"Doesn't burn a drop of oil" ??
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I have two L series 00' and 03' both w/ eco-tec's and the 00' with 4k OCI w/max-life and the 03 according to the OLM 7.K to 7.5K now running Halvoline Full Synthetic. Neither car uses a drop. The 00' has 114K and the 03' has 138K. We made a 2K round drip in the 00' and I was sure it would use some, but it didn't budge. The eco-tec IMO is the best GM engine being built right now and right up there with any 4cyl in production.
my 98 expy,vic and conti does burn any oil..oil level stays the same on dip stick.
I think it has to do with engines that use low tension rings for lower friction benefits, all of my Hondas (7 of them) used 1-2 quarts per 3000 mile intervals. My Dodge SRT-4 barely used any oil and it was a highly stressed engine. Our Dodge Caravan doesn't use a drop between changes, and our Ford Fusion and Ford Escape ( both with 3L v6) don't use any oil between changes. It is just the engine design IMO, heavier less efficient engines seem to burn less oil perhaps due to higher friction parts such as rings.
I had a 93 F-150 that burned so much oil I had to carry a case of oil around alll the time. In fact when I stopped at a gas station I would check the gas and fill with oil Finally got rid of the turd and bought a chebby!
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I had a 93 F-150 that burned so much oil I had to carry a case of oil around alll the time. In fact when I stopped at a gas station I would check the gas and fill with oil Finally got rid of the turd and bought a chebby!
So you bought a worse truck, thats doesn't make any sense.
Lots of great info here.. I definitely am less worried about this than I was. I'll be thinking about whether to switch to a different oil for the car's next OCI, and in any case I'll be looking forward to seeing what the trend is -- maybe the consumption will reduce after a few thousand more miles or maybe not.
Mean time I'll rest easy knowing it's fairly common (for some engines at least) and my upper cylinder walls are getting lubed a bit
Thanks all! Very informative conversation.
Mean time I'll rest easy knowing it's fairly common (for some engines at least) and my upper cylinder walls are getting lubed a bit
Thanks all! Very informative conversation.
Patman
Staff member
For those of you who think your engines don't consume oil, do yourself a favor when you do your next oil change, and measure how much oil comes out. I say this because I thought for years that my Corvette didn't burn oil, since the dipstick would stay at the same level for the entire interval. But when I started measuring how much oil came out at oil change time, I found out that my engine is actually using about a quart every 6000 miles! So I do not trust dipsticks all that much to be accurate.
My wife's Honda, on the other hand, seems to be using less than 100ml of oil every 5000 miles! I put in exactly 4L of oil every time, and I get out about 3.95L of oil when I drain it.
My wife's Honda, on the other hand, seems to be using less than 100ml of oil every 5000 miles! I put in exactly 4L of oil every time, and I get out about 3.95L of oil when I drain it.
Interesting. But how do you measure oil left in the car and filter?
Patman
Staff member
You don't need to worry about what's left in the engine, because it'll be a consistent amount from one change to the next. For instance, you do an oil change, drain out whatever you can, and then top it off with 5 quarts. At the end of that interval, you drain it out again and theoretically if your engine uses no oil, the amount you've drained out should once again be 5 quarts. As far as what's left in the filter, if you pour out the oil that's in the filter into your drain pan, then it should only hold a small amount that has been absorbed into the media.
My experience has been that filters hold quite a bit of oil beyond that which comes out when you pour it into the drain pan, and it is impossible to get it all out without either waiting days for it to drain or punching a hole in the filter and draining it out that way.
Incidentally, the EPA suggests puncturing filters before disposal to get any excess out.
JHZR2
Staff member
I pre-wet my filters, and find that they can hold up to about 1/2qt.
JMH
JMH
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All over the web (here and elsewhere) I've seen hundreds of message board posts from people whose cars "don't burn a drop of oil" between changes. I've had three cars and each of them burned some oil. The 1988 Tercel had a worn ring in one cylinder, and I'm pretty sure the 1983 280zx had stale valve seals which seemed to cause the engine to burn oil only on extended trips at highway speeds, so I figured they had excuses. My 07 Civic (w/ about 13k miles on it) seems to burn roughly 1 quart per ~6000 mile OCI (going by the OLM). I don't have a problem with checking the oil and topping it off (indeed, I kind of miss having to tinker more often like I did with my previous two cars) but it just seems like it'd be nicer if the new engine didn't burn meaningful amounts of oil.
I can think of a couple of possibilities:
1) I attract oil burning engines. I don't really believe this is true, because that would be rather superstitious.
2) A good number of engines (old and new) actually burn oil and some percentage of the people who claim their engines "burn no oil at all" don't really know what they're talking about. (I do know that *some* engines don't really burn any oil to speak of. My girlfriend's high mileage 1993 Volvo 850 is in this category. I have it running Valvoline MaxLife 10w-30 and have never had it drop more than 1/8 of a quart or so in a 4000 mile OCI. It usually doesn't drop at all).
I don't thrash on my cars, but I do drive spiritedly sometimes. My daily commute is about 15 minutes on the highway one way, and includes 3 or so miles at medium/high RPMs (3500-4000 in the Civic) to ascend a long grade. This high RPM section never seemed to contribute to oil burning in my 280zx (which was spinning at 3200-3500 for the ascent) but it could have an effect on the Civic I suppose.
I'm running Exxon Superflo 5w-20 right now, and wondering if switching to a slightly heavier oil (like perhaps MobilClean 5000 5w-20) would help, although there doesn't seem to be a huge viscosity difference among the conventional 5w-20 oils.
There are lifetimes more experience on this board than I have. So what's the skinny? Is this kind of oil burning on a new but broken-in engine normal or not? I figured any burning would've been stopped by around 10k miles but that doesn't seem to be the case.
During engine break in its normal to consume some oil. My Tacoma doesnt burn a single drop.
Without baseline been established, you can't really tell whether the missing oil is due to consumption or being left in car or filter. Unless you are willing to sacrifice some cheap oil. Just change the oil and drive a mile or two and drain, that should be you baseline. I don't understand why we can't trust dip stick.
my honda crv has about 8000 miles on the oil right now. its EXACTLY on the full mark where it was when i changes the oil back in march. the only time the level changes is when i park on a hill, and then its only slightly changed, not much.
the way things are going, ill probably put 15,000 miles on this oil change interval (tection 15w40 and a quart of supertech no less) so next march when i do the annual oil change, ill measure what comes out compared to what it takes to get back to full. that is, if i can remember.
but as of right now, 8000 miles on this oil, its exactly at the full mark. oil colour is light brown. blotter test looks better than 3K miles oil i have seen out of lesser engines. i dont noramlly do "real" analisys.
the way things are going, ill probably put 15,000 miles on this oil change interval (tection 15w40 and a quart of supertech no less) so next march when i do the annual oil change, ill measure what comes out compared to what it takes to get back to full. that is, if i can remember.
but as of right now, 8000 miles on this oil, its exactly at the full mark. oil colour is light brown. blotter test looks better than 3K miles oil i have seen out of lesser engines. i dont noramlly do "real" analisys.
Just keep increasing the viscosity until the oil burning stops, this may be old school, but its stupid simple. I never have had to increase over 10w30. I have had cars use oil with 5w30 but stopped with the 10w30. If your still using oil at 20w50, then its the engine, but its a simple plan.
Patman
Staff member
In the case of my Corvette, the dipstick still shows the oil level to be completely full, even when it's down a quart. This isn't the first car I've owned that has had dipstick problems, I owned two different 5.0 Mustangs that had impossible to read dipsticks on them.
In the case of the Mustang 5.0 some of the dipsticks are actually incorrect--there was a TSB which said to change the oil, add 5 quarts, and mark a new full line.
I agree Patman. A dipstick purpose is to show that the oil level is in the "safe" zone for operation.It is not what I would call an accurate measureing device. You can check your oil in the morning and you will get different readings depending on how cold the air temp is. If I check my Element's oil level in morning it looks like it is down half a quart,warm the engine a bit(at idle),shut it down and wait 15 minutes and it is at max.If I take it on the freeway and get it really warmed up,check again,slightly above max. At what point is it an accurate reading of oil volume in the sump?
Back to this oil consumption debate. When a piston moves up and down a cylinder the rings contact a micro layer of oil on the cylinder walls from spray.The thickness of this layer is controlled by the oil ring...that's why it is called an "oil control ring". This process deposits very small amounts of oil in the combustion chamber where it is burnt off,more so on the exhaust stroke. With out this taking place the piston would scuff and sieze in no time. The amount of oil it uses depends on many factors but all engines are designed to do this.Isn't this why we went to SM oils? To protect the Catalytic Converter and other emission components from the by-products of oil in the combustion chamber.
Back to this oil consumption debate. When a piston moves up and down a cylinder the rings contact a micro layer of oil on the cylinder walls from spray.The thickness of this layer is controlled by the oil ring...that's why it is called an "oil control ring". This process deposits very small amounts of oil in the combustion chamber where it is burnt off,more so on the exhaust stroke. With out this taking place the piston would scuff and sieze in no time. The amount of oil it uses depends on many factors but all engines are designed to do this.Isn't this why we went to SM oils? To protect the Catalytic Converter and other emission components from the by-products of oil in the combustion chamber.
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