Could my truck be burning oil with less than 2k miles on it?

[06RANGER]

At 1k miles I switched to Syntec 5w-20 in my 2.3l.

Today I checked the oil and it was a little less on the dipstick than the full mark when it was first changed.

Could I be burning oil already?

 

[cousincletus]

Probably not broken in yet. Maybe I'm just living in the past but I wouldn't use synthetic oil until I had 5K or so miles.

 

[MC5W20]

All engines use oil. Stop being paranoid. The kicker is - is it using oil at a normal rate or an above normal rate. With a Ford I would sleep easy and not worry about it. At 150k you will not even be using 1 quart in 2,000 miles.

 

[racer12306]

a little below the full mark. are we talking like an 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch. either was thats not too much. my car always used ~1 qt in 5000 miles and would be a very linear oil user. i just checked it the other day after 1000 miles and no oil consumption. i changed the oil at 45000 and checked at about 46000 ill have to wait and see if this means anything.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

At 1K miles, how do you know where the full mark is?

The factory could of overfilled by eight ounces to meet the mark on the dipstick.

The dipstick mark on my S-10 always shows close to a half-quart low after an oil change. The book says to use 4.5 quarts with filter. It needs 5 quarts with filter to meet the full mark on the dipstick.

Odds are, your dipstick mark is slightly off.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

This new Hyundai I bought last month hasn't used any. Stays right on the "F", but it's only been changed with dino. I'll be watching like a hawk to see if it holds the level when it has syn in it. I changed the factory fill at somewhere under 500 miles, again at 1000, and again at 3000. At the 5000 mark, it's syn for 7500 mile OCI til the wheels fall off. Motorcraft for the first two, Havoline for the most recent, 5W-20 all. I have a few gallons of M1 SL-grade 5W-30 to use in the hot weather, in cold weather it'll get 5W20.

Ranger, do they spec 5W20 in that truck? Would 5W-30 help, I wonder? You must be in warm weather around the eighties in New Orleans by now. Mine specs 5W30 in warm weather, but never 10W-30. Maybe the slightly more viscous 30w will stay in it?

 

[06RANGER]

Triple_Se7en,

I changed to Syntec at 1k miles it's not factory fill and I checked it after the change and it was on the full mark. Today it was probably 1/8" down from the full mark ... stil more than 3/4 full though.

toocrazy2yoo,

Yes the 2.3l ranger is spec'd for 5w-20. I believe all new Ford's are except the 4.0l Ranger and perhaps the V-10s.

 

[GoldenRod]

quote:

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Originally posted by cousincletus:
Probably not broken in yet. Maybe I'm just living in the past but I wouldn't use synthetic oil until I had 5K or so miles.

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He's right. You jumped the gun too soon. Should of waited until 5K.

 

[GoldenRod]

Seriously though, if it were me, I would run Motorcraft 5W-30 dino up to 10K and then switch over to their 5W-30 full synthetic.

 

[michaelc80]

quote:

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Originally posted by GoldenRod:

quote:

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Originally posted by cousincletus:
Probably not broken in yet. Maybe I'm just living in the past but I wouldn't use synthetic oil until I had 5K or so miles.

---

He's right. You jumped the gun too soon. Should of waited until 5K.

---

Bull. If that were true then why are a number of vehicles coming from the factory with synthetic in them? You can't tell me they put 5000 miles on these engines during testing, drain the dino out of them, fill them with synthetic and then install them into new cars.

I switched my Subaru to synthetic at about 1500 miles and my wifes Jeep Cherokee to synthetic at less than 1000 miles. The Jeep has over 160 on it and uses no visible oil in 6-10K OCI's. The Subaru now has 20K on it and uses no visible oil-the OCI's have been less than 6K to stay within warranty requirements.

06Ranger, give it some time. You could simply have additional oil up in the engine that didn't all drain down into the pan. 1/8" less on the dipstick is nothing to worry about.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

quote:

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I changed to Syntec at 1k miles it's not factory fill and I checked it after the change and it was on the full mark. Today it was probably 1/8" down from the full mark ... stil more than 3/4 full though.

---

How soon after the oil change di you check it .... minutes.... hours... days?

Was the vehicle on a flat surface.... sloped?

Did you use the exact same oil filter as OEM?

If the vehicle was not moved when you first checked it to see that it was full, then it's possible that the oil filter was not completely full at first.

With new vehicles, you need to drive the vehicle after an oil change for a couple of miles -- park it on a level surface -- let it sit overnite -- then check it for a true reading the next day.

That's how you arrive at a more precise reading on the dipstick.

 

[m2200b]

Check the dipstick once a week and forget about it. If it goes down another 1/8 what are you going to do about it anyway?

 

[Ray H]

It's not uncommon for a new or rebuilt engine to use some oil during break-in - that's why owner's manuals often advise to check the oil level frequently during the nominal break-in period. My Hyundai V6 went through about 8 ounces during the first 500 miles. After, that, the dipstick hasn't registered any loss between my 3,000 mile oil and filter changes. Whether you should have changed to synthetic so soon is purely academic. You damaged nothing, and synthetic factory-fill is the norm on many European and certain American engines.

 

[06RANGER]

Especially since many here think Syntec if taking liberty using the term synthetic.

MC is semi synth. I can't believe Syntec would promote oil usuage.

 

[Eddie]

Oil does expand with its temperture. You should check with the engine at same temp if you want to determine consumption. I check overnight cold and if I want to measure consumption use a measuring cup and not try to guess if 1/16 inch= 1/3 quart or whatever.

 

[OriginHacker21]

I've never gotten a consistent oil level reading until a day or so after I've changed the oil.

I dump 5 quarts of oil in, run the car for a few minutes and it barely touches dip stick. I add .5 quarts and it reads full. By the next day it reads about half a quart over. I usually let it go because my car burns that after 3k miles anyway.

High performance engines like to burn a lot of oil. My friend's BMW 330ci eats 3-4 quarts every 10k. Also depends on how you drive.

 

[mikemc]

As long as the oil stays within the safe marks between drains, I wouldn't be concerned. Each engine is a bit different. My '92 Ranger always used a quart of 5w30 Castrol dino every 3K and was running like new when I got bored with it after 6 years and 140K. My '02 Ranger has never used oil running Castrol and MC 5w20. You did no harm in using 'synthetic' in a new engine.