loss of oil

[06 H3]

I am around 92k miles now and I never had never lost or burnt oil before. I sent the truck in for an oil change a little over a month ago before I sent it I checked the oil and it was about 50-60% full on the dipstick...The driving I did on that period of time was mainly highway when I went to moab. I get the truck back and havent lost an oil yet(been a little over a month.) I did notice a lot of oil down on the rancho crossmember and control arms though and I never saw this before, it may be just a messy oil change as talusfan did mention an oil change with a rancho kit is much messier. I cleaned up all the oil and will check to see if it comes back. Should I be worried? Are the I5s prone to burning/losing oil especially at this mileage? Idk if this matters but I had the head replaced in march...TIA

 

[alrock]

One thing on these engines, or at least my engine - the oil can be very slow to drain back down into the pan. I would recommend waiting a few minutes after running the engine to check the oil for a more accurate reading.

 

[06 H3]

thanks! I will try that when I checked before the oil change it was right after a 20 mile drive home from work.

 

[Portager]

It is a good idea to get in the habit of checking the oil before you start it in the morning. You get the most accurate reading when the engine is cold and the oil has had all night to drain back into the pan. Most cars will read 1/2 to 1 quart low if you check it right after shutting the engine off.

If your engine is starting to leak or burn oil checking it every morning can prevent an expensive repaid bill.

 

[Hunner]

Could be a front crank seal.
I did not have that on my 06 I-5 but the Alpha did around 48,000 and it was covered, thankfully.
I would use some Gunk with some cardboard down on your driveway and then at a wand car wash bay flush that area real good.
That would give it time to work and they supposedly filter that drain water, or at least here they do.
There are some eco friendly cleaners also.

 

[06 H3]

Thanks guys for the quick responses! I will check for any leak on the front crank seal and I haven't started her up today so now may be a good time to check the levels too.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Hunner]

That checking levels after it sits might be ok, but think about this, when the engine is running and the oil is dispersed and you shut down to check it you get the remaining level of oil in the pan while everything is lubed up good. That gives you the margin of safety that there is plenty there while running. I don't believe that will overfill it but rather represent how much reserve you have.
Sort of like when you put an automatic tranny in gear to disperse the fluid to see how much there is left.
I guess it's all how you started doing it when you built some engines and have torn down some that were oil starved.

 

[rsc]

I guess it all depends on the engine. I have worked on some turbines that you could "overfill" up to the filler cap without dire consequences and other engines that would blow a gasket (or all of them) from overpressure if overfilled. Of course, remember that engines used to have to be "de-coked" regularly from burning oil so I wonder how much a little extra oil will really hurt the I-5 after a hundred years of technology improvements to automobiles and engines.

 

[Hunner]

I'm not sure it will be xtra, just everything bathed in oil and some left to supply it's needs.
I don't think it would be 1/2 quart after seeing the heads and amount of drain down.

 

[cbetts]

I have 80K on mine right now. The only place that has leaked oil was the skid under the motor since the tards at my dealership refuse to pull off the skids to do an oil change. :gaah:

If I recall, you have a home-grown skid made from a flat piece of 1/4" plate so it shouldn't collect like it did on mine.

 

[Portager]

That checking levels after it sits might be ok, but think about this, when the engine is running and the oil is dispersed and you shut down to check it you get the remaining level of oil in the pan while everything is lubed up good. That gives you the margin of safety that there is plenty there while running. I don't believe that will overfill it but rather represent how much reserve you have.
Sort of like when you put an automatic tranny in gear to disperse the fluid to see how much there is left.
I guess it's all how you started doing it when you built some engines and have torn down some that were oil starved.

The problem with checking the oil before the oil has drained down into the pan is you get inaccurate readings. It you check it just after you shut it off the reading will be lower than 10 minutes later. Which value is more repeatable?

Here is a quote from the owner’s manual on page 5-13.

"Checking Engine Oil
It is a good idea to check the engine oil every time you get fuel. In order to get an accurate reading, the oil must be warm and the vehicle must be on level ground. The engine oil dipstick handle is a yellow loop. See Engine Compartment Overview on page 5-10 for the location of the engine oil dipstick.
1. Turn off the engine and give the oil several minutes to drain back into the oil pan. If you do not do this, the oil dipstick might not show the actual level.
2. Pull out the dipstick and clean it with a paper towel or cloth, then push it back in all the way. Remove it again, keeping the tip down, and check the level"

Also on page 5-14 it says.

"Notice:
Do not add too much oil. If the engine has so much oil that the oil level gets above the cross-hatched area that shows the proper operating range, the engine could be damaged."

The dipstick is calibrated for where the oil level should be once the oil has drained back into the pan, since that is when the manufacturer expects you to check the oil. Checking it too soon after shutdown could cause you to over fill it. I still think it is best to check the oil when the engine is cold. The reading is more accurate and you don’t have to worry about hot surfaces. However, in extreme weather conditions such as sub-zero temperatures you will get more accurate reading if the oil is warm.
​

 

[06 H3]

Thanks for the useful info Mike! So useful I had to post and say thanks lol. Craig that skid got replaced with a rancho skid made of 3/16. Since I have wiped it all down I havent seen any oil. I will keep checking it as time goes by, at this point I feel it might just be a messy oil change. I remember talusfan said the placement of the rancho components made a simple oil change a huge mess...

 

[Bigunit]

I remember talusfan said the placement of the rancho components made a simple oil change a huge mess...

Who's talusfan?

The mantle-like covering on the lower parts of mountain slopes or at the foot of a mountain, consisting of talus—material washed down the slope by rain and snow water. The thickness of talus fans is greater at the foot of a mountain than on slopes. The composition and degree of pulverization of the talus depends on such factors as the material forming the slopes, the intensity of the flow, and the steepness of the slope.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved

 

[06 H3]

talusfan was a member of the other forum. When he was giving out his personal review of the rancho kit one of his cons was the mess it made of the oil change. All that info got deleted but I remember everyone gave him **** for using that as a negative for the rancho lift.

 

[06 H3]

bumping this. A quart and a half of oil in 4000 miles...

Dealer said the "acceptable" amount is a quart and a half every 2000 miles. I guess I cant bitch as the 3.8L JK minivan motors "acceptable" amount is a quart every 750 miles if the motor has over 50,000 miles.

Either way I will be watching this, The dealer wants me to bring it back in 1500 miles and see if I burned any. Kyle did bring up a good point to check the throttle body. I may be losing oil through there. Maybe a catch can is in order just to see how much I am losing.

I will keep driving it till the 3.5L dies and then throw a 5.3 in as thats a much easier swap then the 4bt that is currently happening on the 4bt forum. If he can get that up and running I may consider that but I feel this little 3.5L still has plenty of life left.

 

[Dennis]

Just an FYI on oil levels...

The 3.5L can be as much as a 3/4 qt overfilled, or an 1/8" above the hash marks on the dipstick (That's where I run mine with a fill at 6.25 qts).. I'm not suggesting anyone do this, just saying no worries..do what you feel good about..But the reason to be careful of overfilling, is that you don't want the bottom side of the pistons slapping into the oil on their down stroke..that will cause sever and ultimate damage...The 3.5L has more clearance than a lot of engines and can tolerate a little overfill..just saying if you fill a little over, don't sweat it ..I have always used Castrol Syntec at first and now use Castrol Edge and change every 6000 miles..I never notice any loss of oil over that period....Now at 70,000 miles.

 

[06 H3]

Surprisingly for all the work I have done on my H3 I have never changed the oil. I have done everything from diff fluid, to clean MAF sensors, transmission fluid, changing out spark plugs, transmission solenoids, suspension work, exhaust work, the list goes on. With that said the dealer has always done the oil...I asked them to check and they said a quart and a half was gone. I did notice a lot on the rubber hose from the PCV valve to the intake. Maybe a catch can will let me know how much is going through there. I have never seen oil leaking from anywhere but it may be a good time to pull the skids and check it out.

 

[Dennis]

A quart and a half of oil in 4000 miles...

That much oil loss is not normal for that mileage..I don't know..but if it was leaking that much, you would see oil drips where ever you parked it overnight.
Do you know if the dealer is using conventional oils or synthetics?..

 

[06 H3]

I gotta double check. I think they write down ok the papers. I'm not home right now but iirc it was Mobil 1 synthetic till 100k miles then pennzoil high mileage

 

[deserth3]

With the higher mileage truck. It may be time for a new drain plug. It has a rubber gasket built into it that will deteriorate and deform. Especially if over tightened by gorilla mechanics.

 

[4speedfunk]

I am all over that 4bt swap! Not crazy about adapting it to fit the stock H3 tranny but, the motor itself is a great idea.

 

[06 H3]

Fast forward about a year. Ill be honest, I have a confession! lol I have never changed my own oil. I always had it done elsewhere. I dont know why...Ive swapped out t cases, build a custom suspension, done just about every type of work on the H3 that came my way minus an oil change.

I am going to start to do my own seeing last time I went in for an oil change and brakes I ended up magically having a transmission switch issue and a blown PCM???

**** that, I am now doing all work myself. So my issue is oil consumption I have about 3500 miles on her since the last oil change and if I stop hard it will say low oil or whatever it says on the DIC.

I am trying to remember when I started having an oil consumption issue but if I remember correctly I never had this issue before I had the head changed.

Soooo...any ideas on what to do? change the fluid to a thicker viscosity? Isnt that a bandaid fix? I gotta go back and check to see if deserth3 did something before he did his engine swap...I thought he did something.

 

[3Hummers]

Check the PCV valve.

 

[Panzer07]

I want to get a catch can I'm always 1 quarter shy after every oil change...this is whether I top off 1/4 of 1 quarter every 1000 miles...or just out the 6 quarters and never topping it off...at the end always come out with 5 quarters...idk this will be a mystery to me until I install a catch can...perhaps panzer only likes 5 quarters and pukes the other out.


Torres

 

[Panzer07]

I should add I dot have oil leaks or anything for that matter...as well my throttle has been clean since last time I cleaned it and my engine barely smoke out Any visible white smoke when seafoam'ing my truck very 4,000 miles.


Torres