2001 VETTE - ABNORMAL OIL USAGE

[Don S.]

Re: Don: 2001 VETTE - ABNORMAL OIL USAGE

Henry-- I took my car to them for the first oil change. This was before I realized that the oil usage was abnormal. I will probably go to them again since I do enjoy their car show.( I didn't buy my car there.)

Don

[Clem Z.]

TSB #01-06-01-023A

tell your dealer to look up this TSB# on his computer.

[Michael W.]

Another option- and a little closer to home

would be to bring the car to Decarie Chev.Olds. in Montreal.

This dealer supports our local chapter and has dedicated Corvette people on staff. They understand the peculiar needs of Corvette people and won't give you the run around.

Ask for Eric Perron- he's the Corvette sales manager.

http://www.decariechevrolet.com/en

[Harmon C.]

Re: 2001 VETTE - ABNORMAL OIL USAGE

My 2001 used some oil but now it has 30,000miles and uses very little oil. I found that to check the level hot the oil smeared up the stick and never got a good reading only that the bottom hole had oil in it making it hard to know when to add oil.You may be overfilling it. I would be interested how the dealer gets a good reading hot.The book says check it hot but I check it cold as you can get a good reading even if it is a little high. If I had your 2001 I would check the oil in the morning every day for a week and take it out and beat on it for an hour each day running it up to red line. See how much oil it uses and have some fun finding out . I didn't want to have mine torn down so I gave it a chance to get better and it did.

[Clem Z.]

checking the oil in a C-5

i check my C-5 oil in the morning before starting the engine. i also take the dip stick out the night before and leave it out till morning. this way you are not pulling oil up the dip stick tube 2 times like you would if you pull it out,wipe it off,put it back and then pull it out again. there is also a PCV mod to these engines for the oil consumsion problem. the ring problem is more of a problem on the ZO-6 than the std engine.

[Don S.]

Re: checking the oil in a C-5

clem----

good sugestion re oil dipstick. I know it is tough to check the oil on a c5 and it sometimes takes 2-3 tries. I like your sugestion re the night before.

Don

[Duke W.]

Re: checking the oil in a C-5

Most manufacturers recommend checking oil with the engine warm. Depending on the design, anywhere from a quarter to half a quart can drain down from the engine or filter over 24 hours to several weeks.

It can sometimes be difficult to achieve a clear reading when the engine is warm because of oil in the dipstick tube, especially with fresh, clean oil, so I've come up with a method to check the oil with the engine warm that gives clear readings.

First, the vehicle MUST be on a level surface, so checking the oil at the gasoline pump, which typically have flat pads or your garage is the best place.
At a gas station, the first thing I do is open the hood, remove and wipe down the dipstick and lay it in a convenient place in the engine compartment. Then in the next several minutes as your pump the fuel, get your change, etc. the oil in the dipstick tube has a chance to drain down, so when you insert and remove the dipstick, you get an accurate reading with a warm engine.

Of course, you can conduct essentially the same procedure in your garage, and if the car sits for a day or a week or a month, you can check it before the next drive to get an idea of how much additional oil drains down to the sump during the period of inactively, and if it's "overfull" - no big deal because the manufacturer's spec for full on the stick is when the engine is warm.

Duke

[Patrick H.]

Re: checking the oil in a C-5

That would explain why I alwaysthought the dipstick in my 71 was about half a quart off when the engine is cold.

Hmmm. Never knew that the spec was for a warm engine. Thanks for solving that one for me!

Patrick

[Clem Z.]

Re: checking the oil in a C-5

duke the C-5 engine takes 6.5 quarts and after a change which i let the pan drain the hot oil for 15/20 minutes, the drain plug on a C-5 is in the front of the pan so i raise the rear higher than the front so i know all the oil is out. my stick reads full on a cold engine the next morning.

[Don S.]

Re: checking the oil in a C-5

Patrick--

You will recall that my dealer told me that GM had a recall on the dipsticks that were reading incorrectly. They supposedly replaced mine. I thought this was a fairy tale because if GM does not know how to make a simple thing like a dipstick then who does.
Just maybe they replace dipsticks to ensure that the one I had was not a defect.
They told me that if I was overfilling the motor I was just blowing the oil out. as there were no apparent leaks or oil under the car on the ground.

Or maybe my dealer is just a dipstick.

Don Steele

[Barry Mills]

Re: 2001 VETTE - ABNORMAL OIL USAGE

Don, I was at Tom Jumper Chevrolet in Atlanta today as they are a wonderful sponsor of our Southeast NCRS chapter. Tom Jumper is one of the top 10 Corvette dealers in North America. Like you I have a 2001 with a 6 speed that burns too much oil. My contact immediately knew what I was speaking of. He mentioned that I need to get my oil issue logged into the service department's records as a recall is soon pending. He also mentioned that his boss at the dealership has the same car with the same problem.

Hope this helps

[Don S.]

Re: 2001 VETTE - ABNORMAL OIL USAGE

Barry--

thanks It probably will help. I do not know what a recall for a car is (do they really take the car back and give you your money back?)Whatever it is, there is a problem and I do hope they can do something. I really love the car and the driving experience with the power, the waves , and the oohs and aahs from the kids and all of the blondes. It just makes you feel good.

Don

[Clem Z.]

Re: 2001 VETTE - ABNORMAL OIL USAGE

buy back from GM are hard to get. if they rering your engine and it still burns oil you have to register a complaint with the BBB. check you owner manual as it is all spelled out in there. they say you need 5000/8000 miles on the car before they will do anything about the oil consumption problem