My 2005 Chrysler Pacifica has roughly 33,000 miles. Runs perfectly has no leaks (sits in a garage every night) so I would have noticed a leak. No oil burning smell coming from the engine compartment but this car burns about a quart of oil every thousand miles. My local Chrysler service dept. says this is acceptable! What do you guys say? I have owned many cars and have never seen this in a low mileage vehicle.
Thanks for your thoughts on this.
You appear to be reporting the onset of consumption to that rate …or did you buy the vehicle used? If this was an onset of increased consumption, I would ask if it occurred with a change in oil. Sometimes a change in oil chemistry will result in transitional consumption. It’s when you hear of someone running one oil for a prolonged bout, then changing to something like Mobil 1, Redline, or Amsoil. Then you typically hear of the owner going back to the old oil and swearing to never use it again. If they had continued using the new oil, the consumption would go away. Otherwise there would have to be some substantial mechanical insult to cause consumption.
Otherwise, change your PCV valve, it can be a source of excess oil consumption with nothing else being wrong. Also consider looking into Auto-Rx (google it). It will free up coked rings.
Sorry, I should have been more detailed. The consumption rate has always been like this. I bought the car with 6300 miles on it under the chrysler certified pre-owned program. the car is under a powertrain warranty up to 80,000 miles or 2013. This car has had lots of work done under warranty and all the bugs seem to be worked out. I just want to resolve this problem while under warranty. I’ve read on a couple of message boards that oil rings were installed improperly on many of the 3.5 liter engines. I’ve called several Chrysler service departments in my area and they all indicate that for this vehicle one quart in a thousand miles is acceptable. They all say the same thing so this makes me suspicious. I’ve rebuilt engines before and i am a licensed aircraft mechanic… I know this is excessive consumption but would like the opinion of others out there.
What are your thoughts?
Thank You
I’ve called several Chrysler service departments in my area and they
all indicate that for this vehicle one quart in a thousand miles is
acceptable.
In the past, most or all auto manufacturers considered a quart per thousand miles to be acceptable - and would not look at it under warranty unless you exceeded that consumption.
You won’t find too many car owners who would be happy with a quart/thousand miles.
My opinion is that a quart every 1000 miles in a well maintained car with 33,000 miles on it is excessive. Unfortunately, most manufacturers don’t share my opinion. Most consider that acceprable usage, even though it’s considered at the high end of the acceptable use curve.
Chrysler will not do any work on your car to reduce this useage. I seriously doubt if letters to the zone rep or to Chrysler will bear fruit. They’re basically on their death throes right now, so I doubt if they’ll be swayed to spend any money to save you as a customer. They’re only going to cover work that’s clearly and indisputably warranty work. And even that type of work may be hard to get the dealerships to do.
My honest opinion is that you’ll have to learn to accept this. The good news is that you caught the condition before the oil ran down low enough to cause pressure loss and you prevented possible engine damage.
" I’ve read on a couple of message boards that oil rings were installed improperly on many of the 3.5 liter engines."
If you want to find out for sure if your engine is included without asking the stealership, subscribe at alldatadiy.com and get the TSBs for your vehicle.
If your car was improperly broken in and the rings did not seat well (during the first 6300 miles), it’s entirely possible that this was the cause. In which case, just grin and bear it. The dealer won’t do anything for you.
I agree that 1 quart per 1000 miles is too much for a MODERN engine. In the past this was acceptable.
I would check out all the items suggested by other posters, but the chance of getting this fixed under warranty are very slim.
I can confirm that most, if not all, car manufacturers consider the consumption of 1 qt per 1,000 miles to be “within normal limits”. I too would be very unhappy with this situation, but unfortunately there is probably no recourse.
As Doc suggests, it is very possible that the first owner did not follow the proper break-in procedure, with the result that the rings never seated properly. Or, as you suggest, it is possible that these engines were not very good right from the factory. But, no matter what the cause may be, I think that you are pretty much stuck with it. Sorry!