2009 2.4 oil usage

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WideTrack
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:58 am

2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by WideTrack »

I have a 2009 Vibe with the 2.4 engine and it appears to have the common excessive oil usage issue. Car has about 95k miles on it. My wife was driving it, got a oil light and found that the oil level was very low.

I see that the Toyota with the same issue is covered by an extended warranty until 10 years and 150k miles.

Will GM do anything to help me out here? Any tips on what to say to the dealership if I take it by there?
tpollauf
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Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by tpollauf »

First off, welcome to GenVibe WideTrac :D Quick answer ... NO :x Need to know a bit of the history on the car if you have it. How thirsty is the engine? Toyota specs say that adding one quart of oil per 1500 miles is not excessive and within normal parameters. 99% of us drivers would tend to disagree with that fact. My son's 2009 Vibe GT (2.4l, automatic) was purchased used at just under 36k miles back in March 2011(lease turn in). I swear the prior owner NEVER changed the oil at all as this poor Vibe was majorly abused. His engine was consuming exactly what I described above and when I discovered our LUSH of a car, I starting taking precautions to remedy the problem. First thing was to change out "whatever oil the dealer put in there" with Mobil 1 full synthetic. Fast forward to today where he's at 90k miles & then some, and the burning rate has actually dropped off significantly to one quart every 2500 - 3000 miles. He can actually go between oil changes now without me having to top it off. Oh, yeah ... the oil light came on for us shortly after we took delivery which is where the engine is 2-2.5 quarts low at that time ... not good! Fill us in on your story and maybe we can help!
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2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
jolt
Posts: 945
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:07 am
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by jolt »

There is more info about this problem here on this forum board if you use the search at the upper right corner of this page. GM will do nothing about any problem on a Pontiac unless it is required to do so by federal law as per their government bailout, i.e. emission or safety related. As a side not: Ford told me that unless a motor uses oil at a rate of 500 miles per quart, it is considered normal oil consumption.
WideTrack
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:58 am

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by WideTrack »

Thanks for you reply. The car has about 95,000 miles on it and I have just used what the dealer or a trusted mechanic has put in it. I have not been checking the oil level like I should and did not know about a problem until the oil light came on. I then started reading the web and freaked out because I would like to keep this car until out other car is paid off.

I'll try the synthetic oil and I am going to keep a much closer eye on the oil level and document what I see.
jolt
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Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:07 am
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by jolt »

You can watch this video that explains the problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgdZSXOslDM

Check YouTube for other videos. The biggest thing here is the oil rings getting plugged with sludge and carbon deposits. Change your oil often with a high detergent motor oil to reduce the chance of sludge and carbon build up, like mobil 1. If you do this you may get lucky and over a long time reduce the build up in the oil control rings and improve your oil consumption. If you add something like a ½ quart of Marvels Mystery Oil - http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/product ... stery-oil/ - to every oil change of 2 to 3 thousand miles it would help clean up the inside of the engine faster. Also replace the PCV valve which is easy to do as it is on the back of the valve cover. This will help the piston rings do their job a little easier too. Remember that this did not happen over night. In your case 95,000 miles so if you need it fixed right NOW, you are going to have to replace the rings. If you have time and watch the oil, you may get it improved by doing the above. Never let the oil light come on and do not drive the car with the oil light on. Turn the engine off if the oil light is on. The oil light does NOT tell you the level of oil in the engine. The light comes on because there is no oil pressure to lubricate the engine and it will blow up! Any time you see the oil light on, you are doing extreme wear and damage to the motor.
Benelli
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 7:02 am

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by Benelli »

I have owned my Vibe since new and have been running Mobil 1 since 10k miles, my 2.4l uses 1 quart every 2500 miles. I not sure when my oil consumption started but would guess it was around 40k (I have 115k now). My wife's Lexus also uses a quart of oil every 2500 miles. My only vehicles that don't use oil are my domestics, both my toyota designed engines use oil.
cq358
Posts: 348
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:19 am

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by cq358 »

Usually around 60k mi-95 k miles will start using oil it is dependent manufacturing tolerance, driving habits, oil change frequency. In many case if car use oil can still last 200k. This is dependent whether ever let the engine run dry. Even one single instance of letting the engine ran dry can be bad for the engine. How you define ran dry, ie when your dip stick is totally dry and oil pressure light came on.

So if you know your engine burn oil what you going to do?
1. check your oil weekly.
2. change your oil more often measuring how much oil you drain. You should reduce the oil change interval from 5000 miles to 3000 -4000 miles until you find sweet spot of oil consumption vs frequency.
3. Type of oil syn vs dino : i don't think it is really matter , but since you changing your oil more often , logically you should use the cheapest oil even it is mineral oil, everything dependent on frequency on oil change.
4. plan your trip, try reduce short trip.
5. drive hard, don't baby your car, actually from Toyota's in-house research paper published 10 years ago shows a harder pull (mid range accleration) actually promotes oil circulation at the ring lands in the piston , which reduce oil burning.

http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Rea ... onsume-oil

or search SAE paper that studying oil consumption relationship between engine load
"An experimental and theoretical study of the contribution of oil evaporation to oil consumption"
Bobsec2010
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:32 am
Location: Montreal region (Quebec)

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by Bobsec2010 »

Hello everyone,
I'm a GT 2003 owner since 2005. I'm very happy with its reliability overtime. My car is rusting enough to consider to by a new car. I've planned to spent $2500 to $3000 CAN to make some repairs (gaz tank, muffler, idler and tension pulleys, front bumper, fog lights, hydraulic steering mechanism, etc.). For these reasons, I'm reconsidering to buy a 'new' used car. Has you know, it is difficult to find such a car with the same advantages (cargo, driving pleasure, reliability).
I decided to look around and see if it is easy to find a more recent Vibe. I found a 2009 Vibe (GT probably) automatic 2.4L 4DR front drive only, 167000Km. The car pictures looks very nice compared to what I've saw on the net for the 2009 candidate. The guy is asking $5800 CAN for it.
I'm planning to see the car this week. I've heard about oil problems with 2.4L. Do you know a good trick to see how worse the oil deposits on piston could be (performances, fumes, visual deposit color in under oil cap, etc)? How hard it is to repair in the case I decide to buy it? I'm good performing mechanic on my own. This could be a good reason to make the guy lowering the car's price.
Thank you very much for your answers in advance! ;o)
Bobsec2010
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:32 am
Location: Montreal region (Quebec)

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by Bobsec2010 »

So, here is an update about what happened last week with the Vibe 2009. I made a visit to the used cars street corner dealer. After a short visit and a small trip with the car I had nothing to notice unusual except the wrong tires size. I decide to arrange an appointment to my favorite garage shop. Waiting for this inspection, I bought a borescope to the Canadian Tire in order to have a look inside the cylinders and on the piston's head. I'm expecting to see dark carbon deposits if the car is suffering of a high level of oil consumption. The next day the inspection time comes. My wish to see "clean" cylinders interior finally comes to reality: No deposits at all. I was able to see stamped marking over the piston's heads. Good enough for me. And the technician did a compression test that confirm everything was fine. Now I'm happy! The garage visit was concluded with the buy of the Vibe two days later. I'm very very happy, you know. ;o)
tpollauf
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Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by tpollauf »

Great news Bob. The oil consumption issue on the 2.4L engines is not as big of a deal as it may look like. Some burn it BUT at a very low rate where it doesn't do any damage to engine or components. One on mine is super clean and burns ZERO oil and the other is more like a work truck and burns a quart every 2000 miles or so. We just keep an eye on it.

Now that you officially are getting this 2009 Vibe GT, post pictures, location and share stories with us here as time goes on. Congrats on the new purchase ;)
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2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
Bobsec2010
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:32 am
Location: Montreal region (Quebec)

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by Bobsec2010 »

Thanks Tpollauf,
I did my first trip to Ottawa yesterday. I have been very surprised about the engine and its transmission. It is so perfect compare to my old GT (standard). The automatic transmission is so smooth I cannot feel speed changes almost. Driving at 107 Km/h (67 Mph) RPM was pretty near 2000 when the GT 2003 normally is a bit over 3000 RPM. The engine is running very quiet. I did not tried the Shiftronic yet. Anyway, overall feeling was a big 'Wow'. This car will need love on body. I mean, if I spend some money on an anti-rust treatment. undoubtedly, this car will still last a long time.
By the way, I made some searches on the Vibe 2009 and I think it is not a GT. It was not detailed in the advertisment. The only optional accessory that is normally not available for the Base and the AWD models is the spoiler. My new Vibe has no spoiler. Which means to me that I have a Base model with almost all options installed except the 18 inches mags, the 6 speakers audio system and the spoiler. To be honest, not having the GT does not bother me anyway.
See my pictures, soon, in the GenVibe Garage
Caretaker

Re: 2009 2.4 oil usage

Post by Caretaker »

Under the direction of my mechanic, I am attempting to remedy my car's motoroilism. I have added a full bottle of sea foam to the engine oil compartment. I am running the seafoam for 2 weeks to see if it will dissolve some of the clogged oil return holes surrounding the bottom of the piston head (as shown in graphic detail on You Tube). Next week, I will empty out the oil/sludge and refill with one of my quarts coming from a bottle of Lucas Oil stop leak. I'll let you know over the coming 5000 miles how my consumption goes.
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