Basically it started out with a leaky oil filter which was overtightened somehow and i was losing a very tiny bit of oil from the filter. On sunday i had replaced the oil filter with a new one. Now 3 days later this morning i went to check the oil and it was down about 3 quarts...

I looked for pools of oil but did not see anything. The oil pan is a little bit wet but it doesnt seem like its even dripping so im not sure if i just forgot to clean the residual mess from the old leaky filter. I checked the coolant and it looks clean and like new (i replaced the coolant about a month or two ago).

I did know that my monte was burning oil when i first had it about a year ago but it was never like this. Not long ago this summer i went to check the oil to find that the reading was not even showing up on my dipstick!!! Nothing, nada.. I took it to the mechanic where we could not find a single leak what so ever. It simply ate the F*** out of the oil.

Months went by since then and the oil seemed to have stabelized untill now, just before winter. I dont know if im just being paranoid at this point but the drive just doesnt even feel right. It feels like it has become shakey at higher speed ever since.

I had thought my tranny was going for a while, when in Long island traffic if i where to try to accelerate the car would seem to accelerate as if i was tapping on the pedal, which i was not. A jerking feeling and with my SLP exhaust you could even hear the car sounding as if i was tapping the pedal. After i topped up the oil this morning that problem went away entirely.

What the F is going on? I cant tell if im more concerned or just pissed!!!!
At this point the stress of wondering when my oil hungry 3.5 will eat its way through $35's worth of oil and leaks is too much. I am ready to look into a new motor because im not even done paying the car off and a new car is a bit out of the question. Probably going to upgrade to the 3.9 as long as my mechanic is willing and capable.

Any thoughts ideas, or help would be greatly appreciated. Of course i will verify 100% that the motor is oil hungry before i purchase a new one but once more FML.

**UPDATE** I just let the car sit for 1 hour after a 1 hour drive and found not a single drop on the ground.

 

Unless I'm not reading your post correctly, it sounds like you changed the filter, topped off the oil, and then, three days later, you were 3 quarts low. With no visible external leaks, and no oil in the coolant, that means the oil would be burning off in the cylinders. I would think that would be pretty obvious too - in the form of smoke. A quart a day would be crazy smoking. Maybe it just wasn't topped off after the filter change ??? Did you change the filter then decide I'll consume a 12 pack prior to refilling the crankcase? Perhaps you just forgot? Are you sure you're putting the oil into the ENGINE and not the TRANSMISSION. A friend of mine once drained his motor oil, then added 5 qts of fresh oil - directly into the Transmission dipstick tube. I don't want to insult you, but ..... 3 qts in 3 days, that's alot of oil to loose without a trace. Are the plugs sooted up, or oily, they would be if the oil is heading out the exhaust.

 

Here's another thought - could the dipstick tube be loose, or could there be some other condition that would prevent a correct reading on the dipstick? In other words, the correct amount of oil is in there, it's just not being read correctly on the dipstick??

If the dipstick shows no oil or only one or two qts, but when you drain it, 4 - 5 qts come out - vioila there's the problem. Also - if you added 4 - 5 qts then three days later added 3 more to fill it, you may want to drain it out to see if 8 qts magically appear.

 

The dipstick shows as low as 1 qt below, anything more than that should throw a low oil light.

 

@JaxJim. No offence taken at all, that would be an understandable mistake after a 12 pack haha. But i am positive it all went into the crankcase. I did check the levels after i installed the filter on a level surface and it was perfect. Im curious about the dipstick tube being loose, im assuming i would be able to wiggle it around, or whats the best way to tell?

@Chibi. When the dipstick shown no oil on it, i think about 2 or so quarts actually did drain from the crank case upon changing the oil, so maybe there is something wrong with my dipstick tube as JaxJim mentioned. No oil light has ever been on in my monte(not for me, not for my dad).

After work i will mess around with the dipstick tube and see how that looks. But that concerns me just as much as having too little oil in the motor, i understand that having either too little or too much oil can be equally as bad for the motor.

Thanks guys, i will let you know if i find anything.

 

Do you have an oil pressure gauge on your car?

 

I dont have an aftermarket one, but im honestly not sure if there is one stock.

 

I can't think of your gauges off hand, I know I have one.

But I feel like you just have RPM, Speedo, Temp, Gas...

 

if it's the same as an SS, it dings and reads low oil level in your message center (where it displays the gear change in the picture below). I'm sure you have the same gauge cluster i do, however i'm not sure if it acts the same. low oil isn't something you want to leave unnoticed, so i'd assume gm did something that would alert you. All else fails, measure your oil during your next change . . .

 

i think there is just a dummy light that says low oil on the DIC.