Always low on oil!!!!

CeSaR333 · Jun 10, 2004

Why does my car do this? every 500-1000 miles or so, my car is consistantly low on oil. Like almost down to the low level marker on the stick. There are no signs of leaking anywhere but when i idel for about 5min and shut it down, and run it back up an hour later, a faint puff of smoke can be seen coming out of the pipes but rarley. I tried moving up a grade, (synt 10w-30) with 50K on the OD but same problem. Could a bad PCV be the problem?

ProCharger GT · Jun 10, 2004

have someone drive around behind you and check if they can smell oil burning or even the faintest of blue smoke coming out. If you havent done so already change the PCV valve and check to make sure your gaskets arent leaking. good luck.

NasaGT · Jun 10, 2004

More than likely you are slowly burning oil as you drive. Not even enough to really see driving around. Rings wear with age, and oil makes it into the combustion chamber and gets burned off. Since you describe it losing a qt over 500-1000 miles but has no appearance of leaking any, that would be my guess. What year is your car?

mogs01gt · Jun 10, 2004

well keep checking it. You could spin a bearing like I did. Took 1500 miles to burn off 4 1/2 quarts in my car.

time for a new motor baby .

2001Saleen181 · Jun 10, 2004

It could be your valve seals. Those aren't very expensive to replace. About 200.00..

GinoGT · Jun 10, 2004

Auto or manual? If it's a manual, do you downshift and engine brake a lot?

KaPPaBaLL · Jun 10, 2004

quit engine braking faker.

CeSaR333 · Jun 10, 2004

Its a 2000 GT auto. I really dont think its a spun bearing because oil consumption isnt as bad as it would be with a spun bearing and i rarley beat on my car but how could you tell? ill take my car above 4K RPMs once every couple of weeks just to give you an idea of how i treat it

GinoGT · Jun 10, 2004

A spun bearing would be making some kind of noise.

SonicB · Jun 10, 2004

i had that experience with mobil 1 in my 5.0. i went to "fake" synthetic hydrocracked oil and my oil burning slowed from a quart every 500 to 800 miles to around 2500.

Kevin2811 · Jun 11, 2004

Quit engine braking?

mogs01gt · Jun 11, 2004

SonicB said:
i had that experience with mobil 1 in my 5.0. i went to "fake" synthetic hydrocracked oil and my oil burning slowed from a quart every 500 to 800 miles to around 2500.

Are you serious?? You burned more oil with the Mobil 1?? If that is true, GOD DAMN IT. My mother was right.

Engine braking means you are down shifting to slow your car down. Good way to save breaks but puts more work on the motor.

SonicB · Jun 11, 2004

mogs01gt said:
Are you serious?? You burned more oil with the Mobil 1?? If that is true, GOD DAMN IT. My mother was right.

maybe i shouldn't have used the word burning. all, i know is i was losing oil quicker with mobil 1 which was partially corrected by using hydrocracked oil.

Kevin2811 · Jun 11, 2004

I understand what engine braking is but I don't understand how that effects oil consumption. It has never caused me to have this problem.

reeber · Jun 11, 2004

My car didn't burn, or lose oil until I went to the Mobil 1.. Now, I also put in a good quart every 500 to 750 miles.. I think it's just the synthetic oil. I gets by the rings quicker than the conventional oil.. My car also has almost 100,000 miles on it too..

AdRock · Jun 11, 2004

reeber said:
My car didn't burn, or lose oil until I went to the Mobil 1.. Now, I also put in a good quart every 500 to 750 miles.. I think it's just the synthetic oil. I gets by the rings quicker than the conventional oil.. My car also has almost 100,000 miles on it too..

The Synthetic oil molecules are much smaller that the conventional ones. They're able to get by the rings and seals much easier. This is most of the reason it's not always good to run synthetic in a high mileage engine. You just end up with more oil comsumption and seeping seals.

Jesus · Jun 11, 2004

So glad someone posted this.

(Not trying to Hi Jack, just trying to get answer to similar problem)I have an 03 with 22000 miles on it. It is having a similar problem, but I never even thought that it could be the actual oil Im using. Here is what my car is doing: When it is idleing every once in a while some smoke will come out of the tail pipes (just a little) and then it stops coming out, and then a few minutes later some more comes out, and so on. The other thing it does is when I shut the car down some smoke will come out of the pipes. I check the oil all the time and if it is burning it at a steady rate I cant tell. The level doesnt really seem to change. Also, as a test I started the car cold in the morning and then got out rite away to look and see if there was any smoke (If it smokes when you start after its been sitting that is an indication of worn valve seals) and there was none. So, Im wondering if it could be the oil (Mobil 1 (0-30)) Or something else like the PCV Valve. I never noticed the car doing this stuff when I was running Royal Purple 5-20 or the stock oil.

SonicB · Jun 11, 2004

Jesus said:
(Not trying to Hi Jack, just trying to get answer to similar problem)I have an 03 with 22000 miles on it. It is having a similar problem, but I never even thought that it could be the actual oil Im using. Here is what my car is doing: When it is idleing every once in a while some smoke will come out of the tail pipes (just a little) and then it stops coming out, and then a few minutes later some more comes out, and so on. The other thing it does is when I shut the car down some smoke will come out of the pipes. I check the oil all the time and if it is burning it at a steady rate I cant tell. The level doesnt really seem to change. Also, as a test I started the car cold in the morning and then got out rite away to look and see if there was any smoke (If it smokes when you start after its been sitting that is an indication of worn valve seals) and there was none. So, Im wondering if it could be the oil (Mobil 1 (0-30)) Or something else like the PCV Valve. I never noticed the car doing this stuff when I was running Royal Purple 5-20 or the stock oil.

i'm guessing but i don't think it's the oil as the level does not change as you noted. really a little smoke is normal. could it be moisture?

mobil 1 and amsoil to the best of my knowledge are the only true (pao) synthetic oils. castrol, pennzoil, valvoline and etc. are hydrocracked oils meaning they begin life as a conventional oil. hydrocracking (search the web for detailed info) produces higher quality oil at a cheaper cost to pao (polyalpha olefin) like mobil 1. just my experience and personal opinion i like the hydrocracked oils particularly in higher mile engines as i don't use as much oil.

GregGTStang · Jun 11, 2004

Modular motors are known for burning oil quickly. A friend of mine had NOS on his car and he didn't know that his oil was low, so he used the NOS and he blew a rod bearing or something....When you gave it gas, you would hear a loud knocking noise...happened in higher rpms....Fords suck.

Jesus · Jun 11, 2004

SonicB said:
i'm guessing but i don't think it's the oil as the level does not change as you noted. really a little smoke is normal. could it be moisture?

I was wondering if it could just be moisture as well. I live in New York by the Hudson river and it does tend to be quite humid here. If its just moisture I would be thrilled. And, if Mod Motors are really known for using some oil I guess I wont sweat it.

Always low on oil!!!!

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