Oil burning 5.0

[erogers]

Hi folks. I have been trying to take care of my grandmother's car for her. She has a 1988 Ford Crown Victoria with the 5.0 V8. This is a car that gets driven barely 1,000 miles per year. It has around 90,000 miles on it. It has been burning/consuming a lot of oil. I changed her oil in early May, and it is already 1.5 quarts low. She has probably driven about 200 city miles since May. I'm currently using Rotella 15w40, since I knew about the oil consumption issues before the last change. The problem is, using the heavier HDEO hasn't seemed to help. I don't see any leaks, but her valve cover gaskets might have some.

In brief (sorry for the length of this post), Auto-RX treatments are out-of-the-question, since she drives so little. I need recommendations for an oil (and weight) that may improve her consumption issues. I appreciate any thoughts on this.

 

[addyguy]

Try a high-mileage oil - like Maxlife 10W-40 or Pennzoil High Mileage 10w40. You might be suprised how much it will help, if it does.

 

[OVERKILL]

It's a 302, there's not a lot that can go wrong with them.

1. PCV screen. This is probably THE most neglected/overlooked part of these engines.

The PCV valve is in the BACK of the lower intake, it's a bugger to get at. It sits in a grommet. This grommet is removable. Beneath the grommet is the PCV screen. This plugs up and causes issues with crankcase ventilation which in turn causes oil consumption.

I would start with this.

2. Leaks. Is it LEAKING any oil? The lower intake seals eventually dry out and this, in conjunction with the PCV issue, will cause oil to be blown out the front/back of the intake where it seals. The valve cover gaskets are also prone to this. Replace them with the rubber ones from the Explorer if they are leaking.

 

[erogers]

Thanks, guys. I'll give the High Mileage oil a try next. 10W-40 sounds like a good plan. I don't see any visible leaks...definitely nothing on the driveway under the car. I'll check the PCV next. Thanks for the heads-up on that one!

 

[dnewton3]

The suggestion above are fair and good.

You might give ARX a try as well. Check the additive section. It won't fix mechanical problems, but it's as close to a miracle fluid as you'll find. Proprietor, Frank, is a sponsor here.

 

[erogers]

I've used Auto-RX in both my T-Bird and Jaguar and I agree, it's great. The only reason I don't think it will be a good choice for my grandmother's car is that she drives so little. I have a really hard time leaving oil in a car for more than a year, regardless of how much it is driven. I would have to leave the oil and Auto-RX in her car for about 2 1/2 years before reaching the 2,500 clean phase recommendation, and then another 3 years for the rinse phase. I would worry about keeping the same oil in a car for this long, unless someone could convince me that it would be safe to do so.

 

[Gary Allan]

The 2500 mile number for Auto-Rx is to allow customers to not do too many oil changes (and keep track of the mileage) in such a short amount of time. The original mileage was 500, iirc ...then 750 - 1500 ..etc. Some was probably due to evolutions in oils and some was surely to cover more users habits.

I'd be tempted to do a two bottle dose on that engine ..just to get it done in as short a mileage as possible.