. I had a couple of vehicles, 1 gm, 1 dodge, that sucked up oil through the intake. Forgot about the valley cover. I should have known since I have built several HP dodge 440's ovwe the years which have valley covers and never had an intake porblem.

[01SsRacing]

Im having to add a quart and a half before the car is due for the next oil change about 1000 to 800 miles early, so I think its safe to say its not a faulty sensor, which I rather it be a faulty sensor. I really hope this really isnt anything big because I do nothing but take good care of my car.

[Shermanator86]

Is your car an m6, and if so do you do a lot of engine braking?

[Smittro]

If you're not checking your oil on a regular basis you're just asking for trouble.

Especially if you hammer on it alot, and after long cruises.

[Vexzer]

Could be valve guide seals. I replaced mine when replacing the cam and oil consumption went from like yours to zero. Watch carefully during cold start up. You may see just a little smoke, or if not visible, barely an odor if you let it idle and warm for a moment before driving. Mine was barely noticeable. Option 2 is maybe intake manifold.

[Smittro]

Could be valve guide seals. I replaced mine when replacing the cam and oil consumption went from like yours to zero. Watch carefully during cold start up. You may see just a little smoke, or if not visible, barely an odor if you let it idle and warm for a moment before driving. Mine was barely noticeable. Option 2 is maybe intake manifold.

LS1 intake manifolds are isolated from the oil system except where the VAC line from your PCV line enters.

[danjo11]

Its an LS1 thing. Their notorious for using oil especially if you engine break. I check mine every time I fill up and Im always adding oil. Mine has 57k miles. No leaks. My tuner Bluecat told me this info a few weeks ago. He only tunes 00-02 LS1's and says this is very common!! Just keep an eye on it.

[01SsRacing]

Well its an A4 but I dont mess around and shift it to hold it in gears and run out a gear and just let off let it wine down, and I do run the car hard. Now ill be sure to always check the oil, the first time I thought is was just a one time thing. Like you guys say tho A lot of the ls1 just do this and I could be nothing just one of those things.

[My00Z28]

Well its an A4 but I dont mess around and shift it to hold it in gears and run out a gear and just let off let it wine down, and I do run the car hard. Now ill be sure to always check the oil, the first time I thought is was just a one time thing. Like you guys say tho A lot of the ls1 just do this and I could be nothing just one of those things.

check your PCV system my car would do the exact same thing... i found my PCV lines were crap and i replaced it with fuel line and a new PCV valve, and it solved my problem.. now im running a catch can which catches very little oil but im no longer burning it or having to add...

[Mr_Rich]

This sounds just like the problem I had with my LS1. In 400-500 miles I'd be a half quart low on a fresh oil change. When I pulled the engine last summer the only evidence I could find that made sense was a faulty PCV system. Wet oil just covered the bottom of the intake. The plugs looked normal. No wet black oily look to them at all.
I installed an LS6 in my '98 with the revised PCV system and I'm not adding oil in-between 5000 mile oil changes. I think my LS1 is still a good engine that I can correct with some mods in my pre-smog 1st gen.