1qt. in 3,000 miles

[buster]

Just hit the 3k mile mark with Amsoil ASL and I've used 1qt. This is pretty good. I'd like to reduce it even more. I'm thinking of maybe a 40wt oil for the summer time.

 

[Robbie Alexander]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster: Just hit the 3k mile mark with Amsoil ASL and I've used 1qt. This is pretty good. I'd like to reduce it even more. I'm thinking of maybe a 40wt oil for the summer time.

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By just work. I have always been with a 10-30 multi weight oil about a quart every 3-4K for, and for a straight 30Heavy (light to mid 40) no burn to speak of. Thinking of going to a 15-40 but I have a lot of unused 10-30 and 30 here I need to use up, or find a home for... but a QRT per 3K is not unheard of you know, its okay!

 

[Doug C]

Whatever works for you. I used to use 1 qt in 300 miles of M1 0W30 and when I switched to Amsoil S2K 0W30 I have had no oil useage! It seems to work in my 5.3L ! Cheers, Doug

 

[buster]

quote:

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Amsoil S2K 0W30

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I had very low consumption with Series 2000 Amsoil. For some reason it does better then the other Amsoil oils.

 

[medic]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:

quote:

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Amsoil S2K 0W30

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I had very low consumption with Series 2000 Amsoil. For some reason it does better then the other Amsoil oils.

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That's kinda weird considering that it is thinner than the ASL.

 

[buster]

Yeah, it is weird. Tooslick has noted that people are seeing less consumption with S2k too. This was also like 60k miles ago so I'd have to run the S2k again to see if it's still better.

 

[JohnBrowning]

buster, this does not suprimise me at all. I know everyone is probably got my routine down by now but it works with Toyotas for the most part. 15W50 in the warm months anything above 40F and 10W30 for months that are below 40F. It might not be fancy or sophistacated but it works almost all of the time on Toyotas! 1 quart per 3000 miles with a good synthetic is a bit much but it is nothing to be worried about. P.S. So far my car has onlt burnt 1/3 of a quart with it's first synthetic fill. I burnt 1/3 of a quart of Redline the first 2000 mile into the OCI but hace not burnt any since topping off. I know have 4000 miles on this OCI and it is going strong! Weight is 5W40 Redline.

 

[buster]

John, the 15w-50 isn't a bad idea, but I just think my car will run sluggish with that thick a viscosity. I can live with 1qt every 3k miles, but I would like to cut it down some more. I might try the 5w-40 or something. Thanks for the tip though.

 

[JohnBrowning]

buster like everything their is a cause and effect relationship. WOuld I be correct in guessing that this car saw mostly 5W30 it's entire life with occasional 10W30 or 0W30?

 

[buster]

Yes, I used Trisynthetic 5w-30 (regretably) for most of the cars life.

 

[JohnBrowning]

buster I doubt that Tri-Synthetic was the cause of the problem any more then any 5W30 weight oil. TO date everyone I know that has run a strict diet of 5W30 conventional or synthetic and does mostly high speed driveing on the hwy has had long term oil control issues. It has not mattered at all if it was a domestic or import make! The model has not mattered either. Once they get past 120,000 miles their cars just start to drink the oil! Most of the vechiles in my personel research have acculmulated their miles in 3 years or less and have had constant maintence as outline in the owners manuals. To date just about everyone on this site that has had very agressive oil consumption issues has also fed their cars a diet of 5W30 almost religiouly. THe bigest issues have been GM vechiles makes and models includeing all divisions. The newer Toyotas have not been far behind since they started their silly C.A.F.E. oil recomendations of 5W30 combined with 7500 mile OCI! The thin oil people seldom keep their cars past 120,000 miles. They do not take into account new anemic piston and ring designs either. I am preety sure that a full skirt piston with high tension ring a good ways down the piston would do much better with 5W30 then modern piston designs. You even have some extolling the virtue of thin oil to others but they will not run a thin oil in their car! If I wont use it my car I will be darned if I am going to recomend it to others!! Just my personel observations! [ December 26, 2003, 03:29 AM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]

 

[yannis]

wellcome to the thick oil lovers clan

 

[John in the ATL]

Buster, My choice would be in this order Amsoil AMO 10w-40 50% Mobil 10w-30 and 50% Mobil 15w-50 Amsoil ATM 10w-30 (currently running this in my 94 altima)

 

[Bror Jace]

My '95 Civic never needed top-up oil for the first ~100,000 miles I owned it ... and I did not drive it too gently. Most of that time was with Mobil 1 ... mostly 5W30. The worst consumption I ever experienced was around the 100,000 mile mark when I switched from Mobil 1 to Valvoline Synpower. I could have added half a quart after 5,000 miles. I'm not sure if I added the oil ... or merely dumped it. Consumption with Red Line 10W30 (which is what I switched to) was initially 1 quart in 7,200 miles ... but this stabilized to ZERO needed in 7,200 miles with Red Line 5W30 a year later. Maybe the crappy Valvoline Synpower caused my rings to stick and the Red Line unstuck them? Oh, and by this time the engine had a confirmed COOLANT LEAK!! :rolleyes. My '03 Nissan Sentra Spec-V (2.5L Altima motor) has not needed top up oil in the 12,500 miles I've owned it ... despite the engine's reputation for being an oil guzzler. But I've also ended up going no further than about 2,500 miles on an oil change, for various reasons ... and I drive this torquey thing much gentler than I did my Honda. Um Buster, what car/engine are you talking about? --- Bror Jace

 

[buster]

1.8L Toyota. It's interesting that with Redline, many experience high consumption initially and then it drops off. I'm not concerned about mine, I justed wanted to make a note that after 3k miles, I've gone through 1qt, which isn't too bad. If I would have stuck with RL, it probably would have stabilzed. A good 40wt is what I'll need in a few months probably.

 

[Tones]

Admittedly, the Germans use a DIN specification for testing for density and it may represent a different quality than the ASTM specification the other oils were tested to. However, I have seen a couple posts of users of GC who had consumption problems and switched back. Perhaps we just need to get more data.

 

[Tones]

I am working on a pet theory about oil consumption. Most seem to relate oil consumption to viscocity, and that may partly be true. However, my idea is that it is more related to molecular weight of the base oil. In other words, the size of the hydrocarbon chains of the base oil. For example, in the chemical industry, we use Helium to test for leaks in equipment because of the size of the molecule--it can get through the smallest of cracks. We can tell a little about the molecular weight of the base oil by its density. It is not a direct relationship but there does seem to be a trend. The synthetic oils are lighter in density than the conventional oils with their long complex hydrocarbon chains. I am thinking that the denser oils will not burn as quickly (or leak through seals and such as easily) as the lighter density oils. Note that the higher viscocity oils tend to be denser also, which may partly explain less consumption. Here is a quick scan for XW-30 oils from some of the data sheets. I started with Mobil 1, which uses kg/L units, so I ended up converting all the others

code:

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German Castrol 0W-30      0.843
Valvoline Synpower 5W-30  0.848
Mobil 1 0W-30             0.851
Amsoil ASL 5W-30          0.858
Exxon Superflow 5W-30     0.858
Amsoil TSO 0W-30          0.859
Mobil 1 5W-30             0.861
Schaeffers 5W-30          0.87
Pennzoil conv 5W-30       0.871
Mobil 1 10W-30            0.872
Valvoline all clim 5W-30  0.876
Valvoline all clim 10W-30 0.881
  

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[buster]

The only problem is I don't see the same pattern with the weights you have listed. Mobil 1 0w-30 is the worst up their in terms of consumption yet it's number is very similar to GC.

 

[JohnBrowning]

buster, what millage is this carolla at? Is this the car with 185,000 miles on it? If so what are you waiting for!!! This spring when it warms up to at lest 40F do yourself a favor and put some M1 15W50 in it. I am preety sure that even at 80MPH you are not going to burn much in 3000 miles. I do not want to hear about how you think your Carolla is going to be slugish with that weight oil. That 1.8L does not have any guts any ways with 185,000 miles on the clock. I could see if you were trying to qualify at a auto-cross event but what is 2-3 Peak HP on your daily comute compared to 1 qt of oil per 3000 miles.

 

[yannis]

May i add that mobil's 1 15W50 density at 15 C is 0.864? and Buster ...i vote for this oil too or a synthetic 10W40.