Oil Consumption - Quick Questions

Ford state a litre (about 7/8 US quart) in 500 kilometers is normal so about a quart in 3000 miles isn't bad plus if you are really working the engine it will us a little more

Make sure you measure the oil level in the morning when the engine has been shut down over night, if measured after running the engine the dip stick will show one quart low, the engine retains some oil in the heads and oil galleries and takes some time to drip back down to the oil pan.

navegator

Yup I was concerned about that too. But everything I've read and heard about that said it's ok. Go figure.

Mine does not use a quart in 5000 miles. Though I've had some cars and trucks using a quart every 500 miles, like the good old days, usually they were dripping it onto the road or parking place.

But a quart every 3000 miles, whether burned by crankcase ventilation, or dripping onto the road, is pretty good for any modern engine, the Triton V-10 included. I don't add oil in small increments, rather add only when the dipstick checked cold inthe morning (I check every morning) shows it a quart or more down. Thus I seldom add oil, cosidering the dealer often overfills by 1/2 quart at oil change.

Be aware that a level check at a gas stop might read more than a half quart below the "cold inthe morning" level. That much oil is retained in passages and valve covers when a running engine is stopped, and will take an hour or more to drain back to the crankcase. So iftopping off in small increments, you might be working to keep it overfilled.

Our V10 will use about a 1/2 quart every 3000 miles. I check the oil in the morning before hitting the road again, gives the oil a chance to drain back down to the oil pan.

tatest wrote:
I don't add oil in small increments, rather add only when the dipstick checked cold inthe morning (I check every morning) shows it a quart or more down.

This is good advice since the oil usage might be higher when it is "FULL". I won't add until it gets near the quart-low mark.

Sam Spade wrote:

tatest wrote:
I don't add oil in small increments, rather add only when the dipstick checked cold inthe morning (I check every morning) shows it a quart or more down.

This is good advice since the oil usage might be higher when it is "FULL". I won't add until it gets near the quart-low mark.

That is why the manufacturer puts an add line on the dipstick.
But some people wear a belt and suspenders and then hold their pants up.

My V-10 although not in a moho never uses a drop of oil and is 7 years old now.

I started burning about a Qt. every 700 miles on my V10, it had about 60K on it. I took it into Ford for the 60K maint. they replaced the PCV valve (along with other stuff) , 12K miles since no oil burnt. They thought the PCV would be the fix and it was.

A quart per 3000 is fine. Mine uses a bit less but they're all different.

On any oil consumption issue you have to weigh the consumption vs. heavy engine repairs. Is it really beneficial to the engine to tear it down to solve this? Could more go wrong than just the oil consumption? This does not apply to small stuff like PCV valve etc.

While Ford probably did the best they could with oil pan capacity due to space issues, it would have been great if the oil pans held a couple quarts more oil.