Hey guys, I was wondering if thinner oil generally increases consumption. I currently use Valvoline 5W20 non synthetic, and it uses about a 1/2 qt every 3k miles, sometimes a bit more. If I were to switch to 10W30 non synthetic, would that decrease oil consumption?
My Mach burns the least amount of oil of any of the 3 Mustangs I've owned. My '89 GT used 1qt. every 700 miles. My '93 GT used 1qt. every 1,300 miles, and my Mach uses 1qt. every 2,500 miles. I'm really happy with that.
My Mach burns the least amount of oil of any of the 3 Mustangs I've owned. My '89 GT used 1qt. every 700 miles. My '93 GT used 1qt. every 1,300 miles, and my Mach uses 1qt. every 2,500 miles. I'm really happy with that.
Well, I guess I'm doing alright then. I've heard from some people that if you do alot of high rpm decellerating, this can increase consumption. Is there any truth to that?
I ended up running my car for almost 5000 miles once without changing my oil (definately wouldn't recommend doing that either) but I wasn't even 1/4 of a quart low when I changed it. So I guess I'm not really burning much oil in mine. But my 86 GT burned about a quart every 1000 miles or so.
To answer your original question, yes, generally thinner oil will more easily slip past worn rings, etc.
However, that would be thinner referring to the second part of the oil viscosity (i.e. 5w20 would slip past more than 5w30 or 5w40) .. the first number is the resistance to flow at cold temperatures, so it wouldn't make much of a difference running 5wX or 10wX, since the majority of the time is spent driving the car hot. In any case, 5w30 is fine year round, regardless of what carb people stuck back in the "my god damn 427 takes 20w50 quaker state, nothing else!" days may tell you.
My oil separator grabs around a teaspoon every 200 or so miles.