Attn. all Red Line fans ...

[kev99sl]

I'm 1500 miles into my first Red Line oil change. Previous to this, I'd been using Delvac 1 5w-40. I'm using Red Line 10w-40 on this change, and will be using their 5w-40 on the next.

My consumption with Delvac 1 was about a quart every 3000 miles. As of right now, I've added two full quarts to keep my level with the Red Line full.

I assumed there'd be an adjustment period, but is this kind of consumption normal? Will it settle down over the next change interval? I was given three oil changes worth of Red Line by a friend, but it's very quickly turning into two oil changes worth with all the topping up I'm doing.

 

[Jason8691]

Sounds to me like its not an oil problem, its more of an engine problem! A quart in 1500 miles is what I got out of an old 360 Ford engine with 215,000 miles on it, and you could see it smoking. What kind of vehicle is this?

 

[7TFord]

....I agree. I went 12000 kms on a change with the Delvac 5/40 without adding a drop.

[ December 12, 2003, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: 7TFord ]

 

[Motorbike]

quote:

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Originally posted by kev99sl:
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My consumption with Delvac 1 was about a quart every 3000 miles. As of right now, I've added two full quarts to keep my level with the Red Line full.

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It is entirely possible the friction modified Redline is just too slick for the Saturn and a weak ring package .

 

[Motorbike]

Also some people with oil burners tend to overfill the crankcase level in anticipation .

Not saying your overfilling but many do .

 

[ruking77]

I do 10k-15k oil changes with Delvac One 5w40. There is absolutely no oil use.

 

[buster]

quote:

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It is entirely possible the friction modified Redline is just too slick for the Saturn and a weak ring package

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This is a good point. My car went through almost 2qts of RL pretty quickly. I'm now using Amsoil ASL and it's much better. I think it could be the low Cf.

 

[kev99sl]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:

quote:

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It is entirely possible the friction modified Redline is just too slick for the Saturn and a weak ring package

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This is a good point. My car went through almost 2qts of RL pretty quickly. I'm now using Amsoil ASL and it's much better. I think it could be the low Cf.

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So ... what: Delvac 1 and Amsoil aren't "slick"? I'm not sure I understand the logic since the Redline 10w-40 and the Delvac 1 are comparable in terms of viscosity. I'd been assuming it was just the Redline "getting used to" the engine, i.e., flushing out remnants of the old oil.

 

[kev99sl]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jason8691:
Sounds to me like its not an oil problem, its more of an engine problem! A quart in 1500 miles is what I got out of an old 360 Ford engine with 215,000 miles on it, and you could see it smoking. What kind of vehicle is this?

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Well, that goes without saying: it's a Saturn with 181,000 miles on it. Saturns use oil, many for multiple hundreds of thousands of miles -- no smoke, no leaks. Lousy ring design.

 

[buster]

Redline has a very low coefficient of friction. Amsoil and M1 do as well, but not as low as Redline. It's just a guess. I think if you stay with Redline for awhile, you'll see the benefits. It's an oil that you must run for quite sometime to really start to see the benefits.

 

[Jason8691]

quote:
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Originally posted by Jason8691:
Sounds to me like its not an oil problem, its more of an engine problem! A quart in 1500 miles is what I got out of an old 360 Ford engine with 215,000 miles on it, and you could see it smoking. What kind of vehicle is this?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, that goes without saying: it's a Saturn with 181,000 miles on it. Saturns use oil, many for multiple hundreds of thousands of miles -- no smoke, no leaks. Lousy ring design."


Ahh see I didnt know all of that! I wouldnt have said anything had I known it was a Saturn with that many miles on it.

 

[hannaco]

Just changed out Redline 5w-40 today after 10K miles. Used about a fourth of a quart of top up oil. About the same as with the Delvac-1 over the same distance.

 

[Bror Jace]

I have seen very little consistency when it comes to oil consumption.

I know LS-1s can really guzzle most weights of Mobil 1. My hard-driven Civic never consumed a drop of it in 100,000 miles and I sometimes went as much as 6,000 miles between changes.

It DID consume Valvoline Synpower at a rate of 1/2 quart in 5,000 miles ... then switching to Red Line cut that consumption in half by the first drain and then stopped it during the second interval.

Subsequent switches to Schaeffer and then Pennzoil High Mileage Vehicle showed zero consumption.

I have seen switches induce consumption. I'm just not exactly sure why. People have suggested that freeing-up the ring pack will at least temporarily increase consumption. Sounds reasonable to me.

--- Bror Jace

 

[JohnBrowning]

To date since switching over to Redline I have only burnt 1/3 of a quart of oil. It did this the first 2000 miles into the OCI. It has not burnt a drop of oil since. My total milage on the car is 7900 miles. I have 3000 on the oil. My oil still ooks almost new. This is the first run with any synthetic oil in the car. I have 5W40 in the car and redline all the time. I cruise to and from work at 3050 RPM's wich gives me 80MPH.

I would not sweat it since you were given the oil! Use it till it's gone! THe oil is not hurting anything!

 

[kev99sl]

quote:

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Originally posted by hannaco:
Just changed out Redline 5w-40 today after 10K miles. Used about a fourth of a quart of top up oil. About the same as with the Delvac-1 over the same distance.

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Good to know, since I also used Delvac 1 prior to my changeup. I know that when switching oils the consumption can increase -- I have no idea why -- so I'll give it a few changes before I come to any conclusions. I was expecting an initial spike in consumption, just not quite this much of a spike.