Is it *normal* for an engine NOT to use any oil...

[Ramblin Fever]

Hey, I'm not complaining - not in the slightest.

But, is it *ok* if you will for an engine not to burn/use any oil, or should I say not enough that it even registers on the dipstick??

This engine can go 3-5k miles on either Havoline 5w/10w-30; Rotella 5w-40; Maxlife synthetic 5w/10w-30 and not seemingly use but a very minute amount of oil, irregardless the type of driving, season, etc.

I understand this is normal for all new/newer engines, but this is a 10yr old truck with 174k miles.

Again, not complaining, as all UOA's are coming back with exceptional wear metals, and such - and the oil is only a medium brown after 4-5k miles.

Truck DOES shear the oil down fairly fast, but never needs any added.

 

[cowsareholy]

my 13 year old car doesnt use any as far as the dipstick goes with 121k mile for 5-6k oci

 

[Lonnie]

With all the cars manufactured in the world there are bound to be some that come out just right and burn so little oil it's hard to detect.

 

[oilboy123]

Well one side of the argument is Fuel dilution. Not saying that is your problem, especially with the UOA showing good.
Just playing the Devils advocate.

On the flip side if you have really taken care of that motor....... I guess it could still be in new conditon....

If only I could be this lucky.......

 

[JohnBrowning]

SOme designs do not consume enough oil to register on the dipstick and that is normal. More and more modern engine designs are behaveing this way. It also is not that bad to consum 1/2-1 quart over the course of 3000-7500 miles. I thin it is more a matter of your engine wich ever it might be behaveing like other's in that same engine family.

 

[sprintman]

An engine can't run if it isn't burning oil. It's the amount that matters.

 

[Dr_No]

my 1991 3.1 gm only had one incident where some smoke came out exhaust, couldnt diagnose but went away

hasnt burnt or leaked any oil since

 

[mstrjon32]

My '97 GM 3100 burned only a trace of oil when I sold it at 195K miles. It did go through a period of elevated oil consumption, which was remedied by Auto-RX; and it also had a seal leak for a while, which I fixed. When it sold it though, it was tight and didn't burn or leak any noticeable amount of oil.

 

[JohnBrowning]

My 2003 Camry has only burnt enough oil to be noticed on the dipstick twice in 50,000 miles and both times it was 1/4 of a quart. It has only happened when I use an ester based oil in them. I have gone as much as 10,000 miles and not had any drop from the full mark on my dipstick.I also do UOA and fuel diloution is not a problem on this engine. So it is safe to say that some designs burn very very little oil. In order to go 10,000 miles and not be able to notice any drop on the dipstick the consumption has to miniscule.

Even in a design the consume more then reasonable amounts of oil across the board you should never see signs of oil burning out the exhuast pipe if the engine is healthy.Cadilac North Stars,Toyota 1.8, Audi's,Honda VTec engines all consume some oil but you never see a healthy one even if high milage smokeing.

 

[glenncof]

I have a 1997 Chevy Tahoe with 5.7L (5qt capacity, soup can size filter) running 5-10W30 at 140K with 'zero' consumption in 3K miles. I put on 100K+ miles on this using lots of Frams, almost all dino GTX.

When I have used Syntec I would take it out to 6K and get 2/3 qt consumed in the second half.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

Both Civics Si's (86 and 91) and my 04 Mazda 3i never used enough to see a difference on the dipstick. A few of my cars used oil only when driven for long highway trips, as did my mom's brand new Accord. Driven in the city, you never saw a difference on the stick. I think you're fine...show your rings some love.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

The strange thing about it, is this engine design IS known for using oil at a rate of at least 1qt every 2-3k miles. Some a little less, and some much more.

That's what I find odd - even with heavy duty towing (for this size of rig anyways), and strenuous 10-12,000 foot adventuras drives, this truck still doesn't use enough to justify ever adding.

I have many times thought of fuel dilution being of a possibility, but truck does see plenty of long highway stretches, running between 3-5k rpm's several times in a month; also see's more then it's share of city driving too.

UOA's have shown less then 0.5 fuel dilution, even in winter.

FWIW - I have meticulously taken care of this engine, I am the original owner, and oil was changed every 3,500 at most with Havoline dino oil for the first 149k miles.

 

[Pablo]

Our Ody is like this. The dipstick level simply does NOT move, even when near a 7K OCI. In fact this is the first car that I’ve ever owned that didn’t consume any perceptible amount of oil. I wish I could say the same for the Volvo....

 

[mechtech2]

It would seem that a little oil use is a good thing, as it ensures top end lubrication.
Many V8 performance engine builders shoot for 1qt in 2000 miles or so, to ensure that bores/pistons with low tension rings are lubed correctly.
My dipstick level doesn't move, and it makes me wonder.

 

[cmhj]

We had an 02 Alero V-6 with about 65K miles that used, at most, 1/4 qt. between OCs when I traded it off. Most OCs were done around 4K miles as it saw a lot of city driving.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

It is normal. I drive my 1997 Honda Accord for 15,000 mile changes with M1 EP and it is still full on the dip stick. 180,000 miles so far.

 

[HardbodyLoyalist]

Believe it or not, I've never owned a vehicle that burned oil.

1979 Nissan 280ZX Straight 6
1988 Mazda 626
1994 Nissan Pickup 2.4L

Driving style? Luck? Who knows.

But I'm not complaining.

 

[ARB1977]

I havent yet burned a single drop of oil in my Tacoma...even when i towed about 3500-4000 lbs 1500 miles.

 

[Spewn]

"Normal" oil consumption figures are sort-of an "up to" amount. That is to say, the northstar engine in my Aurora apparently can consume up to 1qt/1000miles and be in the acceptable range(thankfully I consume less than half that!). If your UOA's are coming back good, I doubt you have anything to worry about. Sounds like you've just got an excellently-worn engine

 

[brianl703]

My mom's 1997 Ford Escort used maybe 1/4 quart in 6000 miles, it was sold with 88K on it so I have no idea what it's doing now.

My 2006 Saab 93 2.0T uses no oil at all that I can detect, even in 7500 miles.

My mom's 2004 Malibu Classic never uses any oil but it's not driven much so I end up changing the oil every 4 months with only 2000 to 2500 miles on it.