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hello, my mom has a 2005 dodge grand caravan with a 3.3L v6. i just changed her oil about a month ago. it could be less than that. she hasnt driven more than 500 miles and already she has low oil and not only that but that oil is very black like its burnt. I dont think this is normal and its almost apparent thats its burning oil. i just dont know why.
What could be causing this? what are some things i could check? im just starting out in my auto repair life so i dont know a whole lot but i can follow directions very well 🙂
thank you for any help.
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there is no smoke from what i can see. its almost certain she has a bad EGR valve. dont know if that contributes to anything. and putting in thicker oil wont hurt it at all? im in adrian MI and the temperature has been around 50-70 degrees everyday
only so you guys knwo everything thats going on. i wasnt sure if it was significant or not. there is a CEL but we have got it scanned twice now and both times it said the same. somethign going on with the EGR system. but anyways any ideas on where to start with this? she has the extra warranty thing from the dealer she got it from. shes only had the car just over 2 years
i unfortunatly dont have it 🙁 we got it scanned at autozone and i didnt think to write the code down because it was for the same thing as last time.
[quote=”futuremechanic1217″ post=59817]there is no smoke from what i can see. its almost certain she has a bad EGR valve. dont know if that contributes to anything. and putting in thicker oil wont hurt it at all? im in adrian MI and the temperature has been around 50-70 degrees everyday[/quote]
wont hurt a thing once the engine warms up its the same vacosity as the oil it says to put in on the filler cap.
If she’s got the warranty take it to the dealer. That’s what a warranty is for so you’ve already paid for the fix.
If the oil is being burnt by the engine then that tells me you have something more serious to worrie about then just an oil leak. If when you pull the pan you have a tar like thick residue of oil caked to the bottom that means your engine PCV is clogged up. If its not caked on but just globby that tells me your piston seals are bad causing blow by. In either case you need to get in there and take a look at the pan, the valve, and the pistons.
[quote=”UncleJohn” post=59939]If the oil is being burnt by the engine then that tells me you have something more serious to worrie about then just an oil leak. If when you pull the pan you have a tar like thick residue of oil caked to the bottom that means your engine PCV is clogged up. If its not caked on but just globby that tells me your piston seals are bad causing blow by. In either case you need to get in there and take a look at the pan, the valve, and the pistons.[/quote]
PCV is just Crankcase ventilation how can that even get clogged?
Because im lazy and its almost 8 here is a explanation made by some one more capable then myself. http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repairqa/engine/ques079_1.html The more ya know.
UGH he didnt explain why they get clogged. So meh
Ok 1 the vapors can build up carbon on them clogging htem, and 2 the spring can fail. Its not as uncommon as you would think. There ya go. 🙂 Sorry its late so im getting lazy.lol
PVC valves clog all the time and is a big cause of burning oil but I don’t know about it with such low miles being put on it for it to be able to burn that much oil that fast. I also would not add any thicker oil then what the manual recommends.
[quote=”ace8489″ post=60007]PVC valves clog all the time and is a big cause of burning oil but I don’t know about it with such low miles being put on it for it to be able to burn that much oil that fast. I also would not add any thicker oil then what the manual recommends.[/quote]
The shop replaced my PCV hose it has a kink in it now is that bad?
I didn’t see anywhere what kinda milage is on the van. First i would check for oil leaks. If it was burning as much oil as you say there would be billows of smoke coming out of the tail pipe. A plugged PCV valve can cause dirty looking oil and oil consumption. 3.3s don’t usually plug the PCV in my experience.
Those 3.3 engines used low tension oil rings and most all of them from 05 to present use some oil. I have a 2007 caravan 3.3 that uses .5 lt of oil in 1000k then it seems to slow down. When i change the oil i leave it between add and full and i can go until the next change before it goes to the add mark.(Wierd Stuff)
If it was me i would change the oil and filter again with 5w30 and make sure it’s full an monitor it closely.
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