08-10 SS Turbocharged General Discussion Discuss the 2008 - 2009 Chevy Cobalt SS Turbocharged. On sale since the second quarter of 2008.

Oil consumption, anyone?

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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 04:31 PM
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Oil consumption, anyone?

I just had my 7th oil change done (I run the OLM to 3%) and again, my interpretation of the dip cable was confirmed by the dealership that the oil level was @ as they fill it full level.

I tend to redline this car out a dozen times a day, NLS at least 2 times a day (whenever i can get away with it, really), almost never use the brakes simply rev match'n'downshifting and considering that the car has 82,000 miles I find that the cleanliness of the oil and the fact that none is lost in 12,000 mile oil change intervals to be surprising in the best possible way. Fwiw I do check the fluids every other gas up, old habit I suppose.

I don't let it get into boost until the engine coolant is at least 160 F or 10 minutes of operation (cold start), whichever is shorter but other than that, I feel I flog it. I am curious and here to survey everyone's oil consumption observations, regardless of mods.

PS edit: I will rev match to a gear up to 5k rpm for compression braking and have done it as much as possible since I bought the car new.

Last edited by rchiwawa; Feb 2, 2013 at 05:00 PM. Reason: brakes for breaks :)
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 04:36 PM
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I've got 72k and change my olm down to 5-10% before I change it. I've never had any oil loss.
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 04:51 PM
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12000 mile oil change? i change mine every 5000 kilometers..., you should at least change the filter.... and i dont go by the oil life guage.

and if your reving the **** out of it all the time more oil will be burnt
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 04:57 PM
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Originally Posted by kzak104
12000 mile oil change? i change mine every 5000 kilometers..., you should at least change the filter.... and i dont go by the oil life guage.

and if your reving the **** out of it all the time more oil will be burnt

Usage is as stated, I rev the **** out of it and use no oil between changes. The oil is right between honey and what I am used to as normal looking "black".

Maybe its the Mobil 1...
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 05:11 PM
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welp, guess I'm boned. I go 10k miles between changes and lose two quarts and I don't drive her hard. However, NO oil is on the plugs, nor is it showing any other signs of burning it up. Makes me glad I'm pulling the head off net month.
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 05:23 PM
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Originally Posted by raynrishad
welp, guess I'm boned. I go 10k miles between changes and lose two quarts and I don't drive her hard. However, NO oil is on the plugs, nor is it showing any other signs of burning it up. Makes me glad I'm pulling the head off net month.
I should say so. I am familiar with only one car that had visible smoke coming out of the exhaust from burning oil and hombre said it needed a quart every 100 miles or so. Your level of burn/loss is on par with leaky turbo I had on a Saab 9-5. That thing seemed to be a quart low every 5k miles give or take and I suspected it was the turbo because if I let the thing idle for more than about 10 minutes, it would start smoking.
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by rchiwawa
I tend to redline this car out a dozen times a day, NLS at least 2 times a day (whenever i can get away with it, really).
Can you post the VIN for us so no poor sap buys this car on these forums when you sell it?
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 07:52 PM
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i dont understand why your surprised your engines are burning oil when your changing the oil every 10000 miles and **** kicking them all 10000...
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 08:11 PM
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Mines not leaking oil anywhere. Its got no oil on the plugs. Theres no smoke coming from the exaust, or anywhere at all. And I don't "**** kick" mine at all unless I'm at the strip and I havn't been there in two years. So, try again?
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 08:53 PM
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Originally Posted by kzak104
i dont understand why your surprised your engines are burning oil when your changing the oil every 10000 miles and **** kicking them all 10000...
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 10:42 PM
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Guess I'm one of the few people that change their oil and filter every 3k miles regardless of what the oil life monitor displays.
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 11:17 PM
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I change it about every 4-5k miles and consumption is very minimal. I'd say 1/4 of a quart maybe. Don't beat on the car tho
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Old Feb 2, 2013 | 11:27 PM
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Originally Posted by 09BlueBaltSS
I change it about every 4-5k miles and consumption is very minimal. I'd say 1/4 of a quart maybe. Don't beat on the car tho
I consider up to a half quart per 5k miles perfectly normal. Always good to check levelsat fuel up if for no other reason than to kill time but, yeah I think that is fine
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 03:29 AM
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rchiwawa, READ! lol

My car is 75000 miles, i flog it, and do changes according to oil change monitor and no oil burnt here! I do have a bit of a misfire issue these days though
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 04:15 AM
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One thing i think worthy of mention is that a couple of times near end of oil life i have seen odd (being not typical in my 80K+ of observation) valve timings commanded in various situations... anyone else with an rpd notice that, too?

Originally Posted by Macgyver2484
Can you post the VIN for us so no poor sap buys this car on these forums when you sell it?
doon't sweat it, brah. i will drive it until it blows up and attempt to get a warranty replacment. if i make it to 100k, and it sure looks that way to me at this point, i might ease off of it a bit but a replacement engine is a trip to the dealership away.

My intent when i bought this car was to drive the hell out of it, replace parts and repair as necessary, scrap it when parts become unobtanium. As long as i can Amazon.com, gmpartsdirect, crate engine depot, or order parts from god forbid the dealer parts dept., i'll be driving it. by the time i get rid of this thing parts will be so hard to come by anyone interested in them will probably be glad to have a donor car.

who buys this kind of car to not drive it hard. i am on my 4th set of tires, fwiw and i don't believe in spinning the tires on purpose, ever. if i were that sort of churl(street burn outs being the knave thing to do), i would have bought an rwd


Originally Posted by Soofisahab
rchiwawa, READ! lol

My car is 75000 miles, i flog it, and do changes according to oil change monitor and no oil burnt here! I do have a bit of a misfire issue these days though
I am a bit tired, did i fail to read AND comprehend something?

as far as the misfiring, i was at around 60K when i had an occasional sharp power drop off at 5k rpm or so that a series of intake seafoaming remedied. now i seafoam every few thousand miles and that quirk went away. Possibly related? after 100k i will probably just pop the head off, walnut shell blast my valves clean and install Powell's antigunking system if it is ready.

Any mods, any idea what the misfire could be from? i haven't come across too much about these cars and misfires (in all stock configuration, at least
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 06:07 AM
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Originally Posted by rchiwawa
One thing i think worthy of mention is that a couple of times near end of oil life i have seen odd (being not typical in my 80K+ of observation) valve timings commanded in various situations... anyone else with an rpd notice that, too?



doon't sweat it, brah. i will drive it until it blows up and attempt to get a warranty replacment. if i make it to 100k, and it sure looks that way to me at this point, i might ease off of it a bit but a replacement engine is a trip to the dealership away.

My intent when i bought this car was to drive the hell out of it, replace parts and repair as necessary, scrap it when parts become unobtanium. As long as i can Amazon.com, gmpartsdirect, crate engine depot, or order parts from god forbid the dealer parts dept., i'll be driving it. by the time i get rid of this thing parts will be so hard to come by anyone interested in them will probably be glad to have a donor car.

who buys this kind of car to not drive it hard. i am on my 4th set of tires, fwiw and i don't believe in spinning the tires on purpose, ever. if i were that sort of churl(street burn outs being the knave thing to do), i would have bought an rwd




I am a bit tired, did i fail to read AND comprehend something?

as far as the misfiring, i was at around 60K when i had an occasional sharp power drop off at 5k rpm or so that a series of intake seafoaming remedied. now i seafoam every few thousand miles and that quirk went away. Possibly related? after 100k i will probably just pop the head off, walnut shell blast my valves clean and install Powell's antigunking system if it is ready.

Any mods, any idea what the misfire could be from? i haven't come across too much about these cars and misfires (in all stock configuration, at least
hehe, I'm the tired....meant to put kzak104 on the READ comment

Coincidentally, I just seafoamed my car today and massive smoke clouds! Will see if it remedies...
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by 09SS
Guess I'm one of the few people that change their oil and filter every 3k miles regardless of what the oil life monitor displays.
Its unnecessary but its your money. Just think about who recommends what intervals and what they have to gain or lose by changing the recommendations.
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 09:58 AM
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Not sure if whoo geeee or not......
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 10:04 AM
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And u shouldn't wait to be changing it for that long under those conditions.... If u say u beat it that much then u should change oil every 3k miles or 5-10k if using amsoil hi-zinc or signature series....... If just using mobile 1..get ready to replace engine parts too including timing chain components.....
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 10:10 AM
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I change mine every 3k in my HHR. I dont even wait till 10-12k in my beater
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by turbosmart4
And u shouldn't wait to be changing it for that long under those conditions.... If u say u beat it that much then u should change oil every 3k miles or 5-10k if using amsoil hi-zinc or signature series....... If just using mobile 1..get ready to replace engine parts too including timing chain components.....
lol dafaq are you smoking? haha

I go 7-8k mile oil changes with Mobil 1 High mileage and never have problems with internals. and my car is tuned.
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 10:53 AM
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According to how much he beats on it that would be the best thing to do
And u should too if ur waiting that long after beating on it like he does
Those are considered severe driving conditions.

And what am I smoking, asks the guy from Colorado.....

Last edited by turbosmart4; Feb 3, 2013 at 10:59 AM.
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by kzak104
12000 mile oil change? i change mine every 5000 kilometers..., you should at least change the filter.... and i dont go by the oil life guage.

and if your reving the **** out of it all the time more oil will be burnt
This. Usually my oil life is around 35%~ when I get it changed.
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 11:52 AM
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Its not just a mileage counter. It calculates based on your driving conditions.
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Old Feb 3, 2013 | 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Soofisahab
hehe, I'm the tired....meant to put kzak104 on the READ comment

Coincidentally, I just seafoamed my car today and massive smoke clouds! Will see if it remedies...
when i seakfoamed, i was about to haul the car into the dealership and ask wth. i had to seafoam 4 times in a row to stop the car from kicking out blue smoke for miles on end. my assumption is that the bluish output is the seafoam doing it's thing and that initial heavy grey cloud if just the seafoam being burned off. i did it several more times after the initial doses for good measure (the power loss was remedied fully after the second pass in my situation) and would even do back to back cleanings for the first couple of times but it has proven unnecessary as no blue smoke was produced, ever, on the second pass. anymore, it seems like i do it right around a tire rotation and somewhere in the middle. what brings me to seamfoamin' is unusually rough cold idle and throttle response before the cat is warmed and it's o2 sensor are being used by the ecm (assumed because if i wait for the valve phasing to zero on cold start, no problems with throttle response even if it needs a cleaning but if it needs one and i don't wait positive feedback power attenuation.... that up and down up and down cycling of engine and car speed... is demonstrably worse)

seafoaming is my favorite kind of maintenance (easy, actually does something for the butt dyno, and fun to have a reason to romp on it mercilessly) but i can't wait for Powell RS to start offering their kit for valve gunking, until then and 100k, i am content with mosquito fogging my neighborhood. every 3,000 miles or so.
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