Insane oil consumption on my 4x4

[Blobber]

On that I would just run 10/40 semi synthetic, run it for a bit on that and if its still using oil my 1st port of call would be valve stem seals at that mileage, as others have said get someone to follow you and see when/if it smokes, up hill under load is rings/bores and down hill coasting will be valve stem seals is a simple test I believe

 

[tom2207]

as a side note the tfsi audi petrol is said to be ok if it uses less than half a liter of oil in 621miles ,,, [1000km]
so much for eco this and that , all due to having to meet emission regs when new.
Id bung some two stroke oil in the fuel for a fill or two and see if it helps , maybe sticky rings . also worthy of a look at the crank vent set up , that can lead to oil vanishing too.

 

[prepman]

Rear engine crank seal and it's filling the bell housing up with oil?

Drips out of drain hole and on to drive would be visible some where?

 

[skotl]

I had a similar chat with @rtcosic at Parm's place the other week. My 2016 SQ5 with 30,000 miles needs 1L of oil every 3,000 miles - we couldn't figure out where the oil was going, as it's not in any of the places mentioned in this thread.
It seems the norm for this model, though

 

[bricol]

Take a look at the back bumper / tailgate.

My earlier integrale used a bit of oil - the plastic rear bumper was never going to go rusty with the oil layer spread in a nice even film all over it from the tail pipe each side of the car. Head rebuild sorted that.

 

[zzr1200]

You've clearly never owned a true Land Rover then, as normally you don't have to do oil changes on a 2.25 ltr series engine, it's classed as self servicing oil change engine by most of those in the know....

 

[zx9]

My 530i used to use a bit of oil which was cured by replacing the CCV, you could see it behind the car decelerating into a roundabout and as said above as residue on the rear bumper.

 

[Keith 66]

My first motor was a Morris 1000 van, i got it in 1985 & by the time i had driven it for a few years the engine was getting very tired. It got up to using half a gallon of oil a week, some went out the exhaust, the rest leaked out of every joint & orifice.
Our driveway had a big black oil slick down it. Its last run home from work one winters night the oil light was on, the big ends were rattling like a machine gun & smoke poured out of it, somehow it made it home but next day it was dead.

 

[rcx132]

Small update.

There's no oil in the exhaust upstream of the cat, as some of you suggested the cat could be preventing oil showing at the tailpipe. My brother (engineer) reckons that it could still be burning oil at a rat that doesn't show at the exhaust.

I did a compression test, all cylinders are between 190 and 205psi.

I'm waiting to see my brother to borrow a leak-down test kit and endoscope to check the bores as you've suggested.

I also did some Googling, the 6VE1 engine is known for oil consumption, with a couple of users saying they had as high as I do. Apparently down to poor oil ring design used for a couple of years by Isuzu, a factory bulletin was issued on this. Isuzu were taken to court for it and made to replace engines at their own cost.

 

[rcx132]

Some real horror stories with these engines loosing insane amounts of oil. I posted a few below.
I just checked the service log on my spare Trooper which I use for parts, it uses 1 litre of oil per 1500 miles. According to Isuzu upto 1 litre per 1000 miles is normal. Anyway I can live with that, so I may swap the engines.

Jeff of Grand Prairie TX (9/14/04):
I own a 1999 Isuzu Trooper with around 67,000 miles on the odometer. I and my family enjoyed the vehicle until about 6 months ago when, on a 250-mile run from San Antonio to my home, I experienced a loud whining and everything lit up like a Christmas tree and the truck went dead. After a long wait and an even longer tow, I had the vehicle checked out and was told that the engine was locked up tight as a drum and that there was just under 1 quart of oil in the pan.
During my ownership of the truck, I had noticed that the dipstick would occasionally and unexpectedly read low - and it never visibly burned any oil. I have owned many classic and high performance vehicles in the past and am a stickler for maintenance. I had changed the oil in the truck around 3000 miles earlier and thought, as any owners manual will tell you, I was keeping up. My immediate thought was that the previous oil change had been done incorrectly - but my own diligence in checking the oil prior to my trip and adding a needed quart steered me away from that as a solution.
Now, after an attempt to locate a replacement engine for the truck online, I find that I'm not alone by any means. Being out of warranty (just) leaves me with the belief that I will just have to eat the cost of getting the vehicle back on the road, but I feel that, given the number of similar stories out there, Isuzu should pony up and assist those who can prove their stories.
My truck is currently being re-diagnosed and repaired after a $285 tow. Initial estimates have indicated that I will likely be out around $3000 for the engine plus several an additional $1000-$2000 in labor.

Robert of Stoughton WI (12/30/03):
We purchased a 1999 Trooper, 3.5 ltr. new in November, 1999. We had the oil changed on a regular basis per recommendations. At the last oil change (October, 2003), Valovine indicated that there was no oil in the motor. We just thought that they had not filled it up properly the last time the oil was changed. At that time, there was less than 60,000 miles on the vehicle. We drove from Wisconsin to Ohio for Christmas which is approximately 580 miles one way. On the way back, the oil light came on in Chicago.
We stopped and put in 2 bottles of 10W30. The oil did not register on the stick. We continued home. We checked the oil when we arrived home and it was not registering again on the stick. We added oil again. The mileage on the vehicle is now 62,000 miles. We contacted Zimbrick's Service Manager and they basically said that the warranty is out and we will need to replace the engine.
Isuzu has known about this problem which occurs in the 1998, 1999 and 2000 3.5 liter vehicles. They corrected the problem with the later 2000 vehicles. It is occuring after the warranty expires in most cases. They did not notify us to indicate there might be a problem with oil consumption. If they had, we would have taken it in after the oil change prior to the warranty expiring. I think Isuzu should back their product. Our vehicle is only 2,000 over the warranty and it was an existing problem that we were not aware of.
We may have to replace the engine, which would cost more than what the vehicle is worth. We still owe one year of a five-year loan, approximately $4,000.00. It would be stupid to replace the engine and incur $6,000-7,000 in expense for a vehicle that isn't worth that.

Toynie of Palm Coast FL (11/25/03):
In October of 1998 we purchased a 1998 Isuzu Trooper with a 6-year or 100,000 mi. extended warranty. It was not until the fall of this year when my husband was returning from the beach with our three-year-old daughter and the motor blew up that we found out it was underwritten by Smart Choice and that the company was now bankrupt. Then we found out that we would have to pay in the neighborhood of $3,000 to $6,000 for a new motor.
etc. My engine seized on me on the way back from a trip. There are no oil leaks or anything that would indicate a problem. I now need a new long block on a perfectly good truck. This is major money. Thanks for listening.

Joseph of Shreveport (1/28/03):
I own a 99 Isuzu Trooper. I bought it new. In November 2002, as I was headed out of town my oil light came on. I immediately stopped the vehicle and popped the hood to see what was going on with my oil. I checked the oil stick and found that it showed the oil level as full. I got back in the vehicle and drove about a mile.
Suddenly, I heard a loud rumbling sound coming from under the hood. The dashboard lit up, and the engine went dead. I pulled off to the side of the road, looked under the hood and could smell something like burning rubber. When tried to restart it nothing happened. Later, I had it towed into the dealership, which said it looked as if the engine blew up. He stated that it could cost as much as $12,000 to have the engine rebuilt. He knew of a used one that he could get for about $5,000 and that it would cost a total of about $7,100 including installation.
Of course, I had no way of coming up with that kind of money. I later found a number from the internet to the Isuzu manufacturer. It took me forever to speak to someone and when I did they offered no help at all. They were only concerned that the warranty had gone out and were under no further obligation. This vehicle has a 60,000-mile warranty; I had about 76,000 miles on it when the trouble happened. To say the least, I am very disappointed with Isuzu. This is my third Trooper I've purchased from this dealership. I thought that would have counted for something.

Amy of Fort Worth, TX writes (10/26/02):
Purchased a 1995 Isuzu Trooper in 1997. The engine went out 3 months ago. No engine to replace it can be found and in our looking for an engine we discovered that this model Trooper had a known wrist pin problem in the engine and that is why we can't find one today to replace it. Even if we did find one the same problem would happen so why would we buy an engine new or rebuilt just to have it do the same thing? One rebuilt engine we found was $4500 plus shipping plus installation from a mechanic. I think that is absurd when in any other NEW car you can get a new engine for that much if not less. Isuzu won't help us and claims they "know nothing" of this problem. I say BS.

 

[Rrobson]

Quite upsetting to read, not sure how Isuzu got it so wrong. They have always had a decent reputation with engines especially in this era though tend to be related to the diesel lumps. Is it their engine or another manufacturer??
I remember looking at these a number of years ago, there seemed to be a lot of very reasonably priced 3.5’s, the diesels were always substantially more expensive I guess this is one of the reasons why.
I ended up going for a terrano in the end and 5 years / 50000 miles later I’m glad I did although certain engine variants didn’t have the best reputation (mainly patrols though)! My only mistake was buying the 3.0, slightly earlier and older 2.7’s tolerate veg oil… (apparently the newest 2.7’s had a different fuel pump but can be retrofitted with the older style pump…) would have been useful at the moment!

 

[stuvy]

I’d be shifting it on personally as it can only end up in an expensive repair bill

 

[rcx132]

I’d be shifting it on personally as it can only end up in an expensive repair bill

I don't find it easy to part with cars as always put the time and money in to get them upto Scratch, and therefore I've invested into it. I bought this one, drove it for a month to check its OK, then fixed everything on it and upgraded a few bits, only later noticed how much oil it's burning.

With old cars I find I always need to put some TLC into them.

@Rrobson it is an Isuzu engine, one of their own.

 

[Bornfree]

It sounds like it needs a Vim tune up.

 

[rcx132]

It sounds like it needs a Vim tune up.

What's that? Some of the isuzu forums are saying that theres an ECU update that helps the issue. I have a tech2 so may be able to do this.

 

[steveo3002]

What's that? Some of the isuzu forums are saying that theres an ECU update that helps the issue. I have a tech2 so may be able to do this.

that powdery cleaning stuff your nan used....used to be a trick back in the day to let it suck in a spoon full of it and bed the rings in again

apparently caterpillar and chevrolet had thier own part number for it ...also known as bon ami in the states

 

[Bornfree]

 

[steveo3002]

Using Bon Ami to seat rings

The use of Bon Ami polishing compound to help seat rings is sometimes mentioned, usually in a sentence such as "a long time ago an old mechanic told me..." But how it should be used (that is, even if it should be used), how much to use, etc. always is vague. I searched ...

britbike.com

 

[rcx132]

Thanks. A lot of other owners have said that Sea Foam engine cleaner did miracles for their Isuzu oil consumption. As the issue is with the poorly designed oil ring coking up, the engine cleaner removes the coke.

 

[stuvy]

Thanks. A lot of other owners have said that Sea Foam engine cleaner did miracles for their Isuzu oil consumption. As the issue is with the poorly designed oil ring coking up, the engine cleaner removes the coke.

Are you gonna try it?