1990 Chevy Silverado Losing Oil

1990 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
89,000 MILES • 6 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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GINGER1372
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I have a Chevy Silverado V-6 with 89,000 miles. My truck has never used any oil until now. I had my oil changed at a drive thru oil change station as I always do. I drove 250 miles to visit family. On the way back oil pressure dropped below 30 and started to make a noise. I immediately pulled over and killed the engine. I checked the oil and there was none on the stick. It held 3 quarts of oil. I drove back home stopping to check the oil a couple of times. The oil stayed in operating range. I checked it before going to work and it was empty. I had the oil changed at a different place and checked the oil every morning for 2 weeks and the oil level did not change. So I thought maybe when the oil was changed the first time something was not tightened right and I lost the oil. I started only checking the oil every couple of days and one day noticed the oil pressure was lower than usual. It was out of oil again. I noticed the oil was being lost most often when I went on the Interstate and traveled at high speeds and not when I stayed at or under 45 mph. There is no oil on my concrete driveway. I don't see any oil on the engine. I have talked about this with a few other people and they say I am probable burning oil. The truck does not smoke. It puffs a little white smoke when it first cranks in the morning. Please help?
Jun 23, 2010 at 3:13 PM
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2CARPRO JACK
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Since this vehicle most likely isnt equipped with an oil cooler, we canassume itisnt going into tehcoling system.To find out if the engine has an oil consumption problem, first remove the spark plugs (keep in order) look for heavy deposits and build-up on the plugs, this is a sign of oil burning.You can also have a leak-down test done to see if therings are still holding.A compression test isnt a good way to find oil consumption due to the fact that oil in a cylinder will raise the compression, making it apper to be good, but a leak-down shows how much pressure is leaking past the rings.This will eliminate or verify the rings as the culprit. Did you by chance switch to synthetic oil?
Jun 25, 2010 at 8:20 AM