This was posted by stik6shift93 in an earlier post:

"Yep the earlier ls1s ate oil because of poorly designed piston rings, I think it was 2001 that they switched to the ls6 rings that the problem went away."

I currently own a 95 Z, and I am seriously considering selling it for an LS1 powered F-body. Unfortunately, since I have to pay rent and various other things, I cannot afford a newer (01' to 02') Camaro or Firebird. I can however, find 98-99 cars in my price range. How much oil do they consume? Is this something I should really worry about? Should I wait until I can afford a newer one? I was all set on a 98 Formula until I saw this post... Now I am somewhat leery of the car... Thanks guys. -Mike

 

I'm just saying, is it an inherent problem that could cause damage to the car?

 

Basically the way I see it the problem is really two issues. The first issue is that there have been some engines that really sucked some oil but a very, very, small number. These owners were seeing consumption in the range of 100-700 miles per quart of oil. - This is clearly an issue and GM found that the reason that it was ocurring was that with some driving conditions, there was a significant amount of ring oil ring "flutter". This "flutter" condition causes the oil control ring to lose contact with the bore and allow oil to flow past. The conditions were usually 2000-3500 RPM light-load such as "cruising" conditions where the car was being driven in a lower gear to express an exhaust note or to keep the car in a more favorable area of the powerband.
The number of people that have seen this issue are relatively small.

The second issue is that a lot of people don't have a foggy clue how much oil an engine is supposed to consume in normal operation. An owner that sees a loss of 1 quart in 3000 miles is not unique to Corvettes, Camaros, or Firebirds. People who regularly check their oil between changes tend to be people who own higher-performing cars. Most people don't ever look at the oil unless someone tips them in that there might be a problem. This is where the first group of owners (the ones that have a real issue) interact with the second group. Soon the ones that are down a quart at oil-change time are awake at night staring at the celing worrying about their engines when they actually have a car that is completely normal. -Let me say that again... A car that consumes 1 quart of oil in 3000 miles is completely normal.

All engines consume oil at some rate. Some consume a little more than others. Engines with more cylinders tend to consume more oil than engines with fewer cylinders. Engines with higher RPM potential consume more oil than engines that are driven by an 80 year-old grandmother. GM has indicated in service bulletin #01-06-01-011 that any vehicle under 8500 pounds GVW, is within normal guidelines if it consumes less than 1 quart of oil in 2000 miles. As an ASE Certified Master Technician, that has been working on cars for 20 years and writing service manuals for 10 years, I would agree that GM's guidelines are correct and in-line with the rest of the automotive industry. For example, Honda indicates that the engine in the S2000 is normal if it consumes up to 1 quart of oil in 1000 miles. Ford and DiamlerChrysler have similar guidelines to the ones that GM has.

Some links:
http://www.brandwood.net/supra/handbook/2/oil.html
(Ironically, the GM bulletin has almost identical wording to some of the areas in the Toyota handbook.)

http://dodgeram.org/tech/gas/Trouble...onsumption.htm
Dodge Truck oil consumption guidelines say that it is acceptable to have consumption up to 1 quart in 1000 miles.

With oil consumption it just seems to me that there is a general lack of understanding of how engines work as it relates to the amount of oil used.
I hope this helps.

 

ya one dude was like omg you beat on your car...dumbass

when i posted i have 25k miles and it eats oil.....NEWSFLASH
all ls1s do

 

Oh yeah, well how much oil do you think you lost when your check oil light comes on? I have a 2000 Transam and the damn thing has been doing this from day one, usually after an oil change, the check oil light will come on within 1500 miles after the oil change, I think that is problem. Anyway the car is still under warranty and we are doing an oil consumption test now to see how much oil the car is losing before they replace the rings.

 

there might be a recall for your car on the piston rings.....

 

every engine consumes some oil. it may not show up on the dipstick though.
I remember reading in a magazine that Saab(??) states that 2qts/1000 mi. is acceptible.

buy the car if you want it, just check the oil regularly.

 

My 2000 Z28 doesn't consume noticable oil between 3000 mi changes.

 

I beat the hell out of my ls1 over the summer and I lost about 1 quart per 3000 miles. But thats the oil change interval anyways so I just get the oil changed and it costs me nothing over regular operating. As for the winter I put about 3500 since my last oil change and it seams to have consumed none at all. I think you have to drive extremely hard to see a loss and even at that all I saw was about 1 quart/3000miles. But I also got a 01'.

 

Mine will use a quart or two every 4000 miles or so. Its not really a big deal, you've just got to check it regularly. This is not a big enough issue to prevent someone from buying the car.

 

My .02...
The problem is there. Sure some is normal, but the LS1 is a little worse than normal. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible, but it's slightly excessive.
IMO it has nothing to do with rings. It is the crappy crankcase ventilation design. They started with a loose PCV mounted on it's side... What did they expect. The fix is a restrictor that mounts in place of the PCV. It helps but is not perfect, and not a valve by any means. The engine is just so compact in design that oil control is compromised.
The worst thing about it all is that the oil goes through the intake into the A/F mixture. Even a tiny amount of oil in the mix lowers fuel octane. Our cars already tend to detonate, they don't need extra oil in the mix. Then the oil creates excess carbon build up in the combustion chamber, the volume of the carbon increases compression and the carbon itself is prone to hot spots. Both of these increase the likelyhood of detonation.
So you now have 5 factors causing KR power loss on our cars...
1) High compression from the factory
2) High operating temps to conform to EPA regulations
3) Oil lowering fuel octane
4) Carbon increasing compression
5) Carbon creating hot spots in the chamber

Not flaming the LS1 at all here... I love mine.
Just telling it like it is.
Dave

Btw: You didn't let the Opti-Spark keep you from buying an LT1!

 

My 1998 Z doesn't use ANY oil for normal driving.When I hit the track 4-5 weekends between oil changes then I might use about 1/2 quart.So no,EVERY LS1 doesn't burn oil.
Kevin

 

my 98 has never burned any oil... ive checked and re checked and if it is its not noticable at all.. ive gone 6000 miles without it showing a difference in oil level.

I still remember being back at ls1.com in 98 and having people say its odd how the ls1 doesnt burn oil..

not till 99 and really in the 00 01 02 did people really see the big oil consumption issues appear..

 

i havent heard of that...ill talk to him about it..plus just keep the pressure a little high..thats what i do, its no big deal just make sure the oil pressure isnt too low