Our Community is 940,000 Strong. Join Us.


Oil suggestions for high mile 3.5


jefferyfreeman2003
05-04-2009, 12:11 PM
In 2005 I bought my 2000 3.5 from an old lady with 48K miles on it. I promptly drained the oil and have been using 5W-30 full synthetic ever since. Now I have 163K and the car has went into semi retirement(lost my job in outside sales, going back to college).

I was changing the oil at 5K. The problem is for the last 6-8 months I was going 2 quarts low at about 3K. There is very minimal seepage on 1 valve cover and on the oil pan sensor..thats it. No drips or puddles, a slight puff of blue in the mornings tells me the engine is "consuming" 2 quarts under heavy usage every 3K miles.

The last oil change I switched to full synthetic 10w-30..same results nothing changed.

At this point I am thinking why keep spending top dollar on oil that is getting burned. But am concerned about how the engine, nearing retirement age, will react to conventional oil. I was also thinking of trying one of those "High Mileage" oils. Though I fear they may be full of sludge inducing additives.

Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated...TY

dtownfb
05-04-2009, 03:39 PM
I asked the same question on another forum. it was recommended (by a mechanic) that I switch to 10w-30 and add 2 bottles of STP to see if there was a change in oil consumption

I have 2000 Intrigue with 176,000 miles. I burn about the same rate as you do.

jefferyfreeman2003
05-04-2009, 05:13 PM
TY for the info..

Did you try STP?..did it work? I know in the past, once I started using that stuff things went downhill..real quick. Are you using conventional oil? I do think it needs to be 10w-30 from now on.

toddman67
05-04-2009, 05:40 PM
Stay with what you started with. Changing lubricants at this point will only give you a new set of problems. Fix the oil leaks and think about changing your valve stem seals ar a least check them. perform a cylinder leakage test to isolate your consumption problem.

toddman67
05-04-2009, 05:57 PM
Another good test would be to check your plugs. Below is a link posted by a member from a previous post that will give you a good idea on the conditions of your engine.

Hope this helps,

http://redirectingat.com/?id=252X400&url=http%3A//www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/spark_plugs/faqs/faqread.asp%3Fmode%3Dnml

dtownfb
05-05-2009, 09:10 AM
I use 5w-30 conventional and will switch to 10W-30 conventional at the next oil change.

Toddman brings up a good point about switching lubricants. But if you are now a college student, you need to save $$$ anywhere you can. here's a forum that discusses nothing but oil:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

I'm sure the question has been asked about switching from synthetic to conventional and the affects.

harmankardon35
05-05-2009, 10:36 PM
no additives! they are temporary junk and tend to make problems worse. The 3.5 is well known for consuming oil, however it appears to not be a big deal as long as you do not run too low on oil. In the warm months, you can try and find a 10w40 or 5w40. A bit heavier of an oil should slow oil consumption, just be sure to go back to regular 30w oil before the cold mornings come around. Remember in oil weight, first number (5w or 10w) is the cold rating, the second number (30,40) is oil rating when hot.

dtownfb
05-06-2009, 08:41 AM
I know, I know, no additives. I normally keep oil in my trunk for when the "low oil" light comes on. The Walmart 5 gallon jugs of oil are great for this purpose.

panzer dragoon
05-19-2009, 05:37 AM
I lose about 2quarts every 5-6k miles. I run Mobile1 and am at 109k miles.

Conventional motor oils will always burn off more than the synthetics, since you live in Michigan I would always go synthetic in the winter. Try a high mileage oil in the summer to see if it helps.

Mobile1 or Amsoil = you want a true synthetic motor oil and not a cracked oil like Castrol Syntec. But some air cooled engines will run better under a cracked oil.

I would keep moving up the Synthetic oil ladder, straight 10, straight 15 (hard to find the straight synthetic stuff)

harmankardon35
05-21-2009, 03:53 AM
...if not down right impossible to find straight 30w synthetic.Ive never came across any.....


in an unpredictable climate like Michigan (or southern Ontario where I live) stay with a multiweight 10w30 summer 5w30 winter, and possibly a 10w40 summer to slow oil consumption (if you can find any)

panzer dragoon
05-22-2009, 06:16 PM
If you do a search for "synthetic 30w" it comes up. Any good speed shop will have this stuff. I even thought my Super-Walmart carried generic straight synthetics. Tractor shops etc.

10w40 conventional and 10w30 conventional is to thick in my opinion for the LX5. Synthetics would be ok however. 5w30 is preferred. True the 1998 LX5 was rated for 10w30, but that changed in 1999. I usually buy Mobile1 (synthetic) 5w30 by the gallon at Walmart.

LittleHoov
05-23-2009, 10:54 AM
I do love playing devils advocate here.

My Intrigue loses oil, shocking I know, plus I change my oil every 3-4000 miles if at all possible.

I personally dont see the point in shelling out wads of cash for the high priced synthetics or even the more expensive conventional oil, when its either going to disappear on its own, or get changed out in 2 months.

I realize that you can go longer on oil changes with synthetics, but at the same time, I usually end up adding at least a quart in a 2-3 month 3-4k mile period....how much synthetic oil am I going to have to add in a 15,000 mile period?

Personally, I go with a quality filter, and get 2 of the cheapest 5-quart jugs of conventional 10w-30 I can find.

Some may gasp and recoil at my audacity and lack of maintenance, but it hasnt caused me any problems that I know of. I use to run Valvoline 10w30, then I tried some cheap stuff, couldnt tell a bit of difference anywhere except for in my wallet.

panzer dragoon
05-23-2009, 02:27 PM
L.H.'s mind has always been set on the ram-rod 3800 (even though he has the LX5). For the LX5 you want 5w30 as a minimum. I see good quality oils on the cheap all the time and sometimes the recycling place (you can't throw away oil, paint, chemicals anymore) has it for free. Many conventional oils with the additives are damn good and damn close to a synthetic (Castrol Syntec has a ton of additives and the oil is cracked)

Walmart generic (synthetic only a few $ more) 1gals are fairly cheap and the auto parts stores even have oil deals in the Sunday ads.

With my LX5 I typically rev into 5/6k+ rpm (2nd gear) That's where the power is and it still pulls. Once upto speed I am under 2k at 70mph (od) unless a downshift is needed.

I have a 1967 440hp2 block that runs hot. If I ran a conventional in that I would be burning off the lighter oil and sludging it up. =Synthetic.

Add your comment to this topic!