[mikerader]

Hello,

I just bought a 2006 Grand Caravan from a friend who drove it for sales. So it has 60,00 Miles all highway. He had factory service the entire time by the leasing company and it is in great shape.

I drove to Fla 1000 miles each way and I noticed I am using 1qt of oil every 1000 miles. It was almost exactly 1 quart each 1000 miles. I am a little alarmed over this since he said he never noticed any oil consumption at all. I am wondering of the PCV valve went bad and is blowing oil through.

I have no leaks underneath the van. I checked near the filter and the oil pan. No blue smoke either.

Is this normal. I have a friend who works for a company that has 4 of these Vans, he told me all of them burn oil 1qt every 1000 miles to 2000 miles and this is normal for these engines. Does this sound right or do I have an issue. I will check the PVC valve this weekend. Can you tell if the PVC valve is bad by looking at it? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in Advance.

 

[packerduf]

My 03 has 95,000 miles on it, and it does not burn one drop of oil between oil changes. I don't know if a bad PVC valve would result in that much oil loss. You can remove the PVC valve and shake it. If functional, it should rattle. Hopefully others will chime in shortly with some other ideas.

 

[shipo]

Nope, not even remotely normal. Our 1998 was still consuming only 1 quart per 7,500 miles when I traded it in at 170,000 miles, and our 2003 is still consuming only 1 quart every 6,000 miles with over 116,000 miles on the clock.

 

[Benny]

niether the 2000 or the 2005 consume a drop of oil here, so that's not at all normal, I'd check with the PCV.

 

[V8Pacer]

Never gave info on what motor is in the van.Everyone might have different eng sizes and they all consume the oil differently.Maybe your friend never checked his own oil because the dealer did all the work for him and they never informed him of the consumption rate.

 

[PCE Scott]

I am doing about 10,000 miles between oil changes using synthetic oil and I find I add about 1 quart between oil changes. The van did not seem to use any dino oil although that was changed more often.

No drips or anything here either.

 

[RIP]

1996 GC 3.8 ltr with 206K miles. I change the oil every 5K miles and might add a half to one quart between changes.

 

[andyg]

My 3.8L does not drop noticeably, although I'm sure it does as the valve cover gaskets are seeping oil. 1 quart per 1000 miles is nowhere close to normal. You are still under the 7/70 warranty I think? Take it to the dealer and they can start a record where you take it to them every time it is low on oil per oil change. If it is deemed unacceptable, the engine should be replaced under warranty. Unless it is a leak then that would be fixed.

 

[IAfarmer]

Was this only on your Florida trip? Any time I take my van on a long drive (i.e. thousands of miles) I use a quart.

Normally, it does not use any and it has 85000 miles on it.

 

[shipo]

Was this only on your Florida trip? Any time I take my van on a long drive (i.e. thousands of miles) I use a quart.

Normally, it does not use any and it has 85000 miles on it.

So you're saying that if you drive say 5,000 miles in your local area, your engine won't use any oil, but if you take a long trip, it will consume a quart every thousand or two miles? Hmmm, I've gotta admit, I don't understand that at all.

FWIW, both of our vans have consumed about the same amount of oil per given amount of miles, regardless of whether the driving was done as a daily bus-station hack, or on a long trip.

 

[blupupher]

My '05 3.8 uses about 1 qt between changes (around 4500 miles) for no proven reason.
1 qt every 1000 miles does fall under "normal" oil useage for Chrysler warranty reasons (will look for the post talking about that).

edit: Here is another thread here. I think it was on BITOG that I got the 1 qt/1000 number.

 

[petey40]

My 2001 3.8L with 82,000mi. consumes about a quart every 1000mi. No oil stain in its normal parking spot and I cant find any signs of that much of a loss anywhere on the engine. Its been doing that for quite some time now but its still running strong. No smoke out the tail either. I agree its not normal but I'll just leave well enough alone.
*My two other Chrysler products don't lose a drop between changes*

 

[2002CaravanSE]

Sounds like it uses more when the oil gets hottest or highest rpms.

 

[n8ech]

Mike:

While I would feel that a quart per 1k is excessive, I know that Ford will not pursue an oil consumption complaint on an engine that is not leaking unless it uses a quart in less than 900 miles. Chrysler and GM are probably in the same ball park.

On our 05 3.8, I can tell that it uses somewhere between .5 and 1 quart over 3k.

While I have had vehicles in the past that had way more miles, and were older that did not use any, I just accept that some will use, and some will not.

AndyG: the 7/70 warranty went away after 2005, so that would not be an issue here anyway.

Don

 

[Concorde300M]

My moms 06 3.8 was burning about 1.5 quarts every 1000 miles. We took it to the dealer, and they said they wanted to do a consumption test. took it back after 2500 miles, when it was almost out of oil, and they replaced the pistons (under warranty). This was at 21000 miles. Since then it does't burn a drop after 3000 miles. Also for what its worth, I lose at the most, a half of a quart in my 06 3.3 after 6000 miles (I drive about 3500 miles a month and don't always have the chance to change it right at 3000 miles)

 

[mikerader]

Thanks for the feedback,

Sorry for the delay but I was traveling. I am a new owner so I do not have a lot a data yet, but it appears to consume oil both in town and on the highway. I checked again for leaks and do not see any.

I wanted to check the PCV valve but could not find it. I am not familiar with this engine yet. Anyone know where it is located? I think I have the 3.8 engine I will check today.


If I am consuming 1qt per 1000 miles, what does this say about the engine? Are the rings worn or is the gap higher than usual.

Are there any additives that help with consumption? Usually I do not buy or use them.

Thanks,

 

[AzTraveller]

Hi Mikerader Welcome to the Forum.

Several possible leak spots are:
around the oil filter
the oil pressure sensor
the rear valve cover gasket
the PCV valve -- don't bother cleaning it, just replace it. You may wish to add some hose to extend it to where you more easily access it in the future.

Get a good light and look at these spots, your Haynes Manual for your year/make/model/engine will show you where all these things are. The rear valve cover gasket is more of a "feel" around along the lower edge of it, see how dirty your hand gets.

Update your "Location" and "Signature" on the Forum. It helps everyone know what you have and better assist you with maintenance pointers. :thumb:

 

[goFarMoPar]

Our 2002 T&C with 3.8L has used oil erratically since new. Never any drips or smoke. Sometimes 4 quarts disappear between changes (every 3,000 miles). Other times no consumption at all. No discernable difference between city and highway driving. It was under Chrysler's bumper-to-bumper warranty for the first 75,000 miles, and the dealer observed the problem but could never pin down a cause. Someone must be stealing the oil...

 

[AzTraveller]

I had a 74 T&C 440 V8 that was using oil excessively. My wife was driving it to work. The job was about 3 miles through the back roads, each way. Later, she changed jobs and had to drive 5 miles each way, over the main roads. The consumption suddenly stopped, I didn't do anything to it. Concluded the engine wasn't warming up on the short run, but with a few miles to go to work, the rings re-seated and the oil usage stopped. :thumb:

Evaluate your daily mileage. Are you getting to your destination by the time your engine heats up ? OR, are you driving 50 miles daily ? :ask_wsign

 

[Jeepman]

Sometimes oil leaks can be out of the rear engine oil seal. You may park on an incline somewhere and the vehicle will leak oil, but won't do so on the level. A leak of this nature can put the dipstick into the add oil area a bit, and then tend to stay there.