Quart low after 3100 miles 4.6 ltr modular

[TFB1]

Older ones tend to burn a little oil, last year my '98 at 65K mi(now 71K mi) was using a quart in 2500mi... I switched to M1 HM 5W-30 and consumption is now approx half prior... My '07 never falls off full, it's currently at 72K mi...

Originally Posted By: 69GTX


I think 2000 was the last year of Ford's 5w-30 / 4.6L recommendation. I believe the 2001's come with the 5w-20 recommendation.


But the engine is still basically same, I checked specs and clearances are same for '00 & '01... Except for two changes of 50/50 M1 0W-40 & 5W-20EP, I've have always used 5W-30 in both of mine...

This year and at least in '17 they'll both be getting PU 0W-40 SRT...

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Ford states that consumption of 1qt/1,000miles is normal.


For obvious reasons. My daughter's car has a Ford reman engine in it that uses more than a quart every 1000 miles. It has since I installed the engine.

 

[Branson304]

Replace the PCV valve, as others have said. I would also use Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic Blend 5W-20/5W-30 or MaxLife Full Synthetic 5W-30.

1 quart in over 3K isn't that bad though, as others have said. But I'd step up to MaxLife & see what happens.

 

[crazyoildude]

what year vic?

 

[A1O]

Thanks for the replies its an 05 spec ed for 5w20 and it was just weird but thought it might be due to all the freeway driving. I have been toying with the idea of running some 0w30 M1 afe though her to see if it would maybe cut it down some I don't have any leaks or blue smoke out the tail pipe. PCV was replaced when I bought it

 

[Falcon_LS]

I would highly suggest running Amsoil or Liqui Moly Pro-Line engine flush to clean out the piston rings. If that doesn't help, you're probably looking at valve seals.

Prior to the rebuild, I got my Grand Marquis with 125k miles on it, and it would consume about a quart of oil every 3,000 miles. After a new PCV valve and running the engine flush, it would consume a quart between 6,250 mile drain intervals. Although there was noticeable blue smoke at start up, the valve seals were shot - drive the car gingerly for 30 minutes or so, like cruise control set at highway speeds, and do a WOT run - that's when I noticed blue smoke.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: A1O
Thanks for the replies its an 05 spec ed for 5w20 and it was just weird but thought it might be due to all the freeway driving. I have been toying with the idea of running some 0w30 M1 afe though her to see if it would maybe cut it down some I don't have any leaks or blue smoke out the tail pipe. PCV was replaced when I bought it


You said the PCV valve was replaced when you got the car, which was not too long ago mile wise. Did they use an OEM PCV valve or aftermarket? I had two instances with Fords where store bought PCV valves caused oil consumption, both times I switched back to OEM PCV valves and the oil burning stopped. As a result I will only use OEM PCV valves.

 

[meborder]

My oil consumption was cut in half by going from 5w20 to 5w30.

I'd try that before I did anything else. Try the same brand in the 5w30 and see what happens.

 

[Fastzntn]

If you haven't done so already, I'd have someone else start the car after its sat for a few days so you can observe the tailpipe for blue smoke.

Then up to you if you want to revisit the PCV valve, since the general consensus seems to be OEM replacement only.

After checking those things I would then consider changing to a different oil, but as has been said, a quart in 3,100 miles is nothing to lose sleep over, so if you like the oil you're using, no need to switch.

 

[TFB1]

If it doesn't smoke on a cold startup after six or eight hours, a few days isn't going to make any difference...

At a burn rate of qt in 3K, it isn't going to smoke anyway, maybe at 1.5K mi qt but not 3K mi...

 

[Fastzntn]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
If it doesn't smoke on a cold startup after six or eight hours, a few days isn't going to make any difference...


Perhaps, but I think this will allow a more thorough elimination of valve guides as the culprit (if the car sits a few days). He's eliminated leaks as a cause, so it's either PCV, piston rings or valve guides. For what it's worth, I had a vehicle that never smoked on a daily basis, but if it sat for a weekend, blue smoke would be present upon startup on Monday. It used about half the oil the OP stated his engine uses (mine was a GM 305 V8).

The consumption rate is not alarming, so this is more of an exercise to try and understand the factor or factors involved here.

 

[FastLane]

I run M1 5W30 and don't use any oil. If I use 5W20 my rear main seal leaks.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Fastzntn
Originally Posted By: TFB1
If it doesn't smoke on a cold startup after six or eight hours, a few days isn't going to make any difference...


Perhaps, but I think this will allow a more thorough elimination of valve guides as the culprit (if the car sits a few days). He's eliminated leaks as a cause, so it's either PCV, piston rings or valve guides. For what it's worth, I had a vehicle that never smoked on a daily basis, but if it sat for a weekend, blue smoke would be present upon startup on Monday. It used about half the oil the OP stated his engine uses (mine was a GM 305 V8).

The consumption rate is not alarming, so this is more of an exercise to try and understand the factor or factors involved here.


If one smokes more the longer it sets it's due to plugged drain back passages in head, oil continually seeps around valve stem... Common in SBC and a few other OHV engines, I've never seen a Ford OHC modular with that problem, I'll stand on what I said...

 

[Whimsey]

We have two 4.6 Modular engines, one is in a 2005 Explorer with ~180,000 miles and the other is in a 2002 F-150 with ~66,000 miles. They both started their life's with MC 5W-20. The Explorer was for the first 75,000 miles and the F-150 was for the first ~36,000 miles. After that they both went to "full synthetic" oils. While using MC 5W-20 neither used any noticeable amount of oil for the warranty 5,000 mile OCI. The only noticeable oil usage for either vehicle was first changing to Mobil 1 or Havoline synthetic. Maybe it used 1/4-1/2 quart in the FIRST 3-5,000 miles, then nothing afterwards. Both now run 7,500 to 9,000 mile OCI's. Both still have the factory PCV valves.

Whimsey

 

[CT8]

Try a 5w-30.

 

[Nitronoise]

is it a P71 or P74 . if a 71 it's an old cop car / municipal vehicle with idle hours
if you have an hour meter , in the digital spedo/ odometer see how many hours you have on it and multiply by 33 = Idle Miles along with the 125 K road miles .

more then likely it's the valve seals leaking down a bit when you accelerate from a stop

1 qt in 3 k is not a problem for the modular motors

 

[shiny]

When PQIA tested 5w20's, MC 5w20 syn-blend had a high 15.2 NOACK evaporation rate. In contrast, PYB 5w20 had an extremely low NOACK of only 6.5. Quaker State GB 5w20 was good too, with a NOACK of 7.8. Why not try one of those for your next oil change and see what happens?

Some of the 10w30's have low NOACK numbers, too, like PUP at 5.7. So maybe try that when your weather warms up a bit. A Xw30 won't hurt your engine a bit, in fact it might prefer it. My Vic runs runs quieter with 5w30 vs 5w20 and doesn't lose any oil.

 

[meborder]

I tried PP 5w30 based on the low noack listed on pqia.

I was rewarded with the Same consumption rate as the 5w20s I had tried, which is twice what every other 5w30 has been.

I have not found noack to be a good predictor of oil useage in real life.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: meborder
I tried PP 5w30 based on the low noack listed on pqia.

I was rewarded with the Same consumption rate as the 5w20s I had tried, which is twice what every other 5w30 has been.

I have not found noack to be a good predictor of oil useage in real life.

Because it isn't... If the oil never reaches a temp where NOACK is a concern, makes no difference if it's 400* or 1000*, in non boosted engines probably 99% of the time oil burning is because of worn rings or valve stem seals... Here on BITOG most of the I gotta have the lowest NOACK is a solution searching for a problem...

 

[gallydif]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Ford states that consumption of 1qt/1,000miles is normal.

Where does ford say that?