scottgolf

Hi, I have an 05. do I need to check the level every week? or will it tell me on the gauges if the oil level is low? i come from driving a cadillac with a northstar. all northstars use 2 quarts of oil before it is time to change the oil. Its just a normal thing (typical American trash), so i got to rely on the car telling me when it was time to add oil.

So with my 05 ls do I need to check it, or can I rely on the car to tell me if I need to add a quart?

Sentinel

If its like any other toyota it will only tell you when its low.... I think that is more then a quart down... Ive never checked oil every week in a car before..

caddyowner

Wow, that was harsh. It is true that GM Northstars, Shortstars, and 3.6 engines need an oil level check every other fill-up.

On my LS, I check the oil monthly and haven't seen it budge between oil changes in the past year.

scottgolf

well if the indicator comes on, is the damage to the engine already done? does anybody know how low you can go and when the light comes on?

Twix

When the oil light comes on, you S T O P...
If you are suspicious about your engine, you can always keep a quart in the trunk somewhere just in case...

svlexus

i duno what kinda sensor youre talking about on your caddy. Im only familiar with the low oil pressure light which means stop immediatly and get towed. Do toyotas really have a low oil LEVEL light? the standard deal is your engine wont eat oil, if its low at oil change they should tell you. ( they should check it before starting the change)

I dunno about caddys but if you allowed the oil pressure light to come on before adding oil then you destroyed it. Thats why you had to keep adding more after that.

warminwisc

I always thought the low oil warning light was just that. A warning to add oil OR you would damage your engine in further time. Check engine lights I also thought you had some time, and lights to stop driving immediately I always thought where different. What does the manual say?

I considered a caddy but my dad had a caddy that used like a quart every 1200 miles or so and I knew I would get disgusted with that real soon. Yup American trash. Are the new Northstars still such oil guzzlers?

my LS with 130,000 uses like 1/3 of a quart maybe in 5-6k miles.

Twix

That is still in order with the factory specs (you can see it in your vehicle owner manual - I think I saw it somewhere)...the car does “eat” a bit of oil between the services...

As I saw, on a Lexus there are two “indications” - one on the information display when it says "Oil level low" and an Oil icon...

Now, my opinion (doesn't mean I'm right) :
- "Oil level low" on the display - add oil, drive a bit and check (don't drive until you add)
- Icon - definitely don't drive, check for major leaks, best - go to a mechanic (oil pump malfunction or something)…

If I’m wrong – correct me?

caddyowner

The current Northstar engines don't consume as much oil, but still usually need to be topped off between changes. GM states that it's normal for high performance engines, though I don't view a 4.6L V8 that generates 275 HP "high performance". On the good news front, Northstars no longer have problems with head bolts pulling out. The current oil use champ for GM is the 3.6L engine used in longitudinal and transverse configurations in the CTS, STS, Enclave, etc. It burns oil and has timing chain failures.

Go ahead and keep poking me with the "trash" talk. I can take it.

Sentinel

One indicator is oil pressure if you see this you should not drive the car at all. The other is oil level, there is a float in the oil pan. If this light "JUST" turned check for an oil leak if you dont see one you can probably drive to get oil as long as its not up or down a massive hill

jac430

The manual says the following:





Hope this clarifies the matter a bit.

My previous car had an oil pressure meter which doubles as an oil level meter at start-up. Quite handy!

Jac

warminwisc

caddy also had a problem with like a pan leak or something where you had to remove the engine to fix the leak. what was that about?

caddyowner

^^^

Yes, the Northstar block has a different design than most, with the crank up higher and the block in multiple parts between the crank and oil pan. A half case leak (AKA lower block seal leak) can develop which requires removing the engine or just the support cradle under it to repair the leak. I believe there is a lot of labor involved in whatever method is used to fix this somewhat common leak.

scottgolf

about the caddy, my caddy was so expensive to keep fixing the leaks all the time, i just gave up and let it leak. it doesn't hurt, just makes a mess. not worth putting 2 grand into every time it leaked. i bought my cadillac new and am not hard on cars. I have all the service done on time. If anything i overservice my cars. Cadillacs are just pieces of *****. After owning 2 and driving them for over 150k miles I feel I my opinion is valid on the cadillacs. After owning a 430 I realize how stupid I was to have ever bought the caddies. The 430 is so much cheaper to service. Also I can get all 4 ls shocks for the same price as I could get 1 cadillac shock. I only wish I would have bought an LS sooner, I would have a lot more money. Seriously I would bet my total cost of ownership of the 97 sts was realistically 175k with all the service over the years including the initial price of the car. Yea the caddy is cheaper to buy but the service will kill you.

Bocatrip

I don't believe the majority of our cars tend to use oil. I haven't seen my dipstick level change even slightly between oil changes. It's always a good idea to check the level periodically anyway.