MY10 SSV with extremely low oil....

[vyc4b]

Hey Guy's,

A friend has a MY10 SSV that has been regularly serviced and isn't due for another 9,000klm's (30K service) and his wife has informed him the check oil light had come on...............:driving:

Upon inspection it required at least 3ltrs of Penrite's finest (5-30w) and the dip stick indicated half full!

Is this common ?
Should he be worried ?
Any help would be appreciated.


:toetap:

[steve_t]

That doesn't sound good. Blowing smoke out the exhaust? Maybe a compression test would be a good idea

[vyc4b]

nah, no smoke..... I'm hearing you about the comp test!

[peter b]

Good way to check how much it is using. Top it up to full mark drive for 2500k's and measure how much oil will take to fill back up. If more than 500mls is excessive.
Oil consumption can be caused by a number of reasons ranging from oil leaks,
glazed bores or leaky valve stem seals.
My guess would be glazed bores or oil rings have failed to some degree.
Check oil consumption. However this is under warranty go to your dealer and get the ball rolling as they will start an oil consumption test

[Speedy Gonzales]

Doesnt seem like either the bores, rings or both are seating correctly, using 5/30 oil isnt helping the situation, poor choice unless you happen to do plenty of cold starts and driving in the snow.

[SS317]

I'd change the oil to 10/60 or 10/40 and see if that helps, 5/30 is no good IMO

[boggers007]

I had a problem like this with my ute, think it was the sump gasket or something that wasn't sealed right and it dripped oil out and over time it adds up.

[Strick]

Wasnt there a recall for that model year on sump bolts? They didnt torque them enough or something?

[macca33]

Shoulda bought a C4B...:thumbsup:

37cm this morning where you caught and released the Grayling - Flashback Nymph!

[SS317]

Wasnt there a recall for that model year on sump bolts? They didnt torque them enough or something?

My ss was recalled for the sump bolts, it took them 3 try's and a scratch to the bumper to get it right :flipoff:

[vyc4b]

Thank's for the advice Guy's, I had mentioned some of these thing's to the owner. Seeing as though the 'Dealer' said it didn't seem to be a problem I might get him to head back to the same 'Dealer' and ask to speak to someone willing to help!




Great work Big fella, your catch rate is certainly up there!
One of the club Guy's got a 5-1/2Lb Brown whilst Czech nymphing the Goulby
:shock:
A trip up the high Country is definitely on the cards very soon mate!

[awesome _vzss]

Could also be that at the last service they didn't put the right amount of oil in it,would be the first time I've heard of something like that.

[SV805]

could also be that at the last service they didn't put the right amount of oil in it,would be the first time i've heard of something like that.

+1..............................

[Djbarnstar]

That oil is too thin. I bet there is lifter noise when it is hot also.

[ATOMIC 8]

If an engine is burning oil.. It will burn it no matter what viscosity you use.

Holden recommends to use a 5w-30 weight oil and for the average joe blow there is nothing wrong with it as long as it is changed regularly. For spirited drivers such as most of us on here you may need to look at something a little bit thicker 10w-40 etc but if it using oil it will not help that anyway.

My bet is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the engine and it is just the sump that is leaking or the oil level wasn't right to begin with.

[v8commodore]

Had same problem with mine when I bought it from holden last year was using 5/30 and went through on the dipstick quarter of a level every week I thought something was wrong to. I changed to 10-40 and doesnt use no oil at all now not even after 7 months. I was amazed really how changing to slightly thicker oil stopped it. And was more amazed at how the recommend weight oil went through so much. I really did think my car was ready for a rebuild

[redvxr8clubby]

This is what the local mechanics tell me when I get my VX Clubby serviced, if you put in 5/ 30, the oil consumption will increase, so 10/ 40 is normally what they use. Looks like nothing has changed in 10 years.

[PESSV]

Mine has always used oil. Holden said it was "an acceptable level of usage". Maybe that's why they gave them such a big sump? Only kidding.
I also tried to have the sump bolts fixed several times and ended up doing it myself.
Have a go at Holden about the oil usage, good luck.

[peter b]

In all fairness these are all alloy engines and anyone saying their engine using no oil at all is being naive. They will always use some oil but there is using oil to the normal level and there is excessive oil consumption.
Car is under warranty so he should take it back to the dealer and get a consumption test started and only after the test is done will Holden Warranty do something about the issue not before.
The test is nothing more than noting oil level at start of test and after I think like 2500km from memory they re check the level and measure how much it takes to get back to full. That amount is recorded and sent in to Holden as evidence of excess usage and then they work out the best solution whether rebuild or replace

[swingtan]

Guys, it's an MY10, so it's still under waranty.

Don't add oil unless you can prove the amount you put in. Take it to Holdena and have them check it out. If there is an issue, it'll be coverered under warranty. At the very leat they will start an oil consumption test which requires an accurate measurement on how much oil the engine is going through. You really need to inform Holden of the issue and let them deal with it, at least you need to do this if you ever want them to cover the engine under warranty. If they don;t know about the issue, they can't do anything about it. The sooner they know, the sooner it's added to the vehicle logs on the system.

Simon.

[v8commodore]

When I said my car now uses no oil at all I mean on dipstick it hasnt moved from full mark. I have a elite catch can and after 2 oil changes there is less then quarter a teaspoon in there vs compared to before is what I meant by not using any oil at all

[vyc4b]

Guys, it's an MY10, so it's still under waranty.

Don't add oil unless you can prove the amount you put in. Take it to Holdena and have them check it out. If there is an issue, it'll be coverered under warranty. At the very leat they will start an oil consumption test which requires an accurate measurement on how much oil the engine is going through. You really need to inform Holden of the issue and let them deal with it, at least you need to do this if you ever want them to cover the engine under warranty. If they don;t know about the issue, they can't do anything about it. The sooner they know, the sooner it's added to the vehicle logs on the system.

Simon.


As usual Swingy, some very valid points mate..... BUT-
He already has had the car back to Holden (the dealership near your house) and apparently 3.5ltrs is an acceptable amount!!!
-and further to the amount added, this friend of mine said he could of easily added another .5 of a litre.
He had a read through the vehicle info booklet and followed the instruction to do an analysis test on the oil and the life of the oil registered 0% Life. (this analysis was under taken of course before he added almost 3/4 of a bottle of the reccomended oil)
P1ss pore service on a $50K+ car IMO, which was bought there in good faith!

[Wonky]

I've only had my oil checked a couple of times between changes but basically it has only ever used SFA. I've been using Edge 10w60 for about 30,000km now, changed every 7,500km.

[tunga]

Could also be that at the last service they didn't put the right amount of oil in it,would be the first time I've heard of something like that.

absolutly i knew a guy who picked up his ford courier ute after its firt service to find that the rattling sound he could hear upon setting off was an almost dry sump !

[vr5speedv6]

In all fairness these are all alloy engines and anyone saying their engine using no oil at all is being naive. They will always use some oil but there is using oil to the normal level and there is excessive oil consumption.


They do have iron cylinder liners though, so I can't see the alloy being an oil consumption factor.

As others have said, I think it's most likley a case of it been underfilled at the last service.

[planetdavo]

We used to see a number of Honda S2000's with seized motors, because the owners expected them to be just like a Civic, and NEVER checked the oil level of their hard working engines between services.
People need to rediscover the "lost art" of basic fluid checks on their cars at regular intervals, even far more important these days with such long recommended service intervals.

[vyc4b]

We used to see a number of Honda S2000's with seized motors, because the owners expected them to be just like a Civic, and NEVER checked the oil level of their hard working engines between services.
People need to rediscover the "lost art" of basic fluid checks on their cars at regular intervals, even far more important these days with such long recommended service intervals.

Yep lost art, it seems it needs to be a weekly chore for Husbands to check the oil in there WIFE'S cars.....
3.5ltr's in 6,000klm's is sh1t regardless how much sugar get's coated on it!
That's around 350ml's of Oil for every tank of fuel.

Thanks for the friendly reminder on the lost art of checking Oil PD, but would you care to give your opinion on whether this is an acceptable Oil usage on a car with 22,000klm's on the clock!
Of course this opinion only has to be the opinion of someone who contributes a considerable amount to a Car forum and not that of someone who works for a Holden Dealer......
Cheers.

[NIXON]

Uh maybe they just didnt fill it up at the last service?? Silly, but if it got serviced by Holden i wouldn't put it past them...

[macca_779]

Uh maybe they just didnt fill it up at the last service?? Silly, but if it got serviced by Holden i wouldn't put it past them...

Wouldn't put it past them. Early LS1's ran 5L. L98's 8.5L I think. There's your missing 3.5


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[redvxr8clubby]

You could be right Macca, perhaps they have put 5L and not topped it up from there. I picked up a used SV6 from a Holden dealer about 4 months ago, it had about 44,000 Km on it. The dealer had signed off on the 45,000Km service in the log book, but when I looked at the oil level, I didn't see much on the dipstick, but it was clean looking and I could have been wrong. I took it back to the dealer, they took the car in checked it, brought it out and said there was no problem, but after this the oil level was more apparent on the dip stick. I suspected it probably had 5 litres in it, I think the V6 should have about 6.7l. As has been suggested already, the OP needs to get Holden to check and top up the level. Then check its usage, otherwise it's all guess work, not really knowing if it was fully topped at the last service. If the consumption is a problem it's warranty, so best to have Holden advised and checking consumption sooner rather than later.

[heavyduty1340]

Well afer 49000km and zero oil consumption, I jumped in the SSV Sportwagon today and fark me if when I started it it didnt rattle like 50 yr old diesel.

I parked up and shut it down - after 5 min I checked oil, and it was on the bottom mark. Zero oil leaks, no smoke .

Was serviced 3500km ago by holden, and they are just around the corner, so I had a chat to the service manager and a mechanic can and looked at it and had to add 1.5l to it
He took it to the workshop and put tit on the hoist - no oil leaks etc.

He then went and looked up on the holden computer, and it said that my consumption was within specs??

We are going to do a regular check and monitor, but I nfi why this has just started, unless they used shit quality oil this time, as they are the only workshop to service it.

Will have to wait and see where this one ends

[VYSHSV8]

Well afer 49000km and zero oil consumption, I jumped in the SSV Sportwagon today and fark me if when I started it it didnt rattle like 50 yr old diesel.

I parked up and shut it down - after 5 min I checked oil, and it was on the bottom mark. Zero oil leaks, no smoke .

Was serviced 3500km ago by holden, and they are just around the corner, so I had a chat to the service manager and a mechanic can and looked at it and had to add 1.5l to it
He took it to the workshop and put tit on the hoist - no oil leaks etc.

He then went and looked up on the holden computer, and it said that my consumption was within specs??

We are going to do a regular check and monitor, but I nfi why this has just started, unless they used shit quality oil this time, as they are the only workshop to service it.

Will have to wait and see where this one ends
1.5ltrs within spec what a crock of sh!t :(
More to the point they probably went and checked how much oil they added at the last service and then went fark we only added as much as a LS1 needed, then realised they farked up and quickly added the extra when you noticed it and said that it is within spec.....to cover there arse

1.5ltrs per 3000k is absolutely bullshit, especially when service intervals are 15000km

[sjhugh]

My Ute is a MY10 with just on 10,000k and is 11 months old. It’s yet to have its first service.

Yesterday morning I started it up after a trip back from the coast and it rattled like hell. I checked the dipstick and I didn’t register any oil on the stick. It took 3.5 litres to get it back to the full mark and after running it for about 10 minutes the rattling stopped.

It’s off to Holden on Monday to discuss the issue.

.

[Speedy Gonzales]

Could it be they are invoicing for putting in 5L of oil and charging for 8.5? Would you be pissed if this was the case?

[HEXEM]

Just thought I'd add this info for people thinking that their L98 take 8.3ltrs.

Need to check the amount of oil your filling the SS with. MY9.5 onwards (L98, L76 & L77) have a slightly smaller sump requiring only 7.6ltrs (with a new filter) of oil. The earlier L98's (2006 - to MY9) have a different sump which takes 8.3ltrs (with filter) of oil.

When I had my 3rd engine installed last November (a MY9.5 L98 - August 2009 built) they (Holden) automatically filled it with 8.5ltrs of oil and upon inspection of the dipstick the oil level was WAY over the full line (close to 2 inches).

I questioned this and they said the L98 takes 8.3ltrs of oil. I got them to drop the oil and redo it and measure it after 7ltrs went in. It took exactly 600mils and was bang on the full line. They were shocked. I said to them to look at the sump config and it was different to another 2007 SS. The new sump was the same as the one fitted to L76 and L77 ect.

[HEXEM]

Could it be they are invoicing for putting in 5L of oil and charging for 8.5? Would you be pissed if this was the case?

I know of some dealers that charge HSV owners for 2 five liter bottles of Mobil1 (where the Mobil1 is not used in the 205ltr drums) but only use the 8ltrs and do not return the left over oil to the customer.

It all adds up at service time... 2ltrs of Mobil1 off the price could save you $40 on the oil change.

[Phizzle]

We used to see a number of Honda S2000's with seized motors, because the owners expected them to be just like a Civic, and NEVER checked the oil level of their hard working engines between services.
People need to rediscover the "lost art" of basic fluid checks on their cars at regular intervals, even far more important these days with such long recommended service intervals.

Hence why years ago car manufacturers started making engine covers with black plastic and only having bright yellow on the bits which required people to check on at regular intervals. Coolant, engine oil and brake fluid.

However this only works when people actually pull the bonnet release and take the 60 seconds to check all the levels and top up where required....

[Woteva]

Pays to check these days. I picked up my brand new E3 R8 Tourer and the oil was only just registering on the stick. Also 500k's after first service, a wheel nut on front driver's side was half wound off the thread! :confused: