Buick 3.8 oil consumption ?

Get to the dealer?  Sounds like he already got to you ;>)

IMHO, that is too much oil.  The GM philosophy might say that is within
their
specifications.  But that is too much oil for a nearly new car.

You may have a leak.  Sometimes gaskets, oil pressure senders, etc spring
a leak, and depending where it is, you might not see it so readily.

Have somebody look at it....a dealer, maybe, if it is still in warranty.

GM will tell you it is in spec, but that is very high, IMO.  I've not had a
3.8 that could not go 7500 miles between changes with no oil added.  And
that is even after 75,000 miles.   At 150,000 miles it would get changed a
bit more often, but still never added oil.

Zork wrote:

A quart every 5000-7500 miles is more like it.

Maybe what you would accept and consider reasonably normal, but the
auto companies dont see it that way.

I had a new Ford that was using oil 'way back in 1968.  I went to the dealer
under warranty, and they put the car on test...changed oil, sealed the
crankcase.
They told me that if my consumption was a quart per 750 miles or better,
this
would be viewed as within normal limits and they would not cover it .  Car
had about 17000 miles on it at the time  It was actually 400 miles per quart
and they put in a new engine.  A ring land had cracked.

You have to see what the auto company sees as acceptable.

hls wrote:

That is awful.
I have heard stories about oil consumption being ignored by the mfg.

On 9/12/2010 7:22 PM, Paul wrote:

Maybe if the engine had 250k on it.

Didn't see a mention of mileage on his one.  But loss between oil
changes should be very small and hardly noticeable between oil changes.

--
Is government working for you, or are you working for the government?

What kind of gas are using? Do you have any leaks?


--
Airport Shuttle

''
(http://www.yourcityride.com )
Message origin: TRAVEL.com

Using regular 87 octane.  There are absolutely no leaks anywhere.
Forgot to mention, engine has 41k miles on it. Just once, the other
day, when I started it up in the AM there was a puff of blue smoke.
Never saw that before, or since.
Gary

That particular indication of blue smoke can mean that oil is leaking down
the valve
stem, due to valve stem seal failure or valve stem wear, or both.

That would be very unusual in a car as new as this one.

If this is happening, you wont normally see blue smoke in normal
driving because the catalytic converter keeps it fully burned.   When
starting,
the engine can get a fairly large dose of oil and the converter is not hot
enough to really get rid of the evidence.

This car should be in warranty.  Get it to a dealership, and have them start
the procedure to see if it is bad enough for them to repair under warranty.

Blue smoke = burning oil
Talk to the service manager about it and it may be a good idea to run the
car until hot, park it at the dealers and let him start it in the morning.
At that mileage, no way should it be using oil.

It was fairly common back in the 1950's and 60's to see that type of action
from worn valve stem guides, but I've not seen that on anything since with
less than 150,000 miles.  GM may not agree, but you have a problem.  If they
don't give you any satisfaction, trade it in on a Hyundai Genesis.

Underline that sentence...Modern automobiles just normally don't occasion
this sort of issue until much later in life.

Now, to get GM to do something about it may take a little perseverance.

On 9/14/2010 3:49 PM, Airport Shuttle wrote:


Normal every day regular gas.  87 octane I think.  No leaks, park it in
a a weather sealed garage and never smell gas.


--
Is government working for you, or are you working for the government?

Next time you change your oil add a bottle of Lucas.


--
Airport Shuttle

''
(http://www.yourcityride.com )
Message origin: TRAVEL.com

No, not at all normal, it is in fact excessive. Get thee to thy warrantor.
Insist that it uses oil at the rate of 1qt/500 miles, put the onus on them.
Be persisitent, if you don't get satisfaction from the dealer, elevate
your complaint to the district rep.

If you can find a district representative or a zone representative you will
be lucky.   Those guys used to be the people who had the information
that dealerships overlooked, who could make decisions.   The last time
I tried to find one, I was told that they didnt exist anymore.