Is oil consumption normal?

[KennyJB]

So my car doesn't consume oil, like, at all. Looking at my service records, the longest I've gone for an oil change I'd about 10k on conventional oil. In that time the oil level remained constant, and that's on an engine with 130k miles.

I see a lot of people talk about losing oil so it must be normal, so I guess my actual question is when oil consumption begins in an engine's life.

Also, the whole conventional vs synthetic debate, I see it suggested synthetic will start leaking in an engine that's been ran on conventional. Currently I've been running synthetic blends, last 20k miles and AFAIK conventional before that. I thought about switching to full synthetic, but the blends seem fine and are well priced. I spend the few extra dollars over conventional for the warm fuzzy feeling thst it actually matters. I have been using Quaker State Defy but want to avoid the stop leak [censored] in high milage stuff so I think I am going to avoid HM stuff if that's all it does.

 

[crazyoildude]

what vehicle and what engine?

 

[KennyJB]

'04 Outback H6 3.0L, I drive her pretty hard too. Stop n go, short distance, often no warmup, but not much mileage. About 37k in 6 years.

 

[Nick1994]

10,000 miles on conventional is a little too far for my taste.

If it were me I'd be doing 7,500 miles on a full synthetic.

It's an old wive's tale that synthetic causes leaks and that you can't go back to conventional etc. It can clean up existing leaks and make them leak more, sure. But if you have no leaks then you should be good to go.

Nothing wrong with a HM oil either.

Also, there is no specific age when a car will start burning oil. Some may never start burning oil, some do from new

 

[SR5]

Same here Kenny, I use a synblend and change it once a year on my GM I4 Ecotec. I have never had to top up the oil, it sits on the full mark for the whole year.

What weight oil do you run ?
I'm using 10W-40. Heavy for you guys, but quite normal in Australia.

 

[KennyJB]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
10,000 miles on conventional is a little too far for my taste.

If it were me I'd be doing 7,500 miles on a full synthetic.

It's an old wive's tale that synthetic causes leaks and that you can't go back to conventional etc. It can clean up existing leaks and make them leak more, sure. But if you have no leaks then you should be good to go.

Nothing wrong with a HM oil either.

Also, there is no specific age when a car will start burning oil. Some may never start burning oil, some do from new


Yeah that was before I started doing them on my own. No idea how often the previous owner had it done.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Originally Posted By: KennyJB
So my car doesn't consume oil, like, at all.

I see a lot of people talk about losing oil so it must be normal, so I guess my actual question is when oil consumption begins in an engine's life.


Hi,
KennyJB - Much depends on an engine's design and operational parameters. Some German Manufacturers for instance disclose their allowable oil consumption parameters in their Handbooks and these include usage from new. Some engines do consume oil from new and others remain with very little oil consumption throughout their first life

Excessive oil consumption in normal day to day driving is not normal. That said, up to 1ltr per 1kkms may be acceptable to a German car manufacturer - depending on application and use factors

I have one 2.5Ltr Japanese diesel engine that has used no oil at all (5w30 synthetic) in 20kkms of high speed operation in ambient temperatures up to and over 40C+

 

[djb]

All engines will consume some oil. Zero oil consumption is an unreachable ideal, a myth.

There will be an oil film left on the cylinder wall that will partially vaporize during the combustion cycle. Some of the remainder will be scraped off into the combustion chamber

There will also be an oil mist from lubrication sprays and crank splashing that will be ventilated from the crankcase, generally into the intake. The oil in the crankcase will also slowly evaporate, especially oil molecules that are sheared into lighter compounds.

Countering this volume loss is oil dilution. A little bit of gasoline and combustion by-products will condense on the cylinder walls and be mixed with the oil, as well as leaking past the rings into the crankcase.

We might have seen a minimum in oil consumption a decade or two ago. The modern trend is to low-tension rings which scrape less oil from the cylinder walls in exchange for lower friction and wear.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I agree -- your engine may consume very little oil, but it's consuming some...perhaps just too little to measure. Oil consumption, as long as it's not excessive, is actually a good thing. Things like your piston rings and valve guides are lubricated by oil and, once oil reaches these places, it really has no where to go but into the combustion chamber. An engine that, in theory, consumes no oil wouldn't necessarily be as well lubricated as one that might consume a quart or two over an oil change interval.

 

[Driz]

You didn't say how much oil. Either way the synthetic leak thing does seem an old wives tale. All my over 120K cars may have leaked a tad more than they did if they did but not enough to even mention. Most didn't and continued not to leak at all. Switching to synth gives you many benefits and probably is a real good idea since you are doing extended oil changes anyways.
If it's less than a quart I wouldn't even think about it, oil is cheap. What you need to do though is check it every couple weeks. Any car can develop serious leaks any time and as they get older, well you get the picture. While you are in there look at the coolant levels and general condition of hoses and any noticeable issues. It's just like preflighting an airplane just not as often. Most guys don't do this and the first sign of a problem is often ugly. Old cars just need a bit more attention and Subaru's have a reputation of chugging along till the bodies fall off.
Synthetic I find to be cheaper than dino oil. Of course I buy it at Wallymart and whend it's on sale not when I need it. The difference is so slim. $23 / 5qt jug vs $18 for dino is not worth quibbling over get the good stuff. Penzoil Ultra and Mobile one seem to hit these prices much of the time either one of the other. You might want to tighten up that schedule some too. 10K is pushing it when you consider oil is cheap and replacing an engine in an older car is usually not worth the price.

 

[KitaCam]

askedansweredaskedanswered......so many threads so little time....

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: djb
All engines will consume some oil. Zero oil consumption is an unreachable ideal, a myth.

There will be an oil film left on the cylinder wall that will partially vaporize during the combustion cycle. Some of the remainder will be scraped off into the combustion chamber

There will also be an oil mist from lubrication sprays and crank splashing that will be ventilated from the crankcase, generally into the intake. The oil in the crankcase will also slowly evaporate, especially oil molecules that are sheared into lighter compounds.

Countering this volume loss is oil dilution. A little bit of gasoline and combustion by-products will condense on the cylinder walls and be mixed with the oil, as well as leaking past the rings into the crankcase.

We might have seen a minimum in oil consumption a decade or two ago. The modern trend is to low-tension rings which scrape less oil from the cylinder walls in exchange for lower friction and wear.





Thank you for posting this, so I don't have to.

To which, I'll add that fuel and contaminate dilution is a good reason to change your oil, even if it seems clean and full after many miles.

Nor would I go 10K on conventional oil.

 

[Branson304]

It's normal for a lot of cars, especially newer ones, to not consume any oil at all. My Taurus consumes absolutely no oil according to the dipstick, it's always perfectly on full 9,000 miles after I change it. My 2015 F-250 hasn't consumed any oil, first change was just shy of 5,000 miles. 2012 F-250 has consumed maybe 1/4 quart so far with 7,700 miles on its first run of full synthetic, Pennzoil Platinum. I used Pennzoil Gold Synthetic Blend before this. The Fiesta will noticeably consume oil when you run it hard but not other than that. I've ran it 4,000-5,000 RPM pulling mountains & just going fast & that's when it consumes oil. Under 3,000 RPM driving, the dipstick level never seems to change. My Fusion will lose about half a quart over a 5,000-6,000 mile OCI.

Synthetic will not cause leaks. Often times, synthetic cleans out all the junk left behind by too long of runs on conventional & it will reveal leaks. You can switch back & forth between conventional, blends & full syn as much as you want.

As far as when oil consumption starts, I suppose all vehicles will be different. There's really no general rule.

 

[KrisZ]

Assuming the vehicle is well maintained and has regular oil changes.
Anything below 100k miles and fairly new (like made in the last decade or so):
- If the oil stays in the safe zone on the dipstick - normal
- If the oil level goes to the "ADD" - not normal.
Beyond 100k mile mark:
- Oil level stays in the safe zone - Normal
- Oil level goes to the "ADD" mark - Still not normal.
150k miles and beyond:
- Oil level in the safe zone - normal
- Oil level goes to "ADD" mark - acceptable, but still not normal.

By oil level staying in the safe zone on the dipstick I mean between FULL and LOW marks. This means that if the oil was at the FULL mark and in went down a little it is still perfectly normal and the oil does not need to be topped off at this point.
It is when the oil level reaches LOW or ADD mark, is when I treat it as not normal, because at this point you have to add more oil to be in the safe zone.

 

[Toaster_Jer]

Hello, if I may suggest that since you are comfortable with Quaker State for now, go with the 5w30 Quaker State Ultimate Durability , API SN, GM dexos 1. I would agree to back off the oil change to about 7,500mi. for now until you can establish a trend with a use of used oil analysis. This new oil formulation is testing very good. Check out https://540ratblog.wordpress.com as this oil is now rated #8 when you scroll down to it. Drive with confidence

 

[circuitsmith]

Originally Posted By: KennyJB
I drive her pretty hard too. Stop n go, short distance, often no warmup, but not much mileage.


Engines tend to consume more oil during constant high speed driving.
Sounds like you don't do much of that.
Cylinder walls get hotter and burn off more of the oil film.
Constant high revs make more oil mist to go into the PCV system.

I had an '88 Accord that used no measurable oil during my normal city and short highway driving.
When it had ~150k miles on the clock I went on a 3800 mile road trip across the southern US in August.
Often cruising 75-85mph for hours.
On that trip it used ~1/2 quart.

My current Matrix also uses no measurable oil in local driving.
A couple years ago I took a 5300 mile summer road trip across the northern US and Canada.
Again, hours at 75-85mph and it used ~1 cup of oil (about 1/8" on the dipstick).

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: KennyJB
So my car doesn't consume oil, like, at all.


Yes it does, all reciprocating internal combustion engines do. It may not be enough to measure on the stick in 10k miles owing to the poor precision of the dipstick as a measuring tool (temperature variations can swing the reading, and you can't really resolve to much better than +/- a cup of oil on most dipsticks even at a constant temp). Also fuel dilution replaces some consumed oil over time. Low oil consumption is a GOOD thing. If it weren't getting sufficient cylinder lubrication, it would let you know by... (wait for it...) starting to consume more oil!

 

[Charlie1935]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: KennyJB
So my car doesn't consume oil, like, at all.


Yes it does, all reciprocating internal combustion engines do. It may not be enough to measure on the stick in 10k miles owing to the poor precision of the dipstick as a measuring tool (temperature variations can swing the reading, and you can't really resolve to much better than +/- a cup of oil on most dipsticks even at a constant temp). Also fuel dilution replaces some consumed oil over time. Low oil consumption is a GOOD thing. If it weren't getting sufficient cylinder lubrication, it would let you know by... (wait for it...) starting to consume more oil!


Or locking up.

 

[CourierDriver]

At 1200 to 1500 miles, my 2005 LaSabre always uses 16 oz of oil, as each small hole on the dipstick is set at 8 oz each. It is a nuisance as the engine only holds 4.5 quarts.

My old ancient 73 Ford pickup, v8, never used oil, ps, it is still running, but I no longer own it....

Personally, with todays engineering , no engine should be using oil, but what do I know.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: KennyJB
So my car doesn't consume oil, like, at all.


Yes it does, all reciprocating internal combustion engines do. It may not be enough to measure on the stick in 10k miles owing to the poor precision of the dipstick as a measuring tool (temperature variations can swing the reading, and you can't really resolve to much better than +/- a cup of oil on most dipsticks even at a constant temp). Also fuel dilution replaces some consumed oil over time. Low oil consumption is a GOOD thing. If it weren't getting sufficient cylinder lubrication, it would let you know by... (wait for it...) starting to consume more oil!

My E430 and S2000 didn't consume measurable amount for some OCI's, they did consume some(like 1/2 pint) for some other OCI's.

I check the oil level in the morning in the garage so the level is very consistence from 1 check to another.