Mustang burning oil, switched to MaxLife and now smoking

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About two years with two Crown Vics with the same engine but more miles and no smoking or consumption on either of them. I didn't just drive hard - I abused them. I always ran 5w-30 synthetic of various brands. O'Reilly, Valvoline, Royal Purple...

I'd get that Restore junk outta there and just stick a few oil changes of Maxlife and if it doesn't go away without the Restore in there messing stuff up just get used to topping it up. It's no big deal, oil is cheap.
 
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Originally Posted by Anduril
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Anduril
In all honesty, pulling the engine and replacing the rings is probably within my skill set if I buy a hoist, so if it comes to that, that's probably what I will end up doing. I doubt it needs a full rebuild since it doesn't knock and seems to have good oil pressure.


Seems like a helll of a lot of work to do on a $2-3K car instead of just spending another $3 a month on oil.

Unfortunately, if it continues to smoke, it will fail emissions and I can't drive it.


http://fhsoils.com/smokeless-faqs/
 
If I understand correctly, 3 things were changed at once:
1. the brand of oil
2. the weight of oil
3. an oil additive that wasn't used with the previous oil.

Why is only the first being blamed for the smoke?
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Anduril
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Anduril
In all honesty, pulling the engine and replacing the rings is probably within my skill set if I buy a hoist, so if it comes to that, that's probably what I will end up doing. I doubt it needs a full rebuild since it doesn't knock and seems to have good oil pressure.


Seems like a helll of a lot of work to do on a $2-3K car instead of just spending another $3 a month on oil.

Unfortunately, if it continues to smoke, it will fail emissions and I can't drive it.


http://fhsoils.com/smokeless-faqs/

Read their website, that's a straight 50 weight oil... gross.

Originally Posted by zrxkawboy
If I understand correctly, 3 things were changed at once:
1. the brand of oil
2. the weight of oil
3. an oil additive that wasn't used with the previous oil.

Why is only the first being blamed for the smoke?


This was my thought too!
 
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Originally Posted by Anduril
There was oil in the throttle body and PCV hose, that's what led me to suspect the valve and change it.

Doesn't the fact that it's smoking with MaxLife but never did with Rotella indicate that it's not "doing it's thing?"


It could have been the MaxLife WAS doing its thing and cleaned sludge from around the valve stem seals and the thick oil is simply "masking" problems that were there beforehand.

It could be you have both worn valve stem seals and coked up piston rings.

As FlyNavy said, try a piston soak in case you have coked rings. I have seen situations in which the rings were stuck in the lands, due to coking, and would not let the rings expand against the cylinder bores.
 
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I hope you get this resolved and figured out. I am looking at buying the same gen mustang in the future, a GT. 1999-2004. I like that body style, and it is within my budget. But I don't want to buy an oil burner either....
 
Originally Posted by Kurtatron
I hope you get this resolved and figured out. I am looking at buying the same gen mustang in the future, a GT. 1999-2004. I like that body style, and it is within my budget. But I don't want to buy an oil burner either....


Don't stress too much about it. Most 4.6s live a long, happy, non-oil-burning life
smile.gif
The OP's experience is not the norm.
 
Originally Posted by Anduril
Wife was behind me and reported the engine smoking a little while idling (I had just pulled out of a parking lot and had been sitting in traffic for a few minutes) and then more smoke as I was accelerating onto the freeway. Once I was up to speed, no smoke, and no smoke as I was slowing down.


Sure it wasn't condensation?
 
Completely sure. Car makes condensation every time it warms up, and it never smells like this.
 
Originally Posted by MolaKule
Originally Posted by Anduril
There was oil in the throttle body and PCV hose, that's what led me to suspect the valve and change it.

Doesn't the fact that it's smoking with MaxLife but never did with Rotella indicate that it's not "doing it's thing?"

It could have been the MaxLife WAS doing its thing and cleaned sludge from around the valve stem seals and the thick oil is simply "masking" problems that were there beforehand.

It could be you have both worn valve stem seals and coked up piston rings.

As FlyNavy said, try a piston soak in case you have coked rings. I have seen situations in which the rings were stuck in the lands, due to coking, and would not let the rings expand to the cylinder bores

This sounds a lot like the issue....
 
FWIW both of my 4.6 engines will sometimes put out a puff of blue smoke on a cold start. It doesn't happen all the time, though for some weird reason. Do you have any leaks? The oil filter housing is a common place for these engines to leak, but it's a relatively easy job; just time consuming as you have to drain the antifreeze. I would run 5W-30 in it (that's what I use in mine) and don't worry about it. A quart every 1,000 miles used to be the norm.
 
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I would go back to Rotella 40 wt or better yet, pick an oil that gets discounted regularly. Up here we get sales on Mobil 1, Pennzoil, Castrol, but not so much on Rotella. Then just monitor your oil and add when required.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by Anduril
Doesn't the fact that it's smoking with MaxLife but never did with Rotella indicate that it's not "doing it's thing?"

The only way you'd know is by switching back to Rotella.

It may very well be that engine wear has progressed in spite of the type of oil used.
 
Originally Posted by dogememe
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Anduril
Originally Posted by atikovi
Anduril said:
In all honesty, pulling the engine and replacing the rings is probably within my skill set if I buy a hoist, so if it comes to that, that's probably what I will end up doing. I doubt it needs a full rebuild since it doesn't knock and seems to have good oil pressure.


Seems like a helll of a lot of work to do on a $2-3K car instead of just spending another $3 a month on oil.

Unfortunately, if it continues to smoke, it will fail emissions and I can't drive it.


http://fhsoils.com/smokeless-faqs/


Read their website, that's a straight 50 weight oil... gross.

So what if it lets you pass inspection? And you can drain and save for the next time. What's wrong with 50 weight?
Click to expand...
 
Went back to Rotella, still smokes though seemingly not as much. I can get it to smoke if I rev it after I just started it up, or it'll put out a puff after it's been idling a bit, but if I keep the revs up, it doesn't smoke at all. I can't imagine MaxLife damaged the engine in the ~300 miles I had it in there, but that might be what it's looking like. I'll get a compression tester after work today and check compression, if that's fine I might try changing valve seals in a couple weekends and go from there.
 
Do a leakdown test too.

Also, if it is coming in through the PCV, a catch can may make a different. I don't normally recommend those, but in this instance it may help.
 
Originally Posted by Anduril
Went back to Rotella, still smokes though seemingly not as much. I can get it to smoke if I rev it after I just started it up, or it'll put out a puff after it's been idling a bit, but if I keep the revs up, it doesn't smoke at all. I can't imagine MaxLife damaged the engine in the ~300 miles I had it in there, but that might be what it's looking like. I'll get a compression tester after work today and check compression, if that's fine I might try changing valve seals in a couple weekends and go from there.


Revving an engine right after a cold start scares me ! :)
 
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