Oil Consumption Update

[Triple_Se7en]

CD-2 (Helps Stop Oil Burning) Oil Treatment
Gray bottle. This stuff works very well for 2-3K at least.

It's very thick to pour. I mix it first with 12 ounces of oil. Then I shake it well - then pour it into the crankcase.

 

[addyguy]

It is a 14-year old car, with a 144k miles, that is KNOWN to consume lots of oil as it gets older.

I really don't see what the issue is - if you don't like it, get rid of the car for one that ISN'T know to use oil!

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Is this the Saturn with 144,000 miles? That could easily be worn oil control rings....Who expects a high mileage engine to NOT consume oil after high speed (70-75 mph) driving? High loads on a high mileage engine shouldn't affect oil consumption?

Worn parts are worn parts. High mileage engines have worn parts -- deal with it or sell it, but no amount of ARX or snake oil is going to fix it.

"Move along, nothing to see here...Move along....."


Interesting. My 170,000 mile Corolla uses the same amount of oil as it did when it was new. I drive for hours each day @ 70-75mph..

My 394,000 mile Jetta used less oil then the Corolla does. 250,000+ Chevy 4.3l V6 is doing fine with using the same amount of oil as it always has (about 1/4 qt per 5-6k OCI).

Wonder when I'll see all the results from my "worn" high mileage parts?

 

[Gary Allan]

Don't sweat it.

Does the thing foul plugs and require any additional service besides adding oil?

Is there any loss in fuel economy (granted you're not in the same daily drive that you were at one time) or performance?


If the answers are no to both of them, drive along and add your oil as needed.

No need for the anxiety

 

[panthermike]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Is this the Saturn with 144,000 miles? That could easily be worn oil control rings....Who expects a high mileage engine to NOT consume oil after high speed (70-75 mph) driving? High loads on a high mileage engine shouldn't affect oil consumption?

Worn parts are worn parts. High mileage engines have worn parts -- deal with it or sell it, but no amount of ARX or snake oil is going to fix it.

"Move along, nothing to see here...Move along....."


Interesting. My 170,000 mile Corolla uses the same amount of oil as it did when it was new. I drive for hours each day @ 70-75mph..

My 394,000 mile Jetta used less oil then the Corolla does. 250,000+ Chevy 4.3l V6 is doing fine with using the same amount of oil as it always has (about 1/4 qt per 5-6k OCI).

Wonder when I'll see all the results from my "worn" high mileage parts?

Bill, how much oil does your Corolla use if you don't mind me asking? Our 05' and 03' Corolla don't use any(knock on wood). Lower mileage though; 107K and 42K.

Quite a different story than the 00' Corolla, 1qt/700 miles when I traded it in. Never broke down though, only 167K when traded.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: panthermike


Bill, how much does your Corolla use if you don't mind me asking? Our 05' and 03' Corolla don't use any(knock on wood). Lower mileage though; 107K and 42K.


Depends on the oil I use. I'd say around 2/3-3/4 of a quart around 7-8k. I don't add anything just let it get low then once its down on the dipstick I change the oil which is around the 7-8k range. I have added oil when it gets low to the point and it was in the 3/4 quart range I had to add to get the level back to the full mark. (I did that when trying an extended OCI)

Its interesting to see how different types and brands get consumed at a higher rate.

Take care, Bill

 

[panthermike]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: panthermike


Bill, how much does your Corolla use if you don't mind me asking? Our 05' and 03' Corolla don't use any(knock on wood). Lower mileage though; 107K and 42K.


Depends on the oil I use. I'd say around 2/3-3/4 of a quart around 7-8k. I don't add anything just let it get low then once its down on the dipstick I change the oil which is around the 7-8k range. I have added oil when it gets low to the point and it was in the 3/4 quart range I had to add to get the level back to the full mark. (I did that when trying an extended OCI)

Its interesting to see how different types and brands get consumed at a higher rate.

Take care, Bill


Ah, I was assuming more consumption, but that's nothing. Maybe if I extended the OCI's on ours, I would notice the same.

 

[Patman]

I think my mom's 2.0L VW Golf (which is now driven by my sister) uses about this much oil now. It has been two years since I last changed the oil (Mom didn't drive much so I always did 2 year changes with GC with excellent UOAs) and I was going to change it and sample it this weekend but my dad has added so much oil to it over the past few months that I think a UOA would be pretty useless, since it's had more oil added to it than I initially put in the car.

So at this point we are in the same boat here, and I am not sure what my father and sister plan on doing about the problem. I know if it were my car I'd go crazy. I was already going crazy as I thought my wife's Civic was burning a quart every 2k but I just checked her oil this weekend (I switched her car over to Toyota 0w20 at the beginning of March) and it looks like consumption is considerably less now (maybe a quart every 5-6k now) So maybe if you try a few other oils you might find one that consumes a lot less.

 

[Zedhed]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Is this the Saturn with 144,000 miles? That could easily be worn oil control rings....Who expects a high mileage engine to NOT consume oil after high speed (70-75 mph) driving? High loads on a high mileage engine shouldn't affect oil consumption?

Worn parts are worn parts. High mileage engines have worn parts -- deal with it or sell it, but no amount of ARX or snake oil is going to fix it.

"Move along, nothing to see here...Move along....."


Interesting. My 170,000 mile Corolla uses the same amount of oil as it did when it was new. I drive for hours each day @ 70-75mph..

My 394,000 mile Jetta used less oil then the Corolla does. 250,000+ Chevy 4.3l V6 is doing fine with using the same amount of oil as it always has (about 1/4 qt per 5-6k OCI).

Wonder when I'll see all the results from my "worn" high mileage parts?

Different cars -- different engines -- different driving, different maintenance - not apples and apples. Saturns are known for excessive oil consumption. What your point?

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed


Different cars -- different engines -- different driving, different maintenance - not apples and apples. Saturns are known for excessive oil consumption. What your point?


Nice try. Your post stands on its own. "worn parts are worn parts" "high mileage engines have worn parts" is what you said.

My post states my point.

 

[buster]

I love the Mazda 2.3L. Those engines rarely burn any oil, even when driven hard.

Something to consider. From an engineer:

Quote:
Some oil consumption is of absolutely no concern to me, personally. Niether is it a concern to the engineers that design and develop them. Mostly it is just an inconvenience (having to add oil occasionally). Only car owners seem to be upset by oil consumption.

I think most people's analysis of "why engines burn oil" is based on the (false) idea that an engine shouldn't burn ANY oil and if it does burn some oil then something "must" be wrong and they invent all sorts of logic to explain why it happened. Most all of it is nonsense.

I wouldn't worry in the least about your oil consumption. Occasionaly use of full throttle and high RPM is the easy, simple and fun way to eliminate deposits and keep the combustion chambers clean.

Most high output engines will always use some amount of oil as keeping the top rings lubricated at high loads and high RPM is impossible without loosing some oil past the rings. Plus, multivalve engines need to keep all those valve guides/stems lubricated and that is only accomplished with "total loss" oiling.

Many engines have very aggressive cylinder wall finishes to maintain oil on the cylinder walls to keep the rings lubricated at high specific power levels. This often leads to high oil consumption and variable oil consumption from engine to engine. None of them are "good" or "bad" ..... just some of them use more oil than others. Who cares....??? It doesn't mean anything bad at all.

If the engine is not smoking I would say that the oil consumption (no matter how high it is) is fine and that nothing is wrong. If the engine suddenly starts to smoke and use oil then something obviously changed or failed but low levels of oil consumption are perfectly accecptable.

BMW had such high oil consumption on some of their M engines that they caution to check the oil at EVERY fillup on the autobahn type driving as the engine can run low on oil in a slightly longer interval. They actually replaced engines that failed from oil starvation due to the high rate of oil consumption that was "normal" due to the aggresive cylinder wall finish and low tension ring pack.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Hmmm... I know someone here who has said exactly what the engineer said for the most part...

Wonder who that smart member could be.....

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Hmmm... I know someone here who has said exactly what the engineer said for the most part...

Wonder who that smart member could be.....

It has too be Gary Allan.

 

[mechtech2]

How do your plugs look?

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
How do your plugs look?


Plugs look fine.

 

[The Critic]

950 miles now.

Stick shows between 1/8 to 1/4 left before hitting the low mark.

Oil still looks incredibly clean.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Try some Maxlife 5W-30 if you really want to stay with that viscosity or add some Schaeffer Moly EP, which I have found to be a high quality additive that reduces consumption and wear.

Using regular 5W-30 in a known oil burner-no surprise you have consumption. Might be time to turn up the viscosity, at least for summer.

 

[Norm Olt]

Not being prone to oil analysis I am not concerned as to whether adding oil between changes skews any data or result: I'm more concerned that my engine has the right amount of oil in it throughout the ENTIRE Oil Change Interval...

Within reason, that is. For example, if I'm down a half quart 10K into a 15K OCI with 100% synthetic I'll add more of the same flavor. If I'm 1K away from a 6K OCI I'll add generic oil, usually of the same weight, because I have a very complete stash of $0.99 after rebate quality oils.

Some oil consumption in a vehicle with over 100K is pretty normal, IMHO. Not necessarilly an indication of improper or ignored maintenance. Just a fact of life that differs from manufacturer to manufacturer, vehicle to vehicle and driver to driver.

What defines it as "excessive" depends upon those factors as well. Just as when you have a known "sludger" you need to be contientious about oil type and interval, when you have a known design or model that consumes a lot of oil you need to check it more often and keep it topped up as needed.

Cheers!

 

[The Critic]

1500 miles now and the stick was near minimum, so I added 1 qt of O'Reilly's 5w-30 to bring it back up to full.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Try keeping it below 2800rpms while crusing. I used to burn alot cruising at 70mph (3100rpms). I once burned throught a pint in a 100 miles by lead footing it.


As of now, I have 151k on mine and do 95% highway cruising at just under 65mph and consumption is a quart per 2000-3000 miles.

Definately stay below 3000 and if possible below 2800 and you're likely to use less oil.