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Losing Engine Oil

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Old January 18th, 2019, 1:42 PM
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Default Losing Engine Oil

Hey guys, for a while now when I go check my oil levels, it’s low, I add however much oil I need and then the following week or weeks it’ll be low again, there isn’t any oil spots where I park my truck, so I got to looking closely and found that there is oil on both valve covers, maybe coming out of the bolts on top of the valve cover? Is there a seal for each bolt? I’ll post some pics of my findings, if I order some parts from the dealer today, I’ll get them Saturday, I need help on this because I have a trip coming up and want to get this cleared up, thanks. I drive a 2011 Silverado, 4.3 Vortec,
extended cab, 2WD.

Last edited by Rubenc; January 18th, 2019 at 1:48 PM.
Old January 18th, 2019, 11:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Rubenc
Hey guys, for a while now when I go check my oil levels, it’s low, I add however much oil I need and then the following week or weeks it’ll be low again, there isn’t any oil spots where I park my truck, so I got to looking closely and found that there is oil on both valve covers, maybe coming out of the bolts on top of the valve cover? Is there a seal for each bolt? I’ll post some pics of my findings, if I order some parts from the dealer today, I’ll get them Saturday, I need help on this because I have a trip coming up and want to get this cleared up, thanks. I drive a 2011 Silverado, 4.3 Vortec,
extended cab, 2WD.
Could be your valve seals need replacement.
Old January 19th, 2019, 12:34 AM
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Visible oil on the covers w/o a more obvious puddling leak suggests you are dealing with an oil consumption problem, not a leak.
Old January 25th, 2019, 1:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Rubenc
Hey guys, for a while now when I go check my oil levels, it’s low, I add however much oil I need and then the following week or weeks it’ll be low again, there isn’t any oil spots where I park my truck, so I got to looking closely and found that there is oil on both valve covers, maybe coming out of the bolts on top of the valve cover? Is there a seal for each bolt? I’ll post some pics of my findings, if I order some parts from the dealer today, I’ll get them Saturday, I need help on this because I have a trip coming up and want to get this cleared up, thanks. I drive a 2011 Silverado, 4.3 Vortec,
extended cab, 2WD. Here is a quick guide on smoke exhaust diagnosis click here
It seems that you are loosing quite a bit of oil. If there are no traces of oil under a parked car, this probably means that the engine is burning it.
You should check if there is blue or gray smoke from the exhaust in several conditions:
- when you start your car from cold
- when you accelerate during drive
- when you decelerate while moving down-hill
- when you press the throttle after idling for several minutes

Hope this helps!

Last edited by mikeross1209; January 25th, 2019 at 2:04 AM.




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