Does oil burn faster if driven for many miles

[AnarchyX]

Okay, so you guys have told me that engines burning oil is normal at certain amounts, but I was wondering if an engine will burn oil faster if I drive around over 1k miles when it's already a quart or so low?

I tend to only check my oil every couple of months and by then it's already at least a quart low, so was wondering if it'd use/burn less if topped off regularly?

 

[beast3300]

I probally will use more when it's low. Running low on engine oil will run the remaining oil hotter than it would if it was full. There is engine oil to take on the heat from cooling engine parts.

 

[HappyLittlePony]

Originally Posted By: AnarchyX
Okay, so you guys have told me that engines burning oil is normal at certain amounts, but I was wondering if an engine will burn oil faster if I drive around over 1k miles when it's already a quart or so low?

I tend to only check my oil every couple of months and by then it's already at least a quart low, so was wondering if it'd use/burn less if topped off regularly?


You have time to habituate an internet forum revolving around engine oil, but you only actually check your oil every two months? If you are driving an oil burner, you might want to increase the frequency of your inspections.

 

[hate2work]

Originally Posted By: HappyLittlePony
Originally Posted By: AnarchyX
Okay, so you guys have told me that engines burning oil is normal at certain amounts, but I was wondering if an engine will burn oil faster if I drive around over 1k miles when it's already a quart or so low?

I tend to only check my oil every couple of months and by then it's already at least a quart low, so was wondering if it'd use/burn less if topped off regularly?


You have time to habituate an internet forum revolving around engine oil, but you only actually check your oil every two months? If you are driving an oil burner, you might want to increase the frequency of your inspections.


I was thinking the same thing, Pony. None of my rigs burn any oil and I still check each of them once a week minimum.

 

[Kaie]

Originally Posted By: HappyLittlePony
Originally Posted By: AnarchyX
Okay, so you guys have told me that engines burning oil is normal at certain amounts, but I was wondering if an engine will burn oil faster if I drive around over 1k miles when it's already a quart or so low?

I tend to only check my oil every couple of months and by then it's already at least a quart low, so was wondering if it'd use/burn less if topped off regularly?


You have time to habituate an internet forum revolving around engine oil, but you only actually check your oil every two months? If you are driving an oil burner, you might want to increase the frequency of your inspections.



Hahah. Touche.

Valid question though.

 

[AnarchyX]

Touche indeed and I never had a problem before with checking the oil every 2 months or so, since I never had any oil consumption.

Oh well, guess it's time to be a bit more frequent like every couple of weeks or so. That way at least i'm topping off when little has been lost.

 

[NismoMax80]

Valid points, but is that the consensus on this?
Keep at level more often will mean you burn less?


I certainly cannot imagine actually checking every week... even with such a severe problem, I would rather get everything checked before I settled for adding oil every week.

I will make an effort to check every month since every 3k I am losing 1 quart.

I wonder how much oil is removed when pulling, wiping, and checking every week... haha

 

[HappyLittlePony]

Originally Posted By: NismoMax80
Valid points, but is that the consensus on this?
Keep at level more often will mean you burn less?


I certainly cannot imagine actually checking every week... even with such a severe problem, I would rather get everything checked before I settled for adding oil every week.

I will make an effort to check every month since every 3k I am losing 1 quart.

I wonder how much oil is removed when pulling, wiping, and checking every week... haha


One of the delightful things I love about this forum is that some people will agonize and argue over what oil to use, but ignore basic maintenance. You should be checking your oil at least every week or two, at a minimum. In my work truck I check the oil level every day. All the effort I put into choosing an appropriate oil for my car and changing it regularly can be quickly negated if my engine develops a leak and I don't notice it for weeks.

 

[NismoMax80]

LOL everyday???
why would I check my level every week if I only drive 50 miles some weeks?

What about the many cars that do just fine and are never checked? I like balance in my life. I feel once a month is plenty. Now if I started to have problems, then yeah more often.

 

[mechtech2]

Low oil should use less.
Why?
Less sloshing around and being near gaskets and seals to leak.
Less for the rings to control and thus less burning.
Less on valve guides to eventually get in the CC or exhaust and burn.
[This is for a non perfect engine that uses a moderate amount]

 

[sicko]

Wow, I never thought about how frequent BITOG'ers would check the oil on their vehicles. I check the oil whenever I'm doing any work on the car, and when I fill with gas. Used to be every time I filled up with gas, then it became every other time, and now it's a little more than every other fill up, but at least once a month. But that's because I've never had any oil issues with this vehicle. On my beater SUV, that sucker burned oil and I pretty much checked the oil every time I filled up with gas

 

[kcfx4]

i had an old mazda truck (pre ford) that puppy burnt a qt a wk, and i drove it roughly 25 miles a day/5 days a wk

 

[rslifkin]

I check mine every 1 - 2 weeks, as well as right before a long highway trip, and before the next drive following a long highway trip. It lets me know if anything changes suddenly, indicating a problem.