Remember the tan/tan 95 CS I said my aunt bought?

[ZoomZoomFan]

Well, I've decided (actually the whole family has decided) that it either hates her and only her, or it's a lemon.

 

That car gave her nothing but trouble ever since she got it. First the ABS light came on. She had the brakes serviced, everything is a-ok. Light is still on as of this morning. But here comes the best part:

 

The car uses oil like a bitch, but only during long high speed travel. For instance, my grandad took it from her and had it looked over by his mechanic down here in Kentucky (aunt lives in Indy), and they found nothing wrong to explain the oil consumption. My grandad also proceeded to put around 1,000 miles on it driving around down here, and it used NO oil.

 

So, thinking it was fixed, my uncle (aunt's brother) took the car back to Indianapolis for here. Guess what? It was all good with oil when it left here and was 1 quart low when it got to Indy. I've never heard of anything like this before.

 

In any case my aunt got tired of it and has since bought an '03 Malibu with really low miles. She sent the CS packing, and now my grandad has it. I just washed it and drove it this morning.

 

So, what causes it to use that oil? I just want to know because like I said, I've never heard of a car only using oil during high speed driving.

[5speedz34]

What engine?

[ZoomZoomFan]

Oops. Forgot that.

 

3100/4t60E.

[1990lumina]

My Dad has told me stories about how his cars he had when younger would be fine around town, even if you beat on them, but would consume oil on a highway trip, especially if it hadn't been on a long trip before.

 

What weight of oil is being used? In warmer weather it might be breaking down and passing through worn areas of the motor and being consumed...

 

If the LIM gasket was leaking, would that could oil to be burned too, or not?

[19Cutlass94]

what weight oil are you using? are there any leaks? And beating a 3100 will not consume oil, asn Ive kinda been doing this lately and oil level is fine. The oil pump drive seal will cause oil leaks, the rings will cause a little leaking, bad pcv vavle will cause loss. Theres many things that will cause an oil loss on that engine.

[Brian P]

Bought a '03 Malibu, to get AWAY from problems? Talk about a step backwards!!

 

But being 1 qt low after a long drive is above average, but not a cause for major concern. How many miles was the highway drive?

[Stevo]

Bought a '03 Malibu, to get AWAY from problems? Talk about a step backwards!

 

LoL I thought the same thing. Have fun with brakes.

[kuwaitliberation]

The oil leak has something to do with the engine getting to a certian temp and staying there. Could be a myriad of things. My first guess would be, believe it or not, oil plug. No oil in the anti-freeze, right?

[Crazy K]

what a step back!

 

 

Is there an observed oil leak?

 

IIRC there is a TSB about 3100 using oil buy sucking it into the intake due to a bad intake gasket, and no smoke would be observed due to the cat burning the smoke clean.

 

on the 3x00 engines I would replace the gasket on general principal, whether you think anything is wrong or not, and use the felpro metal permaseal one.

[19Cutlass94]

FYI, when the UIM gaskets are bad, the plenum will turn black from the oil...

[ZoomZoomFan]

Bought a '03 Malibu, to get AWAY from problems? Talk about a step backwards!!

 

But being 1 qt low after a long drive is above average, but not a cause for major concern. How many miles was the highway drive?

N-body does not equal shitbox. I promise. I've beat on mine for 2,000 miles now, and it has given me zero problems.

 

Anyway. I'm not exactly how far it is to Indy, but I know it usually takes 3.5 to 4 hours to get there. That Cutlass got pwned today anyway, my grandad backed into it with his Ranger and tore the shit out of the passenger rear door. I had the pleasure of driving the CS to the body shop, and it drives fine. The little ABS light is still smiling though.

[Brian P]

Bought a '03 Malibu, to get AWAY from problems? Talk about a step backwards!!

 

But being 1 qt low after a long drive is above average, but not a cause for major concern. How many miles was the highway drive?

N-body does not equal shitbox. I promise. I've beat on mine for 2,000 miles now, and it has given me zero problems.

 

Anyway. I'm not exactly how far it is to Indy, but I know it usually takes 3.5 to 4 hours to get there. That Cutlass got pwned today anyway, my grandad backed into it with his Ranger and tore the shit out of the passenger rear door. I had the pleasure of driving the CS to the body shop, and it drives fine. The little ABS light is still smiling though.

 

How many miles again?

 

I'm sorry but all that I've seen IN PERSON, the Malibu is arguably the worst vehicle GM produced this decade. I see more problems with them than Grand Am's, even though it's the same platform. I have no idea why, maybe there is more of them around here?

 

I'm not talking universal problems like intake gaskets. I'm talking severe brake hydraulic failure, steering racks with broken mounts, broken front coil springs, bad wheel hubs, the list goes on. This is also with under 100k much of the time. Almost every customer I've talked to that has it in for service tells me stories about how much they've spent to keep it on the road. I only work at a shop for 3 years to tell you that and I'm there now for a day a week, and it still comes rolling in.

[ZoomZoomFan]

Bought a '03 Malibu, to get AWAY from problems? Talk about a step backwards!!

 

But being 1 qt low after a long drive is above average, but not a cause for major concern. How many miles was the highway drive?

N-body does not equal shitbox. I promise. I've beat on mine for 2,000 miles now, and it has given me zero problems.

 

Anyway. I'm not exactly how far it is to Indy, but I know it usually takes 3.5 to 4 hours to get there. That Cutlass got pwned today anyway, my grandad backed into it with his Ranger and tore the shit out of the passenger rear door. I had the pleasure of driving the CS to the body shop, and it drives fine. The little ABS light is still smiling though.

 

How many miles again?

 

I'm sorry but all that I've seen IN PERSON, the Malibu is arguably the worst vehicle GM produced this decade. I see more problems with them than Grand Am's, even though it's the same platform. I have no idea why, maybe there is more of them around here?

 

I'm not talking universal problems like intake gaskets. I'm talking severe brake hydraulic failure, steering racks with broken mounts, broken front coil springs, bad wheel hubs, the list goes on. This is also with under 100k much of the time. Almost every customer I've talked to that has it in for service tells me stories about how much they've spent to keep it on the road. I only work at a shop for 3 years to tell you that and I'm there now for a day a week, and it still comes rolling in.

My Grand Am has almost 106k (103k two months ago). The CS has 94k. The Malibu has 75k.

[Crazy K]

FYI, when the UIM gaskets are bad, the plenum will turn black from the oil...

I was referencing a lower intake gasket issue, where the oil is sucked into the engine from the crankcase airspace.

[Stevo]

how about a brand new Alero's brakes being completely fucked after $18,000 kms of 95% highway driving and then going bad again 1 month after servicing at a dealership.

[ZoomZoomFan]

how about a brand new Alero's brakes being completely fucked after $18,000 kms of 95% highway driving and then going bad again 1 month after servicing at a dealership.

Yeah, N-bodies have sucky brakes. That's just fact. It's one of their problems.

 

Like W-bodies have rust, potential fires, etc.

[pwmin]

if i can remember, i will check the TSBs this afternoon.