I purchased an 2008 Impala with a V6 from Carmax about 6-8 months ago and I've been doing my own oil changes with synthetic oil. (The car currently has about 40,000 miles on it). The issue I'm having is that somehow I've consumed all the oil between oil changes (I'm not due for another oil change for about 1,000 more miles). My car had alerted me that I had a low oil level as I was turning up an on-ramp. When I checked my oil level, it wasn't even registering on my dipstick so I thought I probably had a leak. So I put it up on a rack at my work and discovered no leaks. However, I did notice that my tailpipe is blackened more than what I would consider normal which leads me to believe it's burning the oil. Is this problem common? How do I fix it?

 

No. You are either burning oil, or you have a leak. First if your burning that kind of oil, you'd see alot of smoke. Just pull a plug and inspect it. I think since you see no external leaks, check the coolent level as this might ba a lower manifold leak, with that normally the coolent will migrate into the oil system.

 

One other thing, if you cannot find where your oil is "going" place a piece of cardboard under the engine when you park it, if you do have a leak, it will show.

 

Thank you! If it is leaking, it's not making it out of the car. Also, I'm not seeing smoke but the tail pipe is blacker than I imagine it should be. I'm not the most car savvy, but I know the basics. I will check the coolent, but what exactly will I be checking it for? I also had a mechanic friend of mine tell me my piston rings might be bad, is this possible?

 

Overfill, and oil in ti. If your piston rings are "bad", that would cause oil into the combustion chamber, and you'd have black smoke. That is why I suggested you pull a spark plug to see if it is indeed burning oil.

 

Ok, thanks again. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me.

 

That should read blue smoke

 

blue smoke?!? I've heard of black and white smoke, but never blue. Thanks again, I will be digging into this after work tonight. I will update this thread if I have more questions or come across any revelations.

 

Blue is oil, white is cold engine, black is too rich fuel/air

 

Good to know. Thanks!