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(Steven Shelikoff) wrote in message

Also, your
friends at work and a certified Chrysler mechanic friend of yours? Or
were you just lying when you said you had friends? Probably.

Whatever. We DO have good laughs at your idiotic diatribes!

They're laughing AT you, not with you.

Really?

As I read through these post on a regular basis I sometimes find myself on the
floor laughing with the responses and comments about alternators, rotors,
batteries and oil consumption. I'm Ed from SAP and have been with Saturn in the
retail end since launch and I would like to explain how oil consumption occurs.

There are 2 catagories I'd like to explain about, 1) defect in manufacturing 2)
wear and tear/ maintenance.

Defect in manufacturing concerns show up very early in the life of the car,
most commonly in the first 10k miles, and are covered by warranty if still in
the 3yrs/ 36k base warranty. The defect issues include : Poor machining.
Cylinder bores not finish cut correctly, too much or too little cross hatch.
Incorrect piston/ ring/ cylinder clearance. Incorrect placement of parts, rings
installed upside down. Incorrect valve guide clearance. Valve guide seal
failure. PCV valve failure. These concerns can happen, in fact it can happen
with any internal combustion engine thats manufactured and Saturn is no
different. Saturn has had some concerns in some vehicles, they issued bulletins
and the concerns went away.

Wear and Tear/ Maintenance issues are far more common a reason for problems
which extend far beyond the oil consumption issue. A car that developes an oil
consumption concern at 40k or 50k miles is not a mfg defect issue. Oil is a
critical fluid, much like blood is to us. Frequent changing of the oil and
filter ( every 3 k ) and using the correct grade of oil is vital. Oil does a
few things for your engine, 1) it creates a fluid wedge between moving parts to
decrease wear. When there isn't the correct fluid wedge wedge to keep moving
parts apart they contact eachother and cause wear ( excessive clearance ) When
there is too much clearance between piston rings/ pistons and the cylinder
walls oil actually gets past them instead of lubricating them and the problem
amplifies itself as time goes on. 2) oil cools the moving parts in an engine.
If the oil level is low there is not enough oil to properly cool moving parts
and heat rises in the engine, as heat rises oil is consumed internally by
thermal break down. The less oil available, the quicker the remaining fluid
breaks down. To prove my theory put 2 qts of water on your stove and bring it
to a boil, measure the time it takes to boil off the 1st qt and compare it to
the time it takes to boil off the remaining qt. 3) The quality and grade of oil
is critical. In the extreame case of using 20w 50 in winter months you'll
increase the wear of the engine because the oil is too thick to create the
proper wedge and can't circulate fast enough which dosen't allow the proper oil
flow, causing wear.Always use the proper oil. The parts used to replace old
ones in maintenance is critical. Use the correct oil filter, air filter and pcv
valves. The pcv valve is the most common cause of premature oil consumption,
heres how it works. The factory pcv valve is designed to allow the pressure in
the crankcase to be vented. Too much crankcase pressure will push oil into
places it shouldn't go, and can cause consumption of oil and even worse, blow
out seals and gaskets. Too little and negitive pressure sucks oil out of the
engine into the intake manifold and is sent into the combustion chamber with
the fuel mixture causing consumption. In each example oil is consumed and when
the level drops it causes accelerated consumption. Most aftermarket PCV valves
are designed to fit a number of vehicles and are not specifically designed for
a specific car. PCV valve replacement is a common at small independent shops
and speedy lube shops. Most often they stock the most common Sizes and install
parts that fit the hole. The volume of air that the pcv valve flows is its
critical feature, too much flow causes lower and negitive crankcase pressure,
to little flow causes higher pressure. A dirty or cloged pcv valve cause to
high a pressure. Air filters that are restricted can cause higher engine
internal temps causing consumption and break down, generic oil filters just
like pcv valves fit many makes and types of cars and may not flow enough fluid
or too much causing internal heat to build. Improper cooling system operation
causes higher internal temp, again causing consumption. Worst case if you have
a bad pcv valve,a clogged air filter, the wrong grade oil, an aftermarket oil
filter and a poorly operating cooling system your also gonna use oil, and this
applies to any internal combustion engine.

I hope this brings a little clarity to the how does oil consumption happen. I'm
sure that there are cars consuming oil right now, every make and model and just
as sure most of them are maintenance issues.