Re-ring for Oil Consumption

[John & Donna]

Hello all

Our "baby" will be going in for a re-ring to correct oil consumption next week

The good news is that while things are apart, we will also be doing a Heads & Cam upgrade (should get us 400 rwhp)

If there is interest, I will post pics of the "open heart surgery"

Our history goes something like this:
We never used any oil until we had about 13,000 miles on the car. On our way back from a Corvette show, the low oil light came on - 1/2 quart low. Bought some oil and "limped" home. Looked for oil spots or drips, but couldn't find any. As the oil had been recently changed by the dealer, I assumed that not enough new oil was put in. After several more miles, the light came on again - another 1/2 quart was needed. As it was close to time for an oil change, I decided to change it myself and watch the level carefully. I crawled underneath to remove the plug and filter and noticed oil caked on the filter. I loosened the filter by hand - the dealer did not tighten the filter properly Cleaned things up and breathed a sigh of relief (I had found the problem). After about 1,600 miles or so, the light came on again. This time we took it to the dealer. They found a leaking bolt and fixed it. Ok, we thought we were home free. The car was then parked for the winter. Next spring after about 1,100 miles, the light came on again. We topped off the oil and decide to keep driving it, adding oil as necessary until time for an oil change. The problem began to get worse; since then, we have gone through 1/2 quart every 600 to 800 miles. Then, we would go to the dealer and start the oil consumption test. Went to start the consumption test about mid-summer; GM reviewed the history of our car and with the dealer not able to find any leaks, said re-ring the car (don't bother with doing the oil consumption test). We opted to delay the re-ring until we would normally be parking the car for the winter (now) so we could have fun for the rest of the summer and go to the shows we planned on.

Almost all of the mileage on our car (now 24,000) is from cruising down the highway (6th gear & 1,800 rpms). The car has never been to the drag strip and was never autcrossed until GM had authorized the re-ring. We just got back from a long road trip (Kansas City, Bowling Green, Atlanta and home) and we used about 1 3/4 quarts in 4,000 miles

[JBsC5]

Wishing you guys the best. I had my re ring done on the car back in august of this year. A quart every 300 miles..now..it is a 1/2 quart in about 2200 miles..

I'm very pleased with the results..Of course had I done heads and cam I might have been even happier.. Good luck and enjoy

JB

[Rob]

John and Donna,

If you could post pics, that would be cool. Good luck and keep us posted on the outcome.

[hcolon]

I have the same problem! I believe my car consumes about a quart 1/2 every 3k miles. I don't get it. Why do these cars burn up so much oil?
Herbie

[c4c5specialist]

Hi Herbie,
1/2 quart in 3000 is about right for this engine design.
GM specifies that 1 quart in 2000 is acceptable.
Engine design has been radical in the past 10 years. You will consume some oil with this design, based on engineering.
All cars that need rerings will burn about 1 quart in 400 miles.
Allthebest, c4c5