Oil consuming 2004 Mercury Marauder

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I recently bought a 2004 Marauder, one owner with 80k miles. It seems to be using oil about 1 quart every 2500 miles. The last oil I used was Mobil 1 5w20 high mileage. No leaks that I can see anywhere. I was thinking of going a bit thicker to either
Mobil 1 10w30 or 10w40 high mileage to see if I can slow it down a bit.

I also have access ( for free) of Delcac 1300 15w40 or Rotella T 5w40 but I see that these aren't rated for gas engines anymore. I live in Northern Va, it gets cold but nothing crazy.

What would you use ?
 
I should have mentioned when I first got the car I changed all the fluids and filters including the pcv valve. The old one wasn't gummed up and still rattled just fine.
 
I'd use the 5w-30 high mileage semi-synthetic or a conventional oil like PYB. Even 10w-30 since your climate is moderate. I'd stay away from the synthetic and see how it goes.

Had a similar issue with my 4.6L DOHC 2002 Lincoln engine around 10 yrs ago. I went with what was on the oil cap, 5w-20. It only had 25K miles and was going through about a quart of Formula Shell 5w-20 every OCI. I then switched to conventional 5w-20 and the consumption dropped a bit. Eventually I found out this engine was designed on 5w-30 and only CAFE requirements put it on 5w-20. Ever since then I've been using 5/10w-30 in my V8 Fords/Lincolns with only minimal oil usage. Your engine will get every bit (or more) protection with the 5w-30. However, you might see a decrease in mileage of 0.0043% if you could even measure it in a controlled double-blind test.
 
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Yeah I figured the 5w20 was a fuel economy thing. The only reason I wanted to stay with synthetic was because someone actually engraved the words " FULL SYNTHETIC " on the valve cover next to the oil cap.

But I'm not opposed to trying a conventional or a blend either.

I'm only about 3000 miles into the oil change and at 2500 miles I dumped in a quart of regular 5w20 Mobil 1 because I didn't have any of the high mileage oil left.

Is the 5w40 rotella a bad idea? Will it really poison the cats?

What about a 10w40 high mileage?
 
thinner xxw20 oils are for a very slight mpg increase to meet government standards + NOT better for ANY other reason. in warmer areas a 10-30 is better or a 5-30 for colder areas.
 
My '03 Marauder burned ~ 1/2 QT per 5k mile OCI. That was at 225k miles. I ran Amsoil OE 5w30 for the entire 50k I had the car.

I would just run a good 5w30 and work the engine HARD. Mine saw redline multiple times daily and loved it. These are tough cars and you can really enjoy them.

Also, WE NEED PICS! Marauder's are getting more rare by the day.
 
Use whatever you see fit. BUT make part or all of the last qt MMO. You are after some gentle ring cleaning. If you get a blue cloud evry cold start, it likely needs valve seals. In days of yore 302s,etc were notorious for the valve seals breaking up and jamming the oil pump drive
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Originally Posted by 14Accent
My '03 Marauder burned ~ 1/2 QT per 5k mile OCI. That was at 225k miles. I ran Amsoil OE 5w30 for the entire 50k I had the car.

I would just run a good 5w30 and work the engine HARD. Mine saw redline multiple times daily and loved it. These are tough cars and you can really enjoy them.

Also, WE NEED PICS! Marauder's are getting more rare by the day.




Oh trust me I floor the heck out of it! Anyone who is familiar with NOVA traffic knows how hard it is to find open space to safely take your car out and stretch its legs!

I bought the car May 1st of this year. I think I've only seen 2 of them on the road in the last 5 and a half months. You just simply don't see them all that often.

I can take some pics but I have absolutely no idea how to post them on this site
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I could take them and send them to someone.
 
Photos are easy. If you can store a photo on your computer's Picture Library or have them as a file on your IPhone....you can get them here with a couple clicks.

There's an attach file link via the "picture uploader" on the bottom left corner of the page. Click on that and it will then ask you where to go to select a file. Go to your computer's pictures. Click on that picture or "open" it. It then gets linked to your post. Click "done."
 
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My Mustang had the 2 valve version of that motor and needed valve seals at the end of last year. Was burning a quart of 5w-40 every 1k or less, after change them it has no.l noticeable consumption with 5w-20.
 
Also, WE NEED PICS! Marauder's are getting more rare by the day.[/quote]


Here are a few pics of the car. Good from far but far from good. But I enjoy driving it. Flew out to Indianapolis and drove it back to VA. Totally stock other than a 93 octane custom tune.

[Linked Image]

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The Trilogy supercharged Marauders would run 13s, which back in 2002-2003 (when they first came out) was pretty bad [censored] for a full sized car.
 
Originally Posted by 2013ecof150


I also have access ( for free) of Delcac 1300 15w40 or Rotella T 5w40 but I see that these aren't rated for gas engines anymore. I live in Northern Va, it gets cold but nothing crazy.

What would you use ?


Delvac 1300 is API SN rated, for use in gasoline engines.
 
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