Excessive oil consumption-'03 Mazda MPV

[ET16]

All of a sudden I have excessive oil consumption on my'03 Mazda MPV (Ford Duratec 3.0). It went from using 3/4 of a quart in 5,000 miles to 1 quart in about 1,500 to 2,000 miles. I suspect a pcv system problem, but wonder if it could be something else.

Any ideas?

 

[Dawsey]

How many miles on the motor? have you changed Oil grades? is it blowing smoke at all that you know of?

 

[Eddie]

That is a big change. Are you doing the oil changes? I too first suspect the PCV valve or a leak.

 

[bdcardinal]

The PCV hose that comes up from the separator on the valley to the intake leak a lot, as does the hose that connects the valve covers with a tee on the air intake boot. Oil leaks are also common on the oil pan, valve covers and timing covers on these engines.

 

[ET16]

The van has about 96k miles. I have done almost all of the oil changes on it. It doesn't leak to my knowledge, or blow smoke. I think that I have 5-30 in there now.

I had all of the common leaks previously. Changed out the oil pan gasket and had some leakage from the timing chain cover, but that's all gone now, I think. All of those had a burning oil smell associated with them.

I, too, suspect the hose coming off the pcv valve. I'll see if I can get a look at it today.

 

[ET16]

I took the pcv hoses off and replaced the main rubber elbow connector with brass. I also replaced a short section of rubber hose at the pcv valve. Nothing looked really suspect, but I thought I'd eliminate all potential problems.

I found, though, that I had a vacuum leak at the Intake Manifold Communications Controller. I bought the o-ring seal and fixed it. Could the vacuum leak at the IMCC have compromised the pcv system?