2013 Malibu
I’ve got around 150k miles on her, I know she’s due for an oil change. I or my husband does the oil changes every 5,000-6,000 miles so we’ve always been on it. The last few oil changes, right around the 5,000 mile mark when it’s due I get an “engine oil low - add oil” message on the dash. I’ve looked under the car, there’s no visible oil leak or oil spots in the driveway. Since there’s not visible oil leak or oil spots, I’m concerned with an oil consumption issue. I was a service advisor at a Chevy dealership so I picked up on a few things and did a semester of college for automotive technology before I had to drop out due to medical issues.The only thing I can really do is basic maintenance, I’m still learning so not very good at diagnostics yet 😂 I know very mild oil consumption is normal in between oil changes, I just feel like since the low engine oil is popping up that it’s a red flag and maybe consuming more than it should? It’s only here recently that it’s been doing the low engine oil message, and it always does it right around the 5000 mile mark right around when the oil change is due. Any advice or ideas? My husband is a mechanic in the military, he’s just gone on orders right now so it can be hard to get a hold of him.

 

What does the dipstick say?

 

there’s still oil on the tip of the dipstick, it’s about an inch away from the minimum line

 

you should never let your oil go below minimum. It damages the engine, and leads to more oil consumption. You need to check your oil more often and top it up regularly instead of waiting until your oil change or for the warning light to come up.

 

I’m doing my oil change this weekend, but I’ll make sure to pay better attention to the oil level in between oil changes from now on. I have about a half a quart I can use to top it off until I get to the oil change on Saturday.

 

Are you seeing any exhaust smoke on start up? I would start checking dip stick monthly to get an idea on consumption. My '05 Suburban was smoking on start up and got to 800 mi per quart before we got rid or it.

 

exhaust doesn’t smoke, other than this she runs and drives perfectly fine and still does great! I’ve just noticed this with the last few oil changes.