Oil Burning Car

[SwampSurvivor]

My parents 2008 Wrangler 3.8 uses a quart for 800 miles. Still not enough oil usage, yet.

My father was astonished that a modern vehicle uses so much oil!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: Miller88
We all know the type ... they have a mid-mileage car (150k) that has never been maintained and it's a "giant POS".

The same people tell me I need to get rid of the Cherokee because it's too old and has too many miles.

Oil change when needed, spark plug change when needed, x,y,z, when needed ... I'd rather "waste" money now than have it bit me hard in a few years when something serious fails.


I get the same thing about my "old" Cherokee. Then I remind them how they are riding in it on their way to the autoparts store because their "new" car had a problem.

A little maintenance can go a long way. I can go out and drive my Cherokee across country with no problems!

I can sit in a traffic jam on a 100* day with my A/C blasting and not get above 210* and have Ice/Cold A/C (not many cherokee owners can do that).

I hope I don't jynx myself, but my tools are always in the Cherokee. Whenever someone has an oddball problem and calls me, I show up in my old beat-up Cherokee.

My odometer reads 70k too high, so it's even better when people see 185000 and freak out about it being old!

 

[Mitch Alsup]

The last car I owned that burned any oil was a 1969 Dodge Dart.

I have owned Ford/Lincoln, Chevys, Fiats, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Toyotas; driven them more than 1 million miles, and not one of them burned any oil.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
The last car I owned that burned any oil was a 1969 Dodge Dart.

I have owned Ford/Lincoln, Chevys, Fiats, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Toyotas; driven them more than 1 million miles, and not one of them burned any oil.


Don't play the lottery, you've already used all your luck...

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
In a lot of European cars it was considered normal to use a quart every 800 miles?

Haven't used quotes as using my phone.

But what cars does that apply to.

I have had many old cars.

1966 Austin A40 with 1098cc A series lump, needed occasional top ups but not by much, considering it was almost 25 yrs old at the time I was driving it to Uni' in usual teenager style I expect some oil usage.

One European car make that has historically used oil is VW, especially the petrol engines such as those in the Golf or Polo.

I think some restraint should be applied when saying cars may use oil, Europe is a very big place full of different countries, not just an amalgamation of states.

German cars are very different to French cars and they are very different to Italian cars, UK cars are now specialised and no longer made in any significant quantity.

Worst engine for needing top ups was the Rover V8 we had in the LDV Ambulances, but that was originally a Buick engine before head of BL bought the rights.

So to lump all European cars in the same category is to say that US Fords are the same as GM's.

Lets leave generalisations to politicians.


Mercedes M103 burns a lot of oil because of valve steam seals that get hard, 800 miles a quart is when it starts to be a problem.

Every Jag we have ever owned has burned or leaked something.

Saturns while not European burn a lot of oil.

Lots of motors use some oil.

Now go back to pre war cars and a lot of them had oil pumps where you could add more to the crank case as you were going along.

 

[grampi]

Being very anal about keeping track of all my vehicles fluids and filters, I just don't understand the "hands off" mentality some people have. Why would one not want to check his/her oil? Must be the same group of people who run the same transmission fluid in the vehicle for the life of that vehicle and then wonder why the transmission went to heck. I wouldn't even do that with a vehicle that has the so called lifetime fluid in it. On a side note, there seems to be two schools of thought on the whole oil using issue....some believe any usage is a problem, and some believe an engine using up to a certain amount is not a problem...I happen to be in the some usage is okay camp, but to each their own...

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: grampi
I just don't understand the "hands off" mentality some people have. Why would one not want to check his/her oil?


It would be admitting defeat. Like saying, "I went to college so I would not be poor like (X) and having to drive an oil-burning clunker."

Humans are a weird bunch. Some of us neglect backing up our hard drives, our teeth, our health, relationships, septic tanks, haircuts, etc.

 

[TFB1]

In 46 years of vehicle ownership I've only owned a couple that I could say it uses no oil, currently it's the '07 Grand Marquis... My '98 with approx same mileage(mid 50K mi) uses a quart in 5K, so I'll add maybe a pint in a 7.5K OCI(It's going to be approx a quart low when I change it's oil)...

 

[caravanmike]

checking oil for me falls under personal business. if you can't take care of your personal business to avoid buying a reman motor than you have more issues than not checking oil!

checking oil is a life skill that can make a big difference in the quality of ones life. it is a habit that can have a big impact on ones life especially if they have an oil burner. mike

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: Miller88

I can sit in a traffic jam on a 100* day with my A/C blasting and not get above 210* and have Ice/Cold A/C (not many cherokee owners can do that).




Both mine can (daughter's 99 and my 01). ;-)

OF course I've replaced the radiators in both, too. Previous owner NEVER did anything to the 99's cooling system except to disable the overflow tank and let it run with air in the radiator all the time (plastic nipple on the radiator failed and he was a cheapskate) until 120k miles. Cleaned and flushed like crazy, filled with G-05, been fine for 4 years now. The original radiator on the 01 split a seam at ~90k. Glad I caught that one before it overheated- its got the "dreaded" 0331 head casting. ;-)

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
The last car I owned that burned any oil was a 1969 Dodge Dart.

I have owned Ford/Lincoln, Chevys, Fiats, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Toyotas; driven them more than 1 million miles, and not one of them burned any oil.


Wong, they ALL burned oil. Whether or not you could detect it between oil changes using a dipstick that's only accurate to maybe +/- a cup of oil at best... different story. But all reciprocating engines burn some of their lubricant. Period. End of story. You canna change the laws of physics. ;-)

I still contend that all things being equal otherwise, bore-size is a huge determinant in oil consumption. Big-bore (>4" bore) engines always use more than their small-bore counterparts. essentially no modern car engines have bores that size, except for Z-06 type 'Vettes and some pickup trucks. Very few of the engines you mentioned owning have bores that big. Possibly none if the Lincoln(s) and Chevy(s) were newer than the 70s and therefore smallblock powered. The Dodge? Got no answer there. My smallblock Mopars never burned oil. But the big-blocks do, noticeably. Quart per 3k miles type consumption is typical.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
The last car I owned that burned any oil was a 1969 Dodge Dart.

I have owned Ford/Lincoln, Chevys, Fiats, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Toyotas; driven them more than 1 million miles, and not one of them burned any oil.


Don't play the lottery, you've already used all your luck...


Absolutely agreed. My 1970 454SS used a quart per 100 miles until rebuilt professionally. Some engines do and some don't.

With the important caveat that SOME oil is always used. But in my Chrysler for example, it is simply not a detectable difference.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
The last car I owned that burned any oil was a 1969 Dodge Dart.

I have owned Ford/Lincoln, Chevys, Fiats, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Toyotas; driven them more than 1 million miles, and not one of them burned any oil.


In more then a million miles the only car I had to add oil to between changes was a 67 Impala with the 283 and that was only 1 quart between changes..None of my other cars [which included 6 Panthers with the 5.0 and 4.6] ever needed oil between their 5-7500 miles service..They all had between 200-325K miles and sat in tons of gridlock for hours on end with the a/c constantly on.

Some people here really need to get more realiable cars and trucks.

 

[TFB1]

Ummm except my '07 all my 4.6 have used some oil, the '92 & '93 were at approx 800mi quart till the valve stem seals were repl... After the seals they still used some oil, though consumption was cut by approx 3x... My '98 with 55Kmi uses a quart in 5K, doesn't bother me in the least...