09 ford focus using oil

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
They think its a concern because it shouldn't be drinking a whole bottle of oil in 5,000 that's exactly what they said. It never bummed oil before and now it is out of no where. Ive never owned a vehicle that used oil except my Saturn. And my cars had a lot more miles on it. All I can say is this car has been a piece since it was new and my ain't Hyundai hasn't had any trouble. American car companies aren't going to win many hearts if you tell the customers you may have to add oil to your new car everyonce in awhile to keep it topped off. Granted it may not be a real issue but people are going to go hmm I could buy a Ford that uses oil or a Hyundai and it doesn't use oil. The average person is going to be ticked to have to pop their hood and ad oil to a new car wether its a big deal or not. Heck I hate doing it to the Saturn cant imagine owning a 20,000 car and it using oil. Sorry don't want to sound like a jerk but a Goo healthy car may use a slight amount of oil not almost a quart. That's all.I'm saying.


Many high performance BMW's that cost 100+ thousand dollars use up to 1L/1000 miles. Does that make them junk? ALL engines burn oil, they have to in order to lube the rings and pistons as well as the valves. Whether that amount is of significance or not appears to be the issue here, and given that your mom's consumption is less than 1/5th of the amount deemed generally acceptable, I can't see how this is being regarded as such a big deal, it really isn't!

I don't understand why you are getting so upset about this, there are cars from EVERY manufacturer on this board that burn oil at that level. And some more, some less. This is not the issue that the dealer is making you think it is for starters, and secondly, because you changed oil brands and consumption happened, why is this suddenly the fault of the car or engine? It may, and likely IS, simple chemistry differences due to the oil brand change that has caused the slight increase of oil usage over these 5,000 miles.

 

[Dakota1820]

I'm really not that upset. I think its bull that it burns any oil , a measurable amount anyway. And it could be the Pennzoil but why? It's talked about so highly. The valvoline never burned and Pennzoil is supposedly better. I do think 3/4 a quart in 5000 on a car with 35,000 is a cause for investigation. If its burning this much now I cannot imagine how it'll be at 150,000 miles. You know what is frustrating. 2weeks old window stopped rolling up and down, 4 months reverse light socket is bad not the bulb the socket. 1yr the back door starts sticking and the brakes constantly squeak even though there's plenty of pad left. 16 months trunk won't close and the head rest broke, and two weeks ago wrench light came on and car needs an update . It needs an update to run oroperly. Sounds like nonsense to me and now its using oil. That's whats frustrating and people cannot imagine why American auto companies are yanking. I guess you could say its a lemon but I know three other people with the same car and they all have door sticking issues the one also had trunk issues and 2of three had the window trouble. So its all kinda common Ford won't fix the door or the trunk so i fixed both its under warranty and theybeouldnt do nothing even called fomoco and nothing was done. So maybe im a little frustrated but its because all these darn problems, it never ends. And i don't blame just Ford because they are all like this. Build cheap cars and dont stand behind them. I blame the unions mostly. But in reality all modern day cars suck and its ashame. Sorry for the rant but now you hopefully understand the frustration. And if ford finds a problem (which I doubt) and fixes it ill let them but if its something ill have to deal with the oil usage in my book ain't bad enough to do major surgery on.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Ford won't find it a problem. You don't think 1 quart every 5,000 miles is "right" for a new car, but it's just fine...beneficial even. Engines you've owned in the past might not have consumed as much at this, and that's okay. Some engine in the future you might own might consume more than this, and that's okay too. But they all will consume some oil, and you want them to. If they're not consuming oil, your upper cylinders and valve guides are not being lubricated.

You also cannot predict how much oil it'll consume at 150,000 miles based on how much it consumes at 35,000 miles. If you're concerned about it, bring it in to the dealer and let them document the complaint, but your oil consumtion is honestly and truly very little.

 

[bdcardinal]

FWIW Ford's general rule for oil consumption is 1qt per 1000 miles is normal. There is an official test that Ford requires dealers do in order to cover an engine for consumption.

 

[mechtech2]

We are not sure of the angles, heat, and exact measurement of the original unused oil.

So one oil change indicating this use is not entirely valid.

 

[01rangerxl]

3/4 of a quart in 5000 is really insignificant. The usage may level off with the next change. Even if it continues, that's not nearly enough to be a concern. There is basically no chance of anything being damaged by the oil consumption at that level, and it doesn't indicate a damaged or worn out engine at all.

As for it not being common, when I worked at JL, the oil level on most cars that came in was not at full. Moderate oil usage is very common.

My 4.0 Explorer is the only vehicle I've had that used absolutely no oil. It would stay at the full mark indefinitely, every OCI. However, it had a lot of valvetrain noise because the Cologne family of engines is known for having poor oil flow through the heads. The day I got my Ranger I accidentally turned the key to start when it was already running because I was so used to the Explorer's clacking.

 

[Dakota1820]

I agree that it isn't a significant amount . My concern was it didn't do it before and now it does and the cars had problems already so I'd rather it be documented while still under warranty . That way If it has an issue it will Atleast be noted and documented already. Also I screwed up last time I changed the oil we used Pennzoil platinum 5w30 that's what she grabbed. It calls for 5w20 I imagine that the difference in viscosity wouldn't have caused oil usage. My reason for posting this was to see if anyone else noticed this in their cars and why all the sudden it would start doing it. Seems weird to me though most cars I'm used to don't use a noticeable amount of oil I mean maybe a smidge but not almost a quart. Maybe its different though.

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
I'm really not that upset. I think its bull that it burns any oil , a measurable amount anyway. And it could be the Pennzoil but why? It's talked about so highly. The valvoline never burned and Pennzoil is supposedly better.

Because a bunch of people on a forum like a particular oil doesn't necessarily make it "better" than any other brand. Engines DO respond differently to different oils. The Ford in this case may not "like" Pennzoil or as others have mentioned it may not burn ANY oil the next time.

Quote:

I do think 3/4 a quart in 5000 on a car with 35,000 is a cause for investigation. If its burning this much now I cannot imagine how it'll be at 150,000 miles. You know what is frustrating.


That's NOT a fair assessment. It may never burn another drop in it's life. My Chevy burned a quart in about 7,000 miles once, and then never "burned" more than about 1/4 of a quart in 7K-10K OCI. Now that I think of it - I was trying different oils to see which one would "work best."

Personally I don't see this as an issue. If over the next 2 oil changes it gets worse than I'd say you have a problem.

I'm a member at Crownvic.net. You'd be surprised to see the range of oil "burning" or should I say usage people report on the Ford Modular 4.6L engine - and there is NO rhyme or reason to it. People with older cars (mid to late 90's with 150K+ miles) sometimes report NO oil usage between oil changes, and some people with engines in the 50k - 100K miles report using a quart every 1,000 - 2,000 miles! Obviously there are a lot of variables in the scenario I just mentioned.

AND - if you read the owner's manual, most car makers will tell you that ALL engines can and will use some oil. If the engines never used any oil what would be the point in checking it?

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
How is that a poor way to do it? Pull the stick wipe it off put it back and check

It takes at least overnight after shutdown for all the measurable oil to drip back down into the pan at any ambient temperature. After three-years of doing my own very-precise checks, I have determined that car-angle and drip-down time are the most critical variables that affect oil-level readings (there is a third, but most people won't encounter it). If you're trying to determine exact oil-usage, you need to eliminate those two variables by making sure your checks are performed with both the above two variables being as precisely the same as you can manage, each-and-every time.

To properly check your oil usage, assuming you know the volume of oil included in the span between upper and lower marks on the stick:
1) leave car always in same place and direction on driveway;
2) leave car to sit at least 12-hours after shutdown;
3) remove dipstick and measure level between marks (I have a chart I use for this purpose);
4) wipe stick & reinsert, exactly the same way as it came out, and wait 10-seconds
5) remove again, and re-check level; it should be the same as before.
6) record results accurately.

Now drive the car whatever distance and repeat from #1. Record difference, and calculate oil-mileage from that. Depending on your car's usage, you may need to let several thousand miles go by between checks to see any measurable drop in oil-level.

A Ford as new as your mom's is likely to get around 10,000 miles per quart, so you would see a drop of a half-quart in 5,000 miles.

 

[mechtech2]

If that ^ was really necessary, nobody would check their oil 'properly'.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
If that ^ was really necessary, nobody would check their oil 'properly'.

The method I describe above IS NOT necessary when checking to see if your oil is at a safe level,
but it IS necessary when you're trying to determine how much oil the engine is using.

 

[Dakota1820]

I honestly think your over analyzing it. Let the car sit for 15 mins then check I dont think it gets a lot more accurate than that. It's accurate enough to show Its used 3/4 of a quart.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
I honestly think your over analyzing it. Let the car sit for 15 mins then check I dont think it gets a lot more accurate than that.

It most certainly does. That's why I started being as careful as I am now: I discovered that a casual method of checking was returning wild swings in perceived oil-usage. Even now, with a rigorous method, I still get swings, but they're on the order of couple of hundred miles or so up-or-down, not thousands.

15-minutes after shutdown, up to a half-quart can still be hung up in the engine, depending on ambient temperature and the temperature of the oil. That's half-way between marks on many engines. Drip-down time is entirely dependent on temperatures, so unless you make the conditions identical at each 15-minutes-after-shutdown check, you're introducing variables that can have a dramatic effect on stick reading. This is why automakers warn you NOT to add oil if the level is between the marks when you check the level, even if you think it looks "low".

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
It's accurate enough to show Its used 3/4 of a quart.

My three-years of careful and painstaking work says otherwise. Your 3/4 of a quart could be actually 1/2, or even 1/4. You can't possibly know unless you minimize or eliminate variables.

Here's my oil-usage chart, if you're interested:
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/oil-graph.pdf
My engine uses lots of oil, and I wanted to know exactly how much.
A similar regimen applied to our other car--a '99 Tercel--showed its consumption to be on the order of 8,000 miles/qt when it was newer, and about 6,000 now, with 150K on the clock.

 

[Dakota1820]

I dont know if I check my oil at 10 mins or ten hours it is exactly the same . I drive a saturn so I keep track of oil usage.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
I dont know if I check my oil at 10 mins or ten hours it is exactly the same .

That's why you need to be very precise about this sort of thing: otherwise you cannot know, and cannot arrive at accurate conclusions.

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
I drive a saturn so I keep track of oil usage.

Are you familiar with the term "non sequitur"?

 

[Dakota1820]

No I do not know what that means.

 

[LeakySeals]

There has been a longstanding recommendation over the years to check your oil at each gas fill. As Tegger states, checking the oil level on a recently running vehicle is a very inaccurate way to monitor oil consumption and can lead to overfills IMO. Especially with cars that have small oil capacity. They will fluctuate even more. Use a thicker oil, takes longer than thin to return to the sump. Same goes for checking oil when the car is not level.

I had a car that I thought was an oil burner. Turns out is had a "sweet spot" oil level. when I got near near the 1/2 quart add, would top off over and over every 1500 miles. One time I was busy and didn't get a chance. When I finally did expected the oil to be way down. It wasn't, was still at the 1/2 qt mark. Left it that way for the balance of the OCI. After that I just left it alone.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Use a thicker oil, takes longer than thin to return to the sump.

Even more important is oil temperature. An engine's dashboard temperature-gauge will show fully-hot well before the oil reaches its operating temperature. Colder oil drips-down more slowly than hotter oil. So it makes a huge difference if, for instance, you're checking your oil 15-minutes after shutdown when it's cold out and you've only driven 5 minutes, or if it's hot out and you've just come off a 2-hour highway run.

Again, the point is to eliminate or minimize variables. Variables contaminate results.