need help!!!!!!! oil from my 2003 vibe is disappearing!!!

[spearcuba]

hello,Im having really big problems with my 2003 base model pontiac vibe.the oil of the car is disappearing. the car has no leaks and it is not burning the oil i think because no smoke ever comes out.the car has 58,000 miles.Im having to add oil every time i fill up the tank, the oil goes down around 1/4 per tank(more or less).it is also doing lower miles per gallon , Im not sure if that has anything to do with it.can anyone could help me out giving me some suggestions to what might be happing with the oil or the lower mpg that my car is having?thank you for any replies is in advance.

[lovemyraffe]

Quote, originally posted by spearcuba »Im having to add oil every time i fill up the tank, the oil goes down around 1/4 per tank(more or less).1/4 of what? 1/4 of a quart? 1/4 of the total volume? It has to be going somewhere. If it isn't leaking then it probably is burning. However, that seems like a lot of oil to be burning or leaking over 250 miles.

[spearcuba]

yes about 1/4 of a quart every tank of gas. is not doing 250miles with a full tank. is doing much less. I also think it may be going somewhere, but idk where it could possibly be.

[bodhi_tree777]

Any check engine lights or weird drivability issues?

[lovemyraffe]

You could very easily be burning that much off without significant smoke or have such a small leak that it is unnoticeable. I would be more concerned with the mpgs and then figure out the oil consumption. They might go hand in hand though. Like bohdi_tree said, any CEL or other symptoms the car is showing?

[Caretaker]

spearcuba: your's is driving over to the bar for a drink every night too, eh? I feed my car's drinking problem with at least 2 quarts in between 5,000 mile oil changes. No significant visible smoke, and certainly no oil loss on the ground. The seals are shot somewhere.

[spearcuba]

when i start it up it has been doing some wierd sounds, like krrrrrrr. i haved taken it to many mechanics and they say the cant find anything with the oil. today i had to put in oil again, it was at the first dot in the measure thing. and just last week i had put oil to the second dot.

[spearcuba]

no engine lights are on. altho i have noticed when Im accelerating it does a sounds, like a crakin sound. as soon as i stop accelerating the sound stops.

[joatmon]

I'm having the same problem, although I have about 4x the mileage on my 03.looking for a bright side, at least the Vibe provides a convenient place to carry a spare quart of oil

Attached files

[hskater26]

haha i like that location!!

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I'm having the same problem, although I have about 4x the mileage on my 03.looking for a bright side, at least the Vibe provides a convenient place to carry a spare quart of oilthat's awesome.

[Silversn95]

Try a simple fix first. Was the PCV valve ever changed? A stuck PCV valve will lead to oil consumption. I had this on my old Escort GT. I would go through more than a litre of oil every 5000 kms. Changed the PCV valve and it didn't use a drop after that.

[spearcuba]

thanks for the replys guys.altho i still want to see if we can find the problem here.Im having to add oil every week and i want to know where its going 2!if you guys have anymore suggestions on what might be wrong with my vibe please let me know. thank you again.

[djkeev]

Quote, originally posted by spearcuba »thanks for the replys guys.altho i still want to see if we can find the problem here.Im having to add oil every week and i want to know where its going 2!if you guys have anymore suggestions on what might be wrong with my vibe please let me know. thank you again.Classic dry valve stem seal oil use.Not fun, not easy, not cheap on this car.I'd live with it for the $$'s it will take to fix it.Dave

[Caretaker]

You are likely correct Dave. I was quoted $1,800 from my mechanic. He told me to just keep on bringing the old girl down to the bar and feed her some coctails. If I pass emissions next spring, I'll do the same for another year. I may swap out the PCV valve and spark plugs since they have never been replaced in 125,000 miles.Actually, I'm waiting for Joatmon to get out there and tell us what the solution is. Someday it will warm up and he'll feel the need to "tear and repair." But again, I think the seals are the issue.

[CHVibe03]

I've been having the same problem lately, seems like my Vibe always required more oil than it should but last 2-3 weeks there's been a huge upswing, like spearcuba's issue.A really unhappy ending for me: last Thursday night I developed a loud knocking noise, pulled off the highway as engine was dying less than 30 seconds after noise detected. Was told the next day that I have "severe rod knock" and need a new engine. Another detail, maybe someone has some info on: engine oil light has been on many, many times on this car, on since July of last year with mechanic telling me it's due to the evaporative system and expensive to fix with not much gain so have just lived with the light. Of course its value as a warning of true engine trouble may have been useful, in retrospect. Maybe evaporative system problem has something to do w/engine failure?

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by CHVibe03 » engine oil light has been on many, many times on this car, on since July of last year with mechanic telling me it's due to the evaporative system and expensive to fix with not much gain so have just lived with the light. Of course its value as a warning of true engine trouble may have been useful, in retrospect. Maybe evaporative system problem has something to do w/engine failure? Sorry to hear about the engine problems. There are two lights, sounds like someone was confused about which was lit. There is the check engine light, and most (not all) of the time check engine lights are caused by parts of the emissions control system. For the most part a check engine light can be put up with for a while, unless it's flashing, then it is serious and needs to be dealt with right away. The other is the oil pressure light, which is almost always only caused by low oil pressure, and there are tolerable occasions where ti might flash a few times, but if the engine is running and that light is on steady, then the engine needs to be turned off. I can't see how the evaporative system (part of the emissions control) would cause an oil pressure light to come on.

[CHVibe03]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »There are two lights, sounds like someone was confused about which was lit. I'm clearly the confused one! It's the check engine light that's been on constantly since July, and which my mechanic attributed (this time) to the evaporative system. You're right, if the evaporative system is part of emissions that seems unlikely to have killed my engine, but I'm surely no expert. Quote, originally posted by djkeev »Classic dry valve stem seal oil use.Now this sounds to me like something that could lead to a dead engine. Anyway, the car has about 115,000 miles on it, which is better than spearcuba's 58,000, but it's still a blow.Christy

[rob454]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I'm having the same problem, although I have about 4x the mileage on my 03.looking for a bright side, at least the Vibe provides a convenient place to carry a spare quart of oilWow Joat, my engine compartment is a rust bucket compared to yours. That junction where my fuel lines go into on the firewall is totally rusted. Did you replace yours??

[joatmon]

no, and I'm pushing 220K milesBut you live in Pittsburgh, where it snows every other day, if not every day. Where I live in Maryland, we don't get much snow, so not much road salt. You've got to be getting a whole lot more salt spray than me, just from where we live