Recently my 2002 Kia Optima has begun to use oil. It is not a leak and the Kia garage did an oil consumption test and found that it is using 1 and 1/2 quarts of oil per 1000 miles. They advsied me that this is within Kia specs and are not going to do anything. Has anyone else had this problem and if so what was done if anything.
Burning/using oil is NOT "normal", and using 1.5 quarts of oil every
1,000 miles is very excessive oil consumption..I assume the car is under factory warranty... I would strongly suggest you go to another dealer and get the car checked out by them.. If that fails to gain your satisfaction, contact your state's attorney general's office of consumer protection and file a complaint.
JM
FWIW our 02 Optima uses none, zero oil according to the dipstick between oil changes (3,000 miles). As JM said, pursue this big time.
mookie
In speaking with the Kia garage they advised me that it is not their decision but Kia's decision as to whether they are going to try to found out why it is burning oil. They said that Kia will not approve the warranty work because the oil usage falls within their specs. I have called the Kia corporation directly and lodged a complaint. They advised me that they would have to verify my complaint and would get back to me. I have not heard from them yet.
I find it hard to believe a quart a thousand is "in spec". But whatever. FWIW again, I sent an e-mail to KIA corporate about an unrelated issue and I got a phone call 48 hours later. Let's hope they are still as aggressive in addressing customer concerns.
mookie
take out the PCV valve and put a "q" tip in the threaded pipe where it was, you'll find it is full of black gritty stuff. clean it out. you should be able to blow on the PCV from one side only, and it will click. if not replace it. Otherwise your actually pressurizing the crankcase. The PCV lets the pressure out. when does not work, it pressurizes the crankcase, even if it's a pound or so of pressure, it forces the oil past the rings. the cat converter will clean any smoke to an extent, and the engine computer will compensate for the extra oil and you won't notice what's happening. it's a common problem, with an easy fix.
Mine once was using oil like that. But there was no smoke. No mechanic could find the problem. I found it by trying to tighten the oil filter and it was loose. You never say the leak at when the car was not moving. Under driving vibration the filter seal opened up enough to let oil out.
I received a call back from the Kia representative and she said that Kia engineers confirmed that my oil usage was within specs. Therefore Kia is not going to do anything. Thanks for all the advice but I think I will be trading my Kia for a different brand.
Thank you for the feedback. Sorry for your loss.
mookie
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