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There has been a fair spread of opinion written about this recent phenomina, but to my mind no real answers sought or published. I'm asking about this in the hope that the AA will be able to get some traction on this.
I have owned a commodore VE I and now a commodore VE II. The VE I using the Alloy Tech 3.6 had no noticable oil burning habits, however I have noticed that the VE II fitted with the SIDI version of this engine does, and it seems to be a common occurence. The question is...............why? In my experience oil only burns when either the oil scrappers are ineffective, or oil is leaking passed the valve stem seals. Neither of these should be the case in new engines.

If it helps here are a few associated questions that to me are part of the major one.

Holden have a policy to only run 5w30 synthetic oil in their engines for all operating environments. Normally there are recommended oils for various operating temperatures etc. so why do Holden demand only the above ? (which is comparitively expensive at $20/litre)

Holden have an acceptable guidline of burning up to 2.5 litres of this oil in 10,000 kms. Doesn't this seem excessive?

Is the use of this oil driven by the need to publish lower petrol consumption figures?

If so would we trading a maginal increase in fuel consumption, for paying an additional $50/10,000Km for this burnt oil.

Do owners have the option to use a different oil grade (e.g 10w30 or 10w40) to reduce or eliminate this oil burning ?

Looking for answers.

John

It is not uncommon for engines to use some engine oil. Some manufacturers, in extreme cases, claim up to 1litre per 1000km is acceptable - not that this should be seen as the norm. The SIDI engine is a different engine to the VE I engine and it will not be wise to compare the two. Emissions do have an impact on the type of oil motor companies recommend these days but this is just one of the factors. I suggest you have the Holden dealer carry out an oil consumption test to determine the exact amount of oil your vehicle is currently using. In this way it will be documented for future use if necessary. If the vehicle is under the manufacturer’s warranty then you will need to stick to their specified engine oil guidelines to keep your mechanical warranty with them valid. Some engines also use a bit more oil in the running in process.