:help: My truck has 30k on it and every oil change (i do them myself) i am consistently only getting back 8 or so quarts of oil. I change my oil at 3-4 thousand mile intervals. I took my truck to the dealer and they cant find anything wrong with it, it makes a ton of blue smoke. Can anyone help me?

well some of it will be stuck in your filter, but not 2 quarts. You should try the cardboard trick underneath to see if you can find a drip overnight. Another option is try a different flavor of oil and see if there's a difference. I switch back and forth between dino and syn for the winter months and the first oil change to syn normally results in oil loss for a short period.

Also start checking your oil at fillups, oil warm and 5 to 10 mins after shutdown on flat ground will give you your most accurate readings.

Right before i changed my oil i pulled the dipstick out to check how much oil i had and it read full but i meausred it out and i only got 8, i think i have a really serious engine problem, maybe im blowing oil by the turbo or something

I normally run AMSOIL 15w-40 synthetic oil, i switched to Mobile 1 5w-40. Should I go back to petroluem oil?

A quart of oil in 2000 miles is not considered excessive in and of itself - I can use almost that much - depends on driving conditions. The blue smoke is puzzling, and may indeed indicate burning. I would pull off the blue hose hose going into the intake manifold and check for oil there - that might indicate a bad TC seal. The drip check is another good idea, as I know mine has a minor leak at the rear seal, but not eough to dump on the ground (and not enough to risk putting it in the shop). I do not know if the '03 has positive crankcase venting or not - another possibility.

Thanks Tom for your help, anyone else who has any idea what might be wrong PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

The Duramax engine has an odd shaped oil pan. Some of the oil does not get drained, during an oil change, because of this. I usually get 8 quarts out of the pan, plus what is in the filter.

I still think something is seriously wrong with my engine, it blows blue smoke on a cold start, also when im sitting at a stop light after driving on the highway, also my exhaust smells really oilly. Maybe its me but i really think there is something wrong

Mine smokes blue on a cold start and goes away when it warms up. I've noticed the same thing when I let my truck idle after a short drive on a cold morning but its not fully warmed up when it does it.I wouldn't worry about it if your oil level is staying full.
How cold is it where you live?

Don't know how you could measure full before change and still figure your using oil. I'd change back to Dino next change and see if it gets rid of the blue smoke, If you don't add oil between changes its doubtful your using very much oil. Curious, when you put ten quarts in at oil change time, is over fill indicated on the dip stick?

I still think something is seriously wrong with my engine, it blows blue smoke on a cold start, also when im sitting at a stop light after driving on the highway, also my exhaust smells really oilly. Maybe its me but i really think there is something wrong

I have never seen a diesel that did not smoke a little blue till warm. A lot of that blue is fuel that is to cold. Keep and eye on the dip stick and see what is going on. Don't just go by whats coming out when changing it. I check my oil 3 or 4 times a week. Mine has 26K on it now and its down to a quart in 5-6K. It was a quart about every 3K. Just keep the oil level and drive it and be happy. A quart of oil in 3-4K is not worth loosing sleep over.

Greg
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I noticed you have a Six Gun on your truck. My 03 with 52K will smoke a lot more on a cold startup when I have my Edge set to anything other than 0 or 1. I also use Amsoil and in the last 7000 have only used 1 qt. A hard pull from Denver to GJ with my camper at 75 can tend to do that. Unless you are noticing a lot (more than a qt/ 2000mi) of usage on the dipstick I don't think I would worry.

I agree with pick take a look at the shape of the oil pan unless you drain it with the front end high in the air you are going to leave oil in that area of the pan.I don't go by what comes out I go by the dipstick just make sure the oil is good and warm and give it time to drain back from the top end.

What is really worrying me is that my truck is smoking blue even after it is warmed up. I live in missouri so it doesnt really get all that cold here. It seems to smoke reguardless of what level the six gun is on. Eric said that i might have a serious internal engine problem.

Ok Im probably just freaking out about all of this, but even after a 15 or so mile drive on the highway in approx 30 degree weather it is smoking blue like crazy. My buddy who drove me home from the dealer was practically choking on my blue smoke behind me and my truck was fully warmed up. That is what is worrying me, it makes my brand new truck look like a beater when that much smoke is coming out of my exhaust pipe it is happening more and more often now even with my chip not even in my truck, I dont see cummins smoke like that even when there chipped. Powerstrokes just suck

I thought my six gun might be defective a while ago, so i sent it back and had it reprogrammed. Thanks everyone for all of your help these issues the help is appreciated

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/images/smilies/help.gif My truck has 30k on it and every oil change (i do them myself) i am consistently only getting back 8 or so quarts of oil. I change my oil at 3-4 thousand mile intervals. I took my truck to the dealer and they cant find anything wrong with it, it makes a ton of blue smoke. Can anyone help me?Has it had blue smoke since it was brand new? If so, maybe they forgot an oil control ring on one of the pistons. I've seen new engines come without some critical components(oil control rings, head gasket fire rings, liner seals). These were not Dmax's, but anyone can make a mistake

Take it in to the dealer when it is smoking and pull it inside! Best to smoke the place out, if it is as bad as you describe, it shouldn't take too long.
Tell'em fix it or buy it back!

No offense, but don't try to turn this into some sort of a Ford/Chevy/Dodge debate. There are lemon Cummins out there, and there are lemon Powerstrokes along with lemon Duramaxes. You clearly have a defective component causing the problem, because the rest of us are not driving vehicles that act like yours.

Trust me, I know it's frustrating, but this isn't the norm for these engines. Are the Duramaxes as reliable as Cummins? That's hard to say... the Cummins set a tough act to follow, but don't think they don't have their fair share of problems, because they do!

If they had no problems, Dodge dealers wouldn't have to hire mechanics. Food for thought!

yeah i know im frustrated with my truck, makes me look at other alternatives, and to diesel66 i bought the truck used form a chevy dealer with 19k on it, he said that he had only used it to haul his 19' foot bass boat.

I hate ford though, they dont make good trucks!! Im still a Chevy guy, maybe i got a lemon

my dealer sucks, they hate doing warranty work, its going to take alot of complaining to get them to do anything. If your truck is under warranty can you take it to another dealer or only the one that you bought it from?

Thanks everyone for all of your help and advice it is greatly appreciated, and sorry for double posting about this issue. Any additional help is greatly appreciated Thanks!!

My $tealer just called me and said that there is nothing wrong with my truck. The blue smoke is perfectly normal in these trucks (WHAT????). If my truck is under warranty can I take it to another Chevy dealer in my area for warranty work? Thanks

As far as I know, you are supposed to be able to take your DMax to any dealer for warranty work.

You might also try calling that GM # in your owner's manual, truck is in car shed and I'm still getting my coffee, so I can't quote the #.
Stay after them, no way is that amount of smoke normal.
Keep us filled in on this, as we all learn from each other's experiences!

Dear JhnZ71,

Thank you for contacting the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center. I appreciate
you taking the time to write us in regards to the warranty on your diesel
engine.

I do apologize for the smoke issue you are experiencing with your vehicle. Even
though the dealership couldn't duplicate the smoke issue I would still recommend
making another appointment and see if they can find the cause.

In regards to your engine and its warranty its covered for 60 months or 100,000
miles whichever comes first.

If you should need to contact us in the future, simply reply to this message or
call our Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-222-1020. Customer
Relationship Managers are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to
11:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

Again, thank you for contacting Chevrolet.

Sincerely,

Chad Reyes
Customer Relationship Manager
Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center

You know its great that there so nice but there not very helpful, im going to try taking it to the other dealer in my area. Anyone have any ideas as to the best dealer in the St. Louis Area? Thanks

Any dealer is obligated to do warranty work for you if the truck is still under warranty. If you don't like one, go to the next.

Just monitor the oil dip stick. Your ability to measure how much came out might not be very acurate.

Is dino oil better for diesels than synthetics? Could that be the cause of my problems?

If the dip stick reads normal you do not have a problem. I run 5-40 synthetic in the winter and 15-40 mineral in the summer (Mobil).

I forgot to add that every diesel produces some smoke.

yeah i know, i have a I3 diesel john deere tractor, it makes some blue smoke on cold starts. Its ten years old now and used almost every day, and it doesnt smoke blue like my truck. I use my truck maily to haul it from place to place, and i never put diesel treatment in the fuel (of the tractor), i change the oil only once a year in the tractor and not even close to as much blue smoke as my truck.

Piston rings fried for whatever reason maybe?

If you are not using oil (shows full on the dipstick/cable) and its not fuel contaminated then you are not burning oil.
Has your mpg gone down?
Are you experiencing a lack of power?
Didn't re read all the posts so I don't know if someone else has already asked.

JhnZ71,I don't know if you've done it or not,but why don't you get an oil analysis done.It would tell you alot about the engine.