I have change my oil on my HHR 2 times since I owned it. I bought it with 37K miles on it and now I am about 44.5K. I always change my oil when the Oil life is about 15%. I do a lot of city driving 99%.

the past 2 times I have drained my oil it seems to be a lot less that 5. I would say around 3.5-4 quarts. I have no smoke or engine noise.

Is this common on these engines? Sorry, I am new to the Ecotec world. I have a 2.4

I have mostly 3800 or LS2 engine in my life

 

FIrst question I have is are you checking the oil by the dipstick? That is what will tell you if you are low.

 

I as well do my own oil and I usually get around 4.5 quarts back. But it takes exactly 5 to fill it up.

 

I know I may loose my Man card on this, but I haven't did my monthly oil level check on this car. I checked the level before I drained it and it was wet all the way to full. But after I cleaned it off and checked it again, it was bone dry. So I drained it and I got about 3.5 - 4 quarts into my drain pan. I am going to monitor the level and see if I loose oil again. I am noticing Black residue on the bottom of my oil pan.. I am wondering if my oil plug is leaking. But I never noticed any oil spots in the driveway.

Here are few Pictures of the pan.

 

Simple answer. You are either leaking it out or burning it. Too much oil loss for that mileage since the last oil change.
Check that wet oil pan and at the least replace the washer on the drainplug.

Lastly. Check the oil level regularly. If you were losing oil any faster,you would have been looking for a new engine when it locked up.

 

I am going to stay on top of this, Can anyone tell me if there is a gasket on the drain plug of not? I am wondering if I am only loosing the oil when the car is moving. I have no problems, with changing the oil... AGAIN and replacing the drain plug with a new one.

 

There is a "rubber" gasket on the oil drain plug. Costs about .25-.50 cents at the dealer.

 

Thanks,

I am replacing the Plug and Gasket tomorrow. Sucks I just wasted $30.00 of Mobil one. But better than a $1000.00 Engine.

 

HOWEVER,.... it takes 10-15 minutes for the upper engine to drain down. If you check the oil dipstick after 2 minutes not running, then 15 minutes later you will be surprised! Also level ground is essential when checking.

My drain plug has a copper/metallic gasket, I think maybe none, no rubber for sure. The rubber gaskets are on the filter. Is there oil on the driveway? Does the exhaust smell like oil? Oil will not drip from the bottom when moving ONLY, look for oil from the top.

 

I am pretty sure I am loosing oil from the plug, butonly when the car is moving, cause I have no spots in my driveway at all. But by the looks of the pan, it seems the oil is leaking out. cause the wet spot flows right from the plug. But it seems to going back to front... Hmmmmmm.