Is oil consumption a gauge on engine condition?

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Bamaro
What about high consumption on a new engine (Nissan QR25DE) of 1QT/1500 miles?


How many miles on the new engine? Some take a while to settle down. I've been pretty lucky, but I've heard of people using that amount of oil for up to 15,000 miles.

 

[1 SX]

Then you have never owned a Saturn.

But just like the saturn, if you keep the oil full, i do not think you would have any problems. There are many Saturns that burn a Qt every 300 miles, yet they keep adding oil, and goes for 1000's of miles..

 

[TallPaul]

I have an Aerostar with about 136,000 miles on it that consumes a quart about every 1000 miles. Always had high consumption, but the engine runs strong and well. So while a worn out engine likely will consume a lot of oil, it does not follow that every engine that consumes a lot of oil is worn out.

 

[TLMjared]

I knew a GM world Class Technician (25 yrs plus experience working on GM vehicles plus ASE master tech certified) who stated that it was normal for a GM vehicle to burn 1qt of oil every 2,000 miles...

 

[sxg6]

I don't think there is any correlation between oil consumption and engine condition. I got my '09 subaru legacy with 3 miles, currently has 23k, and goes though about 1qt every 5k. The owners manual even says its normal for the car to consume oil.

 

[lexrx3]

Consumption is definitely not a problem. I have a 01 Lexus RX 300 and in the manual Toyota dedicates two pages to explaining that oil consumption is normal and it explains why. (pages 266 & 267)

 

[ADFD1]

When consumption gets to 1 qt in under 1000 miles I would then become concerned. Even at that point an engine can still run strong and last many more years.

 

[Bamaro]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
What about high consumption on a new engine (Nissan QR25DE) of 1QT/1500 miles?


How many miles on the new engine? Some take a while to settle down. I've been pretty lucky, but I've heard of people using that amount of oil for up to 15,000 miles.

It only got worse with age.

 

[Hazmat]

Originally Posted By: Bamaro
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
What about high consumption on a new engine (Nissan QR25DE) of 1QT/1500 miles?


How many miles on the new engine? Some take a while to settle down. I've been pretty lucky, but I've heard of people using that amount of oil for up to 15,000 miles.

It only got worse with age.



I have this engine and do 10K oci...never burns any noticeable amount in this interval. Sounds like you got a lemon!

 

[zoomzoom]

it means you are not driving it hard enough..take it out for track weekend and it will use some oil I guarantee it

 

[il_signore97]

^exactly

Consumption also depends on the type of driving being done. A person that rarely makes it above 2500 rpm that cruises slowly up and down suburban streets will have a different consumption than someone that redlines their car regularly and drives at high rpm / high speeds for extended periods of time.

I've noticed this with my own car (2005 Altima 3.5L V6). In mostly city driving, it barely uses a drop in 5000 miles, but at 3500 rpm on the highway for 2 hours at a time twice a day combined with other hard driving will make for 1/2 qt or more in the same 5000 miles.

Not a good indicator of engine condition unless the consumption is very high and constant.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: Xman77
I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say the grenade comment is sarcasm.

Congrats that you have never owned a car that uses oil, but to say anything using oil is "on its last leg" is gross exaggeration.


+1

 

[saaber1]

Some engines use oil and it doesn't mean anything in terms of engine condition. For example the Porsche liquid cooled flat 6's use oil. It is normal and it even says so in the manual. If the car has been sitting for a while, you often get a puff of blue smoke when starting up.

 

[webfors]

My Subaru Forester consumes around 1/4 quart every 4-5k miles. I don't top up since it was at the full line when changed, so there's plenty of buffer oil to burn off if needed.

I personally would be concerned about high oil consumption of 1qt/1500 miles on a new vehicle. Keep track and see if it trends down.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Bamaro
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
What about high consumption on a new engine (Nissan QR25DE) of 1QT/1500 miles?


How many miles on the new engine? Some take a while to settle down. I've been pretty lucky, but I've heard of people using that amount of oil for up to 15,000 miles.

It only got worse with age.


Not true. If you plot oil consumption vs. miles or hours on the engine, the curve has a "minimum" somewhere near the mid-life of the engine. New engines burn significant amounts of oil until the rings seat, and consumption will gradually drop. Most engines will be at their lowest oil consumption by 10,000 miles, but some take a bit longer to bottom out. Then they stay there a long time unless they're damaged. ALL piston engines burn SOME oil, even if you can't notice it on the dipstick between oil changes. The engine may stay at extremely low oil consumption for a LONG time (100k miles or more in some cases) before consumption inches back up to where it was when the engine was brand new and the rings not yet seated fully.

Different engines drop to different levels of minimum consumption. As I mentioned in another post, some of it is related to simple engine dimensions. Engines with big-bore cylinders (and 8, 10, or 12 cylinders instead of 4 or 6) will burn more oil just because more cylinder wall (with a thin film of oil coating it) gets exposed to combustion gasses on every turn of the crank. Ya canna change the laws O' physics.

 

[Vilan]

Originally Posted By: Giesbrecht
No i've never done a UOA. I don't think there's anywhere near where I live (Aylmer Ontario) that does such a thing. What do you need to send it to blackstone?


WearCheck has an office in Burlington.

 

[Brons2]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Bamaro

It only got worse with age.


Not true. If you plot oil consumption vs. miles or hours on the engine, the
blablablabla SNIP!

I think he was talking about his own engine, not engines in general.

 

[Hazmat]

Originally Posted By: il_signore97
^exactly

Consumption also depends on the type of driving being done. A person that rarely makes it above 2500 rpm that cruises slowly up and down suburban streets will have a different consumption than someone that redlines their car regularly and drives at high rpm / high speeds for extended periods of time.

I've noticed this with my own car (2005 Altima 3.5L V6). In mostly city driving, it barely uses a drop in 5000 miles, but at 3500 rpm on the highway for 2 hours at a time twice a day combined with other hard driving will make for 1/2 qt or more in the same 5000 miles.

Not a good indicator of engine condition unless the consumption is very high and constant.


Hmmm....I drive approx 70mph 1 hour each way to work/home...no noticable consumption.

 

[demarpaint]

Those are about as perfect as driving conditions can be. You'll be a canditate for a million mile car.

 

[Bamaro]

Originally Posted By: Hazmat
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
What about high consumption on a new engine (Nissan QR25DE) of 1QT/1500 miles?


How many miles on the new engine? Some take a while to settle down. I've been pretty lucky, but I've heard of people using that amount of oil for up to 15,000 miles.

It only got worse with age.



I have this engine and do 10K oci...never burns any noticeable amount in this interval. Sounds like you got a lemon!


I'm guessing yours is newer, mine was an 02. Nissan & the dealer told me that 1qt/1500 miles is within specs. When I traded it in at slightly over 100k, consumption was much worse and actually visible at times. There was a period around 04 or 05 where Nissan actually temporarily stopped dealers from selling these.