Hey all,

In my 96 GT, I did a FULL PI swap last year (block, heads, intake, etc). It had about 10,000 KM on it, and I decided to switch over to AMSOIL. I flushed the motor out before switching, and used 5.7 L of AMSOIL 5w30. The motor is a remanufactured 2004 GT motor, and it calls for 5w20. My problem is that I put on about 1,000 KM, the engine oil is darker (not black but a darker brown), and it was rather low. I added about a Litre of oil, and I know for a fact that it is not leaking a drop of oil either on the ground, or seeping into the intake.
Would this possibly mean that it is burning oil? Or could I have possibly switched over to a full synthetic oil too early?
Thanks!

 

Further, also from the '04 shop manual, 1.0L per 1000kM is considered "acceptable" oil consumption (by them, no me). Part of the problem is the silly "20" part of the 5W-20 specification, it is much more about meeting corporate average fuel economy requirements than engine life--this is a good white paper regarding this.

In your case, you need to do dry and wet compression tests, and perhaps a leakdown test to see why it's using oil. It could also be a bad PCV valve so check that first.

What sort of driving was the 1000kM (avearge trip length, speed, etc.)?

 

Not sure if this helps, but synthetic will initially loose some of of its "dip stick level" because of the bonding process to the metal, it sticks to the internals very well. I have noticed it before, I don't run full synthetic, but a mixture 1 quart synthetic.

 

In the first, I do not mean to offend...

Nonetheless this is one of the silliest bits of "automotive folklore" I've heard is a while--synthetic oil is just what the name implies, "synthetic oil"--kind of like Cheez-Wiz as compared to a decent Red Windsor.

While many of its characteristics are superior to those of dino oil (and some are not), it has no magical properties that cause it to "bond to metal".

Synthetics can have a better "cling factor", however it would take more than a dipstick to measure the effect of same on the oil level in a 6 quart crankcase...

 

No offense taken, that was very polite and informative. Guess I got sucked in by the rumor mill lol

 

That's cool, the companies selling the "magic motor oils" often use preposterous claims like that in their marketing.

Eight ounces of oil (one cup, 1/2 pint, or about the smallest amount a dipstick could reliably measure) is some 14.4in³ of oil, which means that there would have to be a 0.001" additional film of oil (as compared to the dino juice) clinging to 14,400in² of surface (a 10ft square) to drop the oil level by one cup.

 

Hey again, when i was driving recently, I haven't been easy on the car, but at the same time I haven't been abusing it. The average trips were probably around 3 hours (through the city and highway), usually doin 130 km/h on the highway, and 70 on the streets.