Autos Fans

Engine Burning Oil; 1998 Chevy 1500?—by Matthew B

I removed my oil cap and to my horror found that my engine is burning oil, not quite as much as a lit cigarette but this is the first time I’ve noticed it. The Chevy 1500 has 158k miles and seems to drive fine, no oil at all out of the exhaust pipe when starting, accelerating or otherwise, though you can occasionally catch a faint odor of burnt engine oil when the vehicle is turned off.Doing some quick math, I believe this truck is burning about a quart in 1500 miles so, is this normal for a ten year old truck with 158k miles? Should I immediately begin looking for a replacement vehicle?

I will now begin to check the oil every time I fill my gas up, but won’t my oil pressure gauge indicate if my oil pressure drops below a safe level? I have no intention of relying on the gauge as the sole indicator of the oil level, but will it function is a fail safe in case my truck begins truly burning a lot of oil?

Anyways, I appreciate your time and thank you in advance.

Best Answer —by Brad G

The national engine rebuilders association and most car makers say that less than a quart per 500 miles is acceptable in any age of an engine (even a new one!!) but it kind of sounds like you are in the habit of going farther than 3 to 4 thousand miles between oil changes too!! That can cause the oil to be burning! If you see that the oil pressure guage is reading really low and the ‘check guages’ light is on while you are driving you probably already are too late to prevent a problem!!