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North Central Kansas | We have a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan with a 3.8L engine that we bought new 3 years ago. I have changed the oil on it according to the maintenance system on the van. I was using Mobil Clean 5000 5w20 oil in it. Switched to Castrol because I couldn't find the mobil. This is the third Dodge van we have owned. The other two had 3.3L engines in them and all went well over 120,000 without using a drop of oil between changes. The last time I changed oil I thought it looked like there was less than 5 quarts that the engine holds in the pan but didn't think much of it. So Saturday we were going to town and the light had came on to change the oil. I thought I will change it when we get home so it is good and hot and I needed to pick up some oil and a filter. Got to town and the oil level light came on for just a second when we were driving in a steep driveway. After leaving the store I checked the oil and it was low. Advanced auto parts was next door so I bought 2 quarts of oil and put them in and got it back to full. When I got home I dropped the oil and put new mobil clean 5000 5w20 in and a new filter. I did some research on the internet and found this to be a common problem with this engine. Some suggested the PCV valve was bad but others said that it did not help their engine. Called Dodge dealer to have them check it out and the service manager said no reason to bring it in as that engine consumes 1 quart per 1000 miles as normal usage. Van has 73,000 miles on it. From what I have been reading this has been a problem with the 3.8L engines for a long time. I admit that I am bad about checking oil in the van between changes but I always look for leaks in the garage and the floor is completely dry. Engine is clean. Van doesn't smoke at all, nor does the exhaust smell like it is burning oil. In-laws have a 2011 with a 3.3L engine and my father inlaw said that they discontinued the 3.8L and now offer a 3.6L engine. Anyone else have this problem. |
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| I had that problem with a 2005 Chevy 2500 with the 8.1 in it. Bought it new, 21 miles on the odometer if I remember right. Put a little over a thousand miles on it and happened to check the oil one day, 1 quart low......ok, thought maybe it was never filled all the way. Topped it off and was on my way. As the mileage was put on the truck the consumption got worse, for instance around 30k miles I went took a 30' trailer on a 1,000 trip Empty! 2.5 quarts. Like you say, no smoke, no smell, no build up in the exhaust. Longer story short, Chevy told me that anything below 5 quarts in 3,000 miles was up to specs. However, if they could prove that I pulled trailers then the specs went out the window and any amount of consumption was possible. I often joked about adding a oil tank under the hood, due to engine specs I was not able to run a thicker oil through it. To begin with I ran a cheap brand oil, consumption did go down after switching to Northland, but very little. |
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South Central MN | My 2008 Van with a 3.8 just started doing the same thing. I did not know that was a problem with the 3.8. I have 72000 miles. We like the van but have plenty of problems. Biggest one is getting parts when something does break. |
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Soutwest Ks. | Wife and I own a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country with the 3.8. We have a little over 150,000 on it at this point. Engine still does not use oil. I am using Mobil 1 synthetic. I have never heard about the 3.8 using oil routinely. I think that sounds like an excuse for the dealer not to do anything. |
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| You could try mobil1 or another quality synthetic. Synthetics have lower volitility. Volitility is basically how fast a oil burns off, like boiling water in a pan. A oil that burns off quickly, the vapors just get sucked through the pcv valve and burned.
From what i've seen you won't see an oil cloud from the tailpipe until your burning a quart every 500 mi or so. |
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North Central Kansas | Our first van was a 1996 Plymouth Voyager with a 3.3L engine. I ran Mobil 5w30 in it for several changes. Within a year after I switched from the regular Mobil to the Mobil 1 synthetic the hydraulic lifters went out. The dealer claimed that the synthetic oil had loosened the carbon and plugged the oil galleys and ruined the lifters. Not sure how much truth there was in that but I switched back to the regular mobil after that.
We didn't keep it much longer as it had a bad habit of breaking the belt tensioner also. It did it one day on a 110 degree day and left us stranded with two little kids. We traded it as soon as it was fixed. Traded it on a 2003 and never had one bit of problem with it. The 2003 had over 125,000 on it when we traded. I know they will go more miles that that but I like the wife to have a dependable car to drive to work. |
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| One quart every 1000 miles is a lot, I've got a 94 BMW 3 series with nearly 170,000 miles and doesn't use a quart between 5000 mile changes. I use Mobil 1 synthetic. |
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| I have a 2001 with the 3.8 l that I bought new. At about 90k it started to use about 1 quart between changes (3,000 miles). I use the Mobil 5000 5w-30. It has not gotten any worse, I am at 110k now. |
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Coldwater, Michigan | We have a 1999 3.8 and we were noticing oil on the floor of the Garage. They replaced the main seals on that side of Van and haven't seen oil on floor since. Oil use between changes is not noticeable. We change every 10,000 whether it needs it or not. Valvoline 15-40.
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| Yes, we are having the same problem. we have been going back and forth with the dealership and warranty people to fix it, but the warranty people refuses to fix the problem. (NAC) First they told us Chrysler vehicles are expected to burn 1 quart to 1 quart 1/2 every 750 miles once the car is over 50,000 miles. So we took it back at 500 miles and the van showed a loss of about 2 quarts. Dealership thought for sure that NAC would pay to fix. They kept the van and to our surprise requested that we pick it up because the warranty people wouldnt be paying for repairs. They gave us a choice to pay for it ourselves. We have had our van right under a year when we noticed the problem. We went back and forth for about three - four months...We have a Dodge Grand Caravan SXT, 3.8L motor with 66,000 miles....We are very disappointed, we paid for a warranty to cover us if anything happens...not worth it..I have a bad taste in my mouh about Dodge vehicles and the warranty companies out there |
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2008 Dodge Grand Caravan oil consumption
