I posted a few months ago about my neighbor's 2000 Ford Windstar with about 120K miles on it. http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...rue#Post2311073
Background: I changed the oil some months ago when I made the original post (see above) and I noticed that the oil was super super black, and there was only 1 quart in the engine, it takes 5.5 quarts. Also, my neighbor had added oil to it since the previous change, so it was consuming a lot of oil. He did not know how much oil or when. So, I told them to keep track of how much oil they add and when.
Current issue: Now, after 1200 miles, it was out of oil. The oil light came on and the driver pulled over. Dip stick was dry, added 2 quarts of oil, restarted and light went off. Drove home and added an additional 3 quarts until the dip stick showed full. The owners have also added 3 additional quarts of oil to it since the oil change that I did and it still ran out of oil!
So, say, 0.5 quarts of oil in the engine for it to starve and turn the oil light on (since it wasn't starving on 1 quart) with the 3 quarts they already added, the two they added on the side of the road, and the 3 additional they added when they got home, that's about 8 (2+3+3) quarts of oil it has used in 1200 miles!
I don't even understand how that's possible! The engine doesn't smoke on start up, it doesn't drip oil, and it doesn't smell like oil when you start it up in the driveway. This seems amazing to me that it could burn a quart of oil every 150 miles.
We are using Valvoline MaxLife 5w-30 in it right now, but the previous change was probably Pennzoil. Looking in the valve cover it looks like there is varnish, but nothing much. All the parts looks like a nice tan color, nothing to write home about.
Anyone have experience with this kind of massive oil consumption?
Background: I changed the oil some months ago when I made the original post (see above) and I noticed that the oil was super super black, and there was only 1 quart in the engine, it takes 5.5 quarts. Also, my neighbor had added oil to it since the previous change, so it was consuming a lot of oil. He did not know how much oil or when. So, I told them to keep track of how much oil they add and when.
Current issue: Now, after 1200 miles, it was out of oil. The oil light came on and the driver pulled over. Dip stick was dry, added 2 quarts of oil, restarted and light went off. Drove home and added an additional 3 quarts until the dip stick showed full. The owners have also added 3 additional quarts of oil to it since the oil change that I did and it still ran out of oil!
So, say, 0.5 quarts of oil in the engine for it to starve and turn the oil light on (since it wasn't starving on 1 quart) with the 3 quarts they already added, the two they added on the side of the road, and the 3 additional they added when they got home, that's about 8 (2+3+3) quarts of oil it has used in 1200 miles!
We are using Valvoline MaxLife 5w-30 in it right now, but the previous change was probably Pennzoil. Looking in the valve cover it looks like there is varnish, but nothing much. All the parts looks like a nice tan color, nothing to write home about.
Anyone have experience with this kind of massive oil consumption?
