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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'99
Oldsmobile Bravada, Loss of Engine Oil
Q: I have a 99 Oldsmobile
Bravada and it is losing engine oil without any apparent leaks or burning oil.
My Bravada has only 42k and the dealer has not been able to fix this problem.
Any suggestions?
- Jose D.
A:
You may not want to hear this answer. There is no magic in disappearing oil;
it either leaks out or its being burnt. If there are no external oil leaks
then the engine is burning it. When an engine is burning/consuming oil internally,
it is difficult to determine just where and why it is happening. It is not like
you can just remove a cover and look in for the cause. Of course, youll
say it is not burning it because there is no smoke coming out the tail pipe.
The emission control systems on your vehicle, particularly the catalytic converter,
just munch the oil up so good you will not see any volume of oil related smoke
out the exhaust. It is not like the old days when oil consumption/burning was
easily seen. Be sure the PCV system is operating correctly. If it is, youll
have to balance out the amount of oil being consumed to the cost of possibly
having the engine removed from the vehicle and disassembled. Diagnostic time
and repairs for an internal oil consumption problem on todays vehicles
is not easy and can be costly.
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