My Car Is An Oil Guzzler

I have a 2000 Saturn wagon with a 4 cyl engine. This is my third SW 2000 and I know the engines typically consume oil.



It just turned over 100,000 miles, runs great but is just starting to guzzle oil. What if anything can I do to get better oil mileage?

Other than stop buying Saturns, you might try buying some straight weight oil to add to your oil change. See if you have a PCV that you can change.

Please define “guzzle” as it applies to your car. How much oil are you using?

It uses about a quart every 900 miles…

Okay, that’s more than the usual bit of “one quart per 1000 miles is acceptable”. Did this start suddenly, perhaps right after some kind of service work? Any dripping oil under the car?

use 20w-50. I slowed down the oil “guzzling” for my truck

The piston rings on this car get gunk ed up, causing the high oil consumption. There is a procedure called a piston soak, that may, or may not help.

Sea Foam works great to clean the rings

It could be closer to a quart every 1000 miles… The mechanic who did my oil change suggested going to a straight synthetic… He has an S series Saturn and said it reduced oil consumption quite a bit.

Walmart sales its house brand, Super Tech full Synthetic oil for like $13.00 for a 5 quart Jug.