99 Intrigue burning oil

Hey guys! First off I want to thank you all for sharing your knowledge in this forum. I just bought my 99 intrigue in December with 107,000 miles on it. I fell in love with this car from day one. Its good looking, zippy, and resonably priced.

I brought my baby in for an oil change last week and I was mortified to find out that there was barely any oil left in the engine after 2500 miles! There are no leaks of any kind that I can tell as I always park my car in the garage at home, and no burning smell either. So now I have brought her in to the dealer to have it looked at but fear that it may be the rings not sealing or something.

If it is the rings is this something I can live with? Will it shorten the life of my engine even if I keep the oil level up? I have the 3.5 shortstar engine and love this car otherwise, is this going to end my love affair?

Thanks for your help,
Mike

UPDATE: Mechanic looked at it and was not sure what to tell me. He noticed the PCV valve hose had a lot of oil in it and so changed out the valve. Now I just have to watch it and see if my oil level still drops. He said if it still burns oil I am looking at an entire engine relacement! Yikes! Is this guy just trying to scare me or what?

For the sake of the engine, keep a close eye on the oil level.

There are only two things that can happen to the oil in the engine, either it leaks out through a hole somewhere or it gets burned in the engine. Start by climbing all over and under the engine with a light looking for leaks. As you say you park in a garage then it is unlikely you have a leak as it would leave spots.

If it is not leaking out then it is being burned in the engine. I suggest that you track how many miles you drive against how much oil you burn. If it burns a lot of oil it should look and smell like a weed wacker going down the road.

hey, my 1999 intrique uses 1 quart of oil every 700 miles.
it does not leak a drop. it burns it. everyone i ask says it's normal
for that engine to use oil. oil is cheap so don't worry about it,
just check it often and keep it full.

If it burns a lot of oil it should look and smell like a weed wacker going down the road.

See thats just it, I don't see or smell anything coming out of the tail pipe. There is a little blackness inside the pipe but isn't that pretty normal? No big poofs of black or blue smoke, and certainly no oil burning smell.

Since having the PCV valve replaced and driving 200 miles or so I have not noticed any oil level dropping.

I'm hoping maybe my problem is resolved. Fingers crossed.

Feel underneath the rear valve cover by the fire wall on the serpentine belt side. I'm willing to bet that you'll all find a leak there. It is not visible because the firewall is so close to the engine, but it can be felt. My girlfriend's car does the same thing. No oil ever ends up under her car either, it doesn't smell, and no blue or black smoke comes out the tailpipe either. It's weird but that's just how it is. Every Intrigue 3.5L I've come across has leaked in the same place. I also noticed that a drop or two of oil also was in the spark plug chambers on her car when I changed the plugs @ 86k miles too. A bad PCV valve will also cause excessive oil consumption.

Oil Consumption. That has been a real issue for me. I have a 1998 Intrigue GL. At 72K the engine was replaced due to oil consumption.

Now getting the engine replaced was a large feet. I had to deal with GM for about two months and the dealer before an adjuster come out to look at the paper work. You would think that by taking care of the car it would take car of you. I fault GM for faulty workmanship.

Once the engine was taken apart it was found that the cylinders were out of spec. A new engine was then put into the car.

With the new engine came a 50K warranty. At 50,964 the oil light came on and discovered that I was 1 3/4 quarts low. I am fighting the oil consumption issue again. The car has 126K miles and is driven about 400 miles per week.

Now this Intrigue has an internal oil filter. I have been told that this is why there is an oil consumption issue. I don't know if that is fact or not. Does anyone know?

If anyone knows who I can talk with on this issue please let me know.

I will check back often to see if there are any responses.

What engine does it have? I know that my 3.8L engine has a regular oil filter that is unscrewed when it needs to be replaced.

Burnout524,

My 99 Intrigue has the 3.5L engine.

The fact that the 3.5L engine uses an internal cartridge type oil filter doesn't explain why it burns oil. The type of filter a car has surely won't affect oil consumption at all. I had my girlfriend's car ('99 Intrigue GL 3.5L DOHC V6) looked at and her oil consumption was caused by a bad balance shaft seal. It was covered by her warranty but the bill came to about $700 for removing & replacing the balance shaft seal, valve cover gaskets, and spark plug tube seals. Now it doesn't burn one drop of oil no matter how hard we drive it. It has been over 5K miles since the fix.

Before the fix, it took roughly 1 qt. every 1000 miles depending on how hard we drove it. The car didn't smell at all, emit any blue or black smoke whatsoever, and the leaks were almost invisible until you looked closely. Oil was visible under the upper intake (the composite/plastic part) but on top of the lower intake on the passenger's side. It also had some oil in the spark plug chambers.

Ruley73,

That would be good to know if what you had experience is the same case that I have with my Intrigue. However, since the original engine was replaced due to the valves being the wrong size I almost expect the same issue here.

I will however take your suggestion to the dealer and see what they find.

I would be happy to know that this is somthing that can be fixed and not have to look at dumping the car due to the engine.

Almost all posts I have see on the Intrigue everybody loves them. This is a great car except for all of the enigne problems I have had.

Thanks for your post. I will let you know what I find out.

My wife's Intrigue uses over 2 quarts of oil at 3000 miles also. It has done that for as long as I can remember. I just keep up on the oil as it doesn't seem to burn it, and I haven't found the leak yet.

Other than engine oil consumption, electrical problems, sensor failures, wheel bearings, road noise, and having the steering shaft replaced, not a bad car. :)

ttbit,

Them maybe if the dealer can not do anything for me, free of charge, then I will continue to put oil in the car.

Thanks for all of the feed back. This has been a great experience in this forum.

IntrigueGL

UPDATE: Mechanic looked at it and was not sure what to tell me. He noticed the PCV valve hose had a lot of oil in it and so changed out the valve. Now I just have to watch it and see if my oil level still drops. He said if it still burns oil I am looking at an entire engine relacement! Yikes! Is this guy just trying to scare me or what?

I was doing about 2 quarts every 3000. Same as every one else, no burning and no sign of leaks. My mechanic pulled off the intake plenum which is connected directly to the cylinder intake. The small gaskets there were leaking oil right above the valves. The oil was leaking onto the V of the engine where there is another cover with a gasket there. I think that was the balance shaft cover. None of this can be seen without removing the intake plenum. Fixed that at a cost of about $300 (mostly labor) and now I am only using about 1 quart per 3000 miles. No idea where that quart goes!

Some engine designs are more prone to burning oil than others--especially once they get older.

A simple thing you can try is switching to a thicker oil. I would try topping off the oil with 10w40 or 5w40 (some of those Deisel/Gas oils like Shell Rotella or Delo work great and you can find them at Walmart). Also, some people have had success with high mileage oils, which can recondition seals and burn off less easily--Castrol GTX high mileage is a good one.

Just because the engine is using oil does not necessarily mean it is going to die anytime soon.

I just took my car the dealership today for an oil leak, they said its leaking heavily from the Intake Manifold Gaskets, and there is clearly a puddle under the car every day, I'm losing about 1/2 quart every week, and they want to charge me 750 dollars to fix the leak, since the car only has 65k on it i'm gonna do it, but can anyone tell me if this is a little overpriced to fix the intake manifold gaskets on a 3.8?

My 99 GL with 75K on the 3.5L burns 2-3 quarts between changes. I run Mobil 1, so it's thinner than conventional oil. I've been thinking about switching to one of the oils advertised as "high mileage" - is this worth doing, or marketing hype?

A friend of mine used to work at a chevy dealer, and a mechanic friend of his had a theory on why the shortstar (and the northstar V8 as well) tend to use so much oil... The guy theorized that the piston rings have gaps in them to allow for expansion. He said if these gaps are close to each other (or even aligned) in terms of their rotational position, then oil will tend to seep through (and into the combustion chamber) more quickly.

Not sure if there is any credibility to this theory. I do tend to subscribe to the "what leaks out must hit the floor" principle, though, so I have trouble accepting that my engine is leaking if there are no spots underneath it.

At any rate, I check the oil every time I fill up the gas tank, which is pretty frequently since I never let the gas tank go below half, and fill up PRN (as needed)...

[medic]Dave

I concur with medicdave. We have an '01 Intrigue GLS w/ 3.5L with 48K miles and it used to consume oil when I used Mobil 1 in it. Northstars (on which this engine is based) are notorious for burning oil and I also think it's a design issue (I won't say "flaw"). The ring packs are designed in such a way that they tend to plug up if they are driven sedately; these motors were designed to be driven hard and if you do so you'll keep the ring packs clean. I've found that using a heavier oil reduces oil consumption quite a bit too. When I used 0W-30 Mobil 1, the car burned a little over a quart in about 2000 miles. Now that I use 0W-30 GC, I don't have to add any more than a half a quart over 5000 miles.

Keep the motor clean and "exercised" and it'll serve you well.

Some engine designs are more prone to burning oil than others--especially once they get older.

A simple thing you can try is switching to a thicker oil. I would try topping off the oil with 10w40 or 5w40 (some of those Deisel/Gas oils like Shell Rotella or Delo work great and you can find them at Walmart). Also, some people have had success with high mileage oils, which can recondition seals and burn off less easily--Castrol GTX high mileage is a good one.

Just because the engine is using oil does not necessarily mean it is going to die anytime soon.

I have a 2000 Intrigue and we bought it used at 30,000 miles. Had to have the transmission rebuilt right away. It also uses oil, no drips, no smells. Not exactly sure how much it goes through it's always at least 2 quarts low at every oil change (3,000 miles or so). If I let the car go more than 3,000 miles before I get it in for an oil change I get a "low oil" check light. We've been driving it over 50,000 miles this way, we just try to keep a good eye on the oil level. Now with tranmission problems again (only 50,000 miles later) we are probably going to trade it in. I really like the car otherwise, but I know two or three other Olds owners in town (not all Intrigues but late-models like mine) have the same types of problems. It's frustrating, making high car payments AND having the vehicle nickel and dime us to death.

I just wanted to say hello to all of you other Intrigue owners. I have been amused reading all the weird problems you have. I am new to this forum and I don't have much experience with cars. I've had to take the reigns due to life changes and the mechanics I find are baffeled! My Intrigue has automatic headlights that go on when they feel like it, it drinks oil, the rear speakers worked intermittently until going out all together. The heat goes on and off at will, shocks have been replaced several times (I do drive it like I stole it though)! I've searched and have had many of the things mentioned looked at and the problems persist. I'm learning and hope to fix it myself or at least not be taken advantage of! Thanks for the laughs and in advance for advice.

I have a 2000 olds intrigue 3.5 twin cam i had this issue also i came to find out that it was the rear valve cover it is almost impossible to see but if you look in the back of the engine on the passenger side you might be able to see it will look like caked on grease it is common in the intrigues and run about 200 to 300 dollars to have both front and rear valve cover gaskets done depending on were you live and bring your car or just keep adding oil and check it once a week

Guys....

Check the dates of the posts....

Guys....

Check the dates of the posts....

Although the posts are 'dated' in my opinion and obviously another Intrugue owner are still relevant.

The oil 'burning/useing' has been an issue for me for a very long time and I just keep it full.