Pls. suggest if you have any solution for my 2008 outlander ES.

a) I am using 5W 30 regular oil and every 500 mile I see dropping of oil level by 1-2 quart. This happen less on city condition but things really get bad on long highway trip (even the service engine light comes on due to very low level of oil). I am thinking of going to 5w-20 and using auto-rx to solve this. Is this a good solution or as suggested by mechanic there is no option other than to change/rebuilt engine. Any other suggestion you guys have.

b) We went recently on 100 mile trip and suddenly service engine light comes. I filled the oil before making trip so the level was not down but still the engine light was on. Next day the service engine goes off but when checked to mechanic the code show bad catalytic convertor. He suggest to replace the car asap because things will be going more worst as it is burning oil and destroying converter to start with.

Pls. suggest what should be the best course of action here. (I am second owner current mileage is 78K and we have put only 18K so far). Hope to keep this car longer as other than it is fun driving.

c) Just to add here, I saw the parts are costly and not available in aftermarket. Is there any site (may be overseas) for parts which is reliable and cost lesser than dealer price.

Thanks in advance

@jay

 

Wow!!! Was the Outlander using oil when you bought it 18,000 miles ago, or has the oil usage started since? How often have you changed oil in it? Also besides using oil, how does it run otherwise?

If you're sure you don't have a oil leak that's causing you to lose oil, then trying Auto-RX as a last resort can't hurt.

Right now according to www.edmunds.com a 2008 Outlander ES with 78,000 miles (in fair condition) is worth about $8,500 trade in, or about $9,900 if you sell it yourself. However with the engine and catalytic convert problems I doubt you could get anywhere close to that.

As far as overseas parts, some of the other members on this forum have ordered parts from overseas and they may be able to help in that area.

 

Thanks azjake for your reply.

yes, I am pretty sure it was burning oil when I took over the car but found out much later when I used it extensively. Changing oil every 2K miles with filling oil as needed in between. Apart from this car runs like a charm with no problem that's why looking for alternative before going for trade in.

 

It sounds like the previous owner didn't do oil changes at the proper interval or abused the engine by running it with low oil.

If the vehicle runs good otherwise, try the auto-rx and also try switching to high mileage oil to see if you can get the oil use to a more reasonable level like a quart every 1,000 miles or so. That's certaintly worth a try before considering a replacement engine or trading it in.

Below is the link to Bob is the oil guy. This is a popular auto forum and some of the posts are from people who have tried auto-rx and other products like it.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...s.php?ubb=cfrm

 

I've sold car parts for 30+ years. There is no "magic bullet" for a sour engine.

Isn't this a 10 yr-1000,00 mi transferrable warranty car ?

Have you approached a dealer about this?

Are you blowing blue smoke (burned oil) on start-up? When you let up on the gas do you see blue smoke? This would suggest bad valve stem seals.

Bllue smoke all the time (looking like an insect fogger) would suggest bad rings.

Either way, it's time for a tear-down or a known good used engine. But with used you are still taking a chance that it too would be bad.

By the way, my 2011 is run on 0w-20. That's what Mitsu wants in it. What does your owners manual or under-hood sticker recommend?

 

wow, for a 2008...any oil consumption that early is a bad sign. While not the most accurate, amsoil's website says you are supposed to be running 5w20. 5w30 won't hurt your engine, but will get less miles per gallon once the engine is up to temp.

I'm interested to hear about the question Milliesdad said...look out for blue smoke.

Can you see if there are any leaks? I know my upper oil pan seal is toast and I'm weeping just a bit...I just don't want to go through the hassle just yet of pulling it off, cleaning the surfaces, and putting a sealer on it (Yamabond 4 is the best...closely followed by "the right stuff").

if you take the oil fill cap off, can you see the rocker arms inside? if so, do they look clean or gunky? Last winter I did valve cover seals on my Ranger and good oil change intervals with good oil keeps an engine happy. It doesn't consume any and the rocker arms looked great.

 

The 10 year warranty is only good for the original owner. The 5 year is transferable.

 

I doubt this is Mitsubishis fault probably the first owners lack of maintance, get a used low mile motor they are all over from wrecked ones and have it installed or do it yourself. It would be nice and probably in the future all cars can be monitored for the abuse they take and "lack" of maintance to solve these matters without doubts or hurting the manufactures rep. ALot of "first" time owners use and abuse these cars and dump them early in life. And the rentals don't even get me started on those.

5/60 second owner.

* If you try to trade it in using oil or blowing smoke be ready for the dealer to take you out back and you know the rest....fix it keep it there great cars.

 

Thanks everyone for the reply and helping me out here.

As for the smoke, car is not showing any blue smoke on running but will check if it shows on start up. There is no oil burning smell or oil puddle or oil deposit in pan. In-fact the vehicle passes the smog test when we purchased the car and I read somewhere that if car is burning oil then it should have failed. I will look into smog test result for any clue. The only thing different is when the oil goes down there is audible and distinct sound when accelerator is pressed. When oil is filled up this sound goes away.

Also will check the rocker arm as suggested and see if it make any difference.

Spec says 5w 20 but used 5w 30 and is my mistake. I will revert back to 5w 20 this weekend and hope this bring some help.

I also think the car oil change was not followed strictly by first owner as he ran 65K in just 18 mnths but carfax show personal use so for long trip he might have skipped some oil change schedule. just my guess.

I will update this thread once I tried all the things you all suggested. Thanks again.

 

Wow, I am very glad when finding out this infor. It helps me so much in my situation. Thanks a lot.