1997 Century 35,000 miles consuming oil

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perbe

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Jun 16, 2011
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chicago, il
Hi,
I have done a little research on the site and I have some ideas what my best course of action but wanted to see what the collective thought.

This car is literally a Little Old lady Sunday driver. I know because it was my mother in laws car. She gave it to us about a year ago when it had 29,000 miles. She maintained it well regular oil changes(at least 2 a year). Well we obviously drive it harder and put more miles on it. It consumes at least a quart every 1000 miles using conventional 5w30. We did not realize this until after the first time we had it done and got a low oil light at about 1500 miles from the change. The guy who works on our cars changed it again for free and checked for leaks. He found none and we have seen no leaks in the driveway. I know this engine has LIM issues but i do not see evidence of this.

Here is what i am thinking of doing in my order(feel free to correct if wrong)
-Seafoam in gas tank, in crankcase and finally through intake.
-replace pcv valve
-do my own oil change with some high mileage oil. Any thoughts on which one would be great, I do know Oreilys has a sale this week for Castrol HM and filter for 17.99

Thanks in advance for your thoughts
 
What engine? Just pour a big slug(QT) of MMO in the crankcase. Thats what is going to lube/free oil rings. I'd use 10w30 oil. You can check or replace PCV but bet its not a issue.I'd put Seafoam in the fuel tank if anywhere. Thats not going to do anything for oil consumption. Nor will it threw the intake. MMO in the crankcase.
 
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3100 v6 - i believe it is the only engine offered on this car.

Sorry for dumb question but what is MMO?

The other seafoaming is just intended to clean up some deposits and varnish that must be there from years of "Sunday Driving"
 
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Originally Posted By: hounddog
What engine? Just pour a big slug(QT) of MMO in the crankcase. Thats what is going to lube/free oil rings. I'd use 10w30 oil. You can check or replace PCV but bet its not a issue.I'd put Seafoam in the fuel tank if anywhere. Thats not going to do anything for oil consumption. Nor will it threw the intake. MMO in the crankcase.
Bad bet on the PCV valve not being an issue. Run the numbers, the car either went for very short trips, or sat for days/weeks on end, or both. The car was well-maintained, and has not had the kind of mileage that would suggest premature engine wear. I'd go right to the PCV valve, which I bet is stuck or gummed up. Spend the less than $10, and watch the problem disappear. FWIW would love to see you get M1 or Edge into this car.
 
As mentioned check the PCV valve/system but if it has received regular oil changes, don't count on it being the problem... They usually fill with varnish And or sludge when the oil is neglected...

I bought a 33Kmi '98 Grand Marquis last year that probably had it's last change two or three years prior, engine is still clean as new and uses maybe half quart in 5K mi... To their credit, the previous owner did use Mobil 1...
 
Originally Posted By: Cristobal
I do not want to be dumb either. What is a LIM issue? I can think of some inapplicable remarks.


Lower intake manifold gasket is prone to fail. Combination of bad gasket design and dexcool use
 
From an if it were mine perspective.
I would make sure all my ducks were in a row ie. oil, coolant, good fuel, clean filters and so on. Then, with the heater on, run 3 zero to 100mph to zero passes back to back with almost no pause in between. I'm thinking this engine is not broken in by the sound of your first post.
Just a thought.
 
Yeah, I'd be doing some really hard driving with that car, to 'loosen everything up'.....

Your Seafoam plan is also a good one, maybe do a couple of them - oil, intake, and tank.

IF nothing works, try either a 10W-30 or even 10W-40 HM oil, just to see if it helps.
 
Change the PCV valve before doing ANYTHING else. No need in putting the engine at risk with solvents unless there's a real need, which there might be (gummed/stuck rings), but with frequent oil changes I'd bet against it.
 
Thanks all. I will do the valve first and see what happens and then proceed with plan. My 16 year old drives the car often so i am sure it has seen a few 0-100's
 
Originally Posted By: perbe
Thanks all. I will do the valve first and see what happens and then proceed with plan. My 16 year old drives the car often so i am sure it has seen a few 0-100's


Heck, in that case - you should be worrying about tires, not oil. Oil is cheap.
 
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There is no risk using MMO. A solvent like Seafoam if overdone it might do harm. But not MMO. I actually had a lifter tick in my 2006 vette that at the time had 22k on it. Have 28k on it now. Nothing but Mobil 1. Added a Qt of MMO and lifter tick gone in less then 200miles. I just left it and ran oil/MMO to about 50% on the OLM. Then changed oil and filter.
 
If those simple tasks fail, sometimes it helps if you take the spark plugs out, pour in some Seafoam, let it sit, crank the engine to spit out the Seafoam, and put the spark plugs back in.
 
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