Oil usage, good?

Pennzoil motor oil
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otis24

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I have a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan (3.8 engine, purchased new) that has used about 3/4ths quart of oil/1000 miles using conventional oil. Switched to Penn. Platinum and usage went to about 1/2qt/3k miles.
I was talking with the parts man at the Chevrolet dealership where I am employed. I told him I used synthetic and why.He stated that GM says 1qt/1000 miles is normal too. He also stated that the usage was good because it burned off condensation and moisture. I know that condensation is an issue with my van due to a lot of short trips.
Any thoughts on his comment about usage being good?
 
Yeah: Stupid

They may say that is acceptable but I don't.

What burns off condensation is letting the motor get up to temp long enough. Alot of short trips don't aloow that.
 
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I never had a daily driver vehicle that used over 1/2 quart in a 6,000 mile oil change. The 1,000 miles per quart is an old excuse that GM used. In the 50s when GM had a large production run of engines that had piston oil control rings installed upside down. Oil usage and condinstion has little to do with one another. One does like to get the oil temp up to 180 or above to burn off condinsation. Are you leaking oil? Ed
 
There are not oil leaks. As stated, when using Pennzoil Platinum, the usage dropped to about a half quart in 3k miles. A significant amount.
 
Originally Posted By: otis24
There are not oil leaks. As stated, when using Pennzoil Platinum, the usage dropped to about a half quart in 3k miles. A significant amount.


1/2 quart in 3k miles would be acceptable for a short tripper I suppose. Stick with PP and see if the oil consumptions decreases further after a couple oil changes.
 
Like webfors said, 1/2 quart in 3k miles is pretty good. I'd be happy with that, even though my car doesn't consume anything at all. 3/4 quart/1k miles seems excessive, even if they say it's "normal"
 
I've only had a few cars, but I've never had one that didn't consume a bit of oil over an OCI. The closest I've come is my GF's 93 Volvo 850 which wont burn anything until up around 3500-4000 miles, and probably ends up with 1/2-3/4 quart of loss in just over 5000 miles between changes.

Even my 07 Civic, now with about 30k miles on it, burns probably a quart in its ~6k miles OCI (by OLM). It annoys me but I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it and if I did something to cause it then I don't know what it is. May have something to do with the fact that 1/3 of my 10 mile commute home every day is at 3500 RPM ascending a steep grade. But I digress.

3/4 qt in 1k miles sounds annoyingly excessive to me but the 1qt/1000 miles seems to be a pretty common manufacturer stated figure for the "excessive" threshold.

The only thing I can think of that's "good" about oil usage is that the engine gets some fresh oil during the OCI to replenish some additives and TBN.
 
Does your engine ping? All that oil might lower the octane.

I think GMs 1000 miles per quart is pure [censored] to get them off the hook.
 
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Does your engine ping? All that oil might lower the octane.

I think GMs 1000 miles per quart is pure [censored] to get them off the hook.

Most MFG use the 1qt per 1,000 miles for the "normal" usage. (Ford, Toyota, GM and Dodge all use that number)

My Toyota burns around 2/3 - 3/4 of a quart 4-5k miles if I use a syn oil and only 8-12oz if running conventional oil.

When I ran Mobil Drive clean it hardly used anything in the 5k oci, but that was a long time ago.

The factory plugs look great @ 112k (when I last looked at them, I am changing them in the next month even though they are doing fine) and the car still runs like new. So all the oil consumed must not be doing anything to the engine.

My Subaru uses about 8 oz in 4,000 miles I think.. The @#$%^&! dipstick they put in the engine is VERY hard to know where the oil level is at.

I have had a few engines in the family that use about a quart per 1,000 miles from the get go. They still lasted well into the 200k mark before being sold off with no problems.. (cats were ok, no sludge, varnish)

Take care, Bill
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah

My Subaru uses about 8 oz in 4,000 miles I think.. The @#$%^&! dipstick they put in the engine is VERY hard to know where the oil level is at.

Take care, Bill


seriously, that's got to be the worst dipstick I've ever used. One side is 1/2 quart lower then the other. After speaking with a subaru tech about it, they said use the average of the two. It appears the dipstick enters the oil at a terrible angle, making it hard to read. You can clean it and check it three times in 2 minutes and get different readings each time. Not to mention the stick is dark black...
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah

My Toyota burns around 2/3 - 3/4 of a quart 4-5k miles if I use a syn oil and only 8-12oz if running conventional oil.

Take care, Bill


Is there a difference or are you just being funny?
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Does your engine ping? All that oil might lower the octane.

I think GMs 1000 miles per quart is pure [censored] to get them off the hook.

Most MFG use the 1qt per 1,000 miles for the "normal" usage. (Ford, Toyota, GM and Dodge all use that number)

My Toyota burns around 2/3 - 3/4 of a quart 4-5k miles if I use a syn oil and only 8-12oz if running conventional oil.

When I ran Mobil Drive clean it hardly used anything in the 5k oci, but that was a long time ago.

The factory plugs look great @ 112k (when I last looked at them, I am changing them in the next month even though they are doing fine) and the car still runs like new. So all the oil consumed must not be doing anything to the engine.

My Subaru uses about 8 oz in 4,000 miles I think.. The @#$%^&! dipstick they put in the engine is VERY hard to know where the oil level is at.

I have had a few engines in the family that use about a quart per 1,000 miles from the get go. They still lasted well into the 200k mark before being sold off with no problems.. (cats were ok, no sludge, varnish)

Take care, Bill


I am at about 1 quart per 3K in my 00 Saturn, which is considered good for these cars. I have put nearly 42K on this car since January of this year and it runs strong. I think 1 quart per 3-4K is within acceptable limits to me. Bill, I have also observed my lowest consumption using conventional oil, in this case Pennzoil conventional.

08 Corolla hasn't used any oil yet. It is a notch below 8K on the odometer, and I check it constantly as I keep waiting for it to burn even a few ounces due to break in, but nothing yet. I have heard that the 1ZZ can use a little bit of oil, so I'll keep an eye on it during my watch.
 
Originally Posted By: jaj
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah

My Toyota burns around 2/3 - 3/4 of a quart 4-5k miles if I use a syn oil and only 8-12oz if running conventional oil.

Take care, Bill


Is there a difference or are you just being funny?


There is a difference (ie why I posted it)

bill
 
It also depends on the driving habit and the engine design.
Some manufaturer put a notice that if the car is always rev to high rpm, it may consume some oil.

Some drivers may always drive slowly on short trip, and then the engine will collect condensation water and the oil level increase.

I have owned many cars but mostly Japanese and not a single one consumes oil, except one that has piston ring issue, where I can see the blue smoke from tailpipe and it only consume less than 1 quart every 4000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
It also depends on the driving habit and the engine design.
Some manufaturer put a notice that if the car is always rev to high rpm, it may consume some oil.

Some drivers may always drive slowly on short trip, and then the engine will collect condensation water and the oil level increase.

I have owned many cars but mostly Japanese and not a single one consumes oil, except one that has piston ring issue, where I can see the blue smoke from tailpipe and it only consume less than 1 quart every 4000 miles.


There is a TSB on the 1ZZFE from Toyota stating what you said. If you are operating at high RPM for long periods, you will consume some oil.

Bill
 
Funny that you should mention that oil usage went down with PP. I have used Mobil 1 0W-40, Amsoil Euro 5W-40, GC, and Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5w40 in my VW 2.0T. The PP had the least amount of burn off by far with GC being the worst.
 
Most experienced mechanics will sat that if everything is perfect in an engine tolerance wise... slight oil consumption s/b expected. A lot depends on manufacturer's specs. For instance it is widely known that GMs have a loose fit inside their engines. So you will use an extra quart every 3,000 miles but you'll also get 20 MPG in a full size p/u vs. 17 or less from competitors? I've found Toyotas use absolutely zero every 5,000. I would say consumption does vary between makers. I do not agree that a qt. every 1,000 is normal unless car in question is either driven to extremes or driven by a teen? YMMV
 
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