2000 Mercury Cougar burning ALOT of oil?

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BennyL

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hey guys,

i've got a 2000 Mercury Cougar. picked it up used, and as per my usual routine, i changed the oil. the oil cap and owner's manual both say 5w30. so i went ahead and got Mobil1 5w30.

everything seemed fine. car ran great and smooth. i drove it for a few months, checked oil every week or so, and the oil level stayed at the top hash mark on the dip stick.

so my mom's lexus got all messed up, and i had to put it into repairs. handed the cougar over to her in the meantime. she's been driving it for about 2 weeks. i just checked the oil and it seems to be 1 litre low. it's showing "min" on the dip stick now.

how does something like that happen? is that normal? should i be concerned? do i need to change to a different oil grade?
 
oh, and a second question:

i obviously need to add oil, to get it back up to the right level. should i go and buy a 1 quart bottle of mobil1, or is it ok to dump some castrol syntec in? bad idea to mix group III with group IV?
 
It happens but it's not something you should live with. Have you heard of Auto-RX? In the meantime, buy a bottle of 10W-40 High Mileage oil (brand doesn't matter) to hold you over until you do the Auto-RX treatment.
 
Top off with the same oil type and keep tracking consumption. It some times take an interval or two for thing to stabilize, the Mobil1 might be clean the rings right now.
 
It isn't unheard of for a synthetic oil to be consumed during the initial run when previously conventional oil had been used in the engine. I'd top it off with more M1 and monitor the level.
 
You didn't state which engine but if it's the 4.6L they do burn certain types of oil if pushed hard. The 5.4L F150 I had did the same thing with Mobil 1 5w30, little less with Syntec 5w30 and no oil usage at all dino 5w20 or 5w30. Very sluggish with Motorcraft 5w30 though.
 
Eric Smith: 4.6L Merc Cougar? What? I've never heard of a V8 Cougar. As far as I know, the Cougar came in a 2.0L I4 or a 2.5L V6. I have the V6.

Thanks for the input guys. I already topped it up with Mobil1, but all I had lying around was 10W-30, and I didn't want her driving it on the minimum line.

Its back up to the full mark. Ended up needing about half a litre.

I will continue to monitor the oil level every day, and see what happens.

Is it bad that I added 10W-30 to the 5W-30?
 
How many thousands of miles did you put on it with no consumption
confused.gif
Since this is the first OCI, you don't know if the engine doesn't use oil until a certain mileage. I've had a couple of engines like this. I assumed that it was the oil shearing that caused the Zero consumption to a certain point. 1 quart in 3+ months of driving is nothing to worry about.
 
ok, cool.

thanks guys, i like the amount of help and knowledge on these boards. its great!

i will continue to monitor oil level, and ask again if it keeps consuming
smile.gif
 
quote:
Originally posted by BennyL:
Eric Smith: 4.6L Merc Cougar? What? I've never heard of a V8 Cougar. As far as I know, the Cougar came in a 2.0L I4 or a 2.5L V6. I have the V6.

Thanks for the input guys. I already topped it up with Mobil1, but all I had lying around was 10W-30, and I didn't want her driving it on the minimum line.

Its back up to the full mark. Ended up needing about half a litre.

I will continue to monitor the oil level every day, and see what happens.

Is it bad that I added 10W-30 to the 5W-30?
Click to expand...
Eric Must have been thinking about the early Cougars from 94 to 97 that came with the 4.6 V8

I've noticed on my mother's Mystique with the same 2.5 V6 after we got it and started using the Motorcraft 5w20 it consumed some oil for a few oil changes, unknown of what oil was used previously
same with my dad's truck when we first got it, used havoline for a few oil changes, and it used a little bit of oil especially when pulling, now its useage is barely noticeable pulling or not.
 
Everything uses a little oil, I've topped of 1 quart of oil in 5,000 miles on the Saturn. It's M1 EP 5w30, it revs high and Im always idling, on it, driving it hard, and do a few high rpm runs, only has 78k miles.

Every car uses a little oil, its normal.
 
ya, i know that. it just seemed to lose alot of oil all of the sudden. so i was sort of concerned. because i did the oil change, and made sure it was at the max. mark (but not over, obviously). then it was fine for the next few times i checked the dip stick, then all of the sudden it loses 500 ml. and is at the min. mark on the dip stick.

i'll write it off as an adjustment issue. hope it is just the engine getting used to Mobil1. we shall see what happens...
 
well, i looked under the car. checked where it parks every night, and the under side of the engine. everything is dry. im 99% there is no leak.
 
Did you ever answer the question about how many miles?

Did moms driving differ from yours? I.E. did you do a lot of short trip driving, and then mom takes it out 100mi/day? If so, she could have just evaporated off "stuff" in the oil that you never get the car warm enough to make go away.

There are a lot of possible explainations.

If this is the 2.5L Duratec, it wouldn't hurt to run an extra quart of oil if you hit the ramps hard.

Watch the oil closely on the 2.5L Duratec, as if you let it get 1 quart low and then take an right hand sweeper like an exit ramp at high RPMs, there is a good chance you'll spin a bearing.

They tend to pump all the oil up to the heads, and it can't drain down quick enough. So a low oil level can be fatal under the right circumstance. In a hard, long RH turn, with a low oil level, the pickup tube is nolonger in oil.

I used to have a turbocharged 2.5L Duratec that was putting out a tad over 250 at the wheels, so I have some experience with this engine.

Check your oil frequently, and keep it at the full mark or a bit above.
 
I have the 2.0L 4 cyl Zetec in a 1996 Contour. When I changed to Mobil 1 5W-30 It used some oil between oil changes. It didn't use any measurable amount with the MC 5W-30 or Castrol Syntec 5W-50. For the last few years I've been using Schaeffer's Supreme Blend 5W-30. And it doesn't use any measurable amount of oil in the 5000 mile OCI's I do.

Also, when and where you check your oil level can affect the reading you get on the dip stick.

Whimsey
 
How much did you initially fill? I was surprised to find that my '02 Cougar held 6 quarts.
 
Whimsey: I know. I check my oil on a level surface all the time. Usually in the underground parking garage in my condo.

I don't remember how much oil it took, actually. I filled 4 litres, then kept addind according to the dip stick.

My Mom's driving habits are more or less the same as mine though.

javacontour: 250 ponies to the wheels, eh? I didn't know these 2.5L Ford motors were so good for boosting. What car did you have it in?
 
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