Oil consumption question

[syn_all_the_way]

My Impala with the 3.8L drinks a little oil between changes when I use synthetic...even worse since I've switched to Pennzoil Ultra. I used Mobil Clean 5000 for a few oil changes since it was so cheap and hardly lost a drop. Is it hurting my car to burn oil between changes? Should I stick with MC5k?

 

[chubbs1]

Doesn't hurt unless you let the oil level gets too low. I would go back to the MC5K.

 

[tig1]

What do you mean "drinks"? How much oil does it use?

 

[syn_all_the_way]

Sorry, "drinks" is a little misleading. It uses a half quart every 4k or so with synthetic and hardly any with dino.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: syn_all_the_way
Sorry, "drinks" is a little misleading. It uses a half quart every 4k or so with synthetic and hardly any with dino.


WOW! Most people would die for that little oil use. I would not hesitate using PU with that engine.

 

[Jakegday]

my 3.8 uses pretty much that exact amount of oil no matter what kind of oil i use. i wouldnt worry about it one bit, just keep an eye on it

 

[synthetic_crazy]

I would not be worried about the little amount of consumption you mentioned...I burn a couple quarts between changes! Continue with the PU, it is great oil.

 

[mechtech2]

So, 1 qt oil use in 8,000 miles?
Are you kidding? Trolling?

 

[syn_all_the_way]

No, I'm not kidding or trolling. I've had my Impala since it had 23k miles on it and right now it's sitting at 102k. Sometimes, just because I'm lazy, I go ahead and pour the whole 5qt. jug in even though it takes ~4.6qts. When I go to change the oil around 7500 miles it's right at the 1/2 qt. low mark. I thought that was a bad thing, but apparently not.

 

[galaxy]

Just for the sake of comparison, I know Ford on the 5.4 motor doesn't consider oil consumption a problem until it's over a quart every 1k miles or something crazy like that.

 

[Hallmark]

My 2010 Fusion 3.0 uses 1/2 qt. every OCI (5,000 miles). I doubt that would be considered excessive...neither would yours.

 

[ottotheclown]

Question: does the opposite ever happen where syn. do not burn oil and dino does? It seems to be the opposite most of the time. Could syn,be more prone to consumption??

Originally Posted By: syn_all_the_way
My Impala with the 3.8L drinks a little oil between changes when I use synthetic...even worse since I've switched to Pennzoil Ultra. I used Mobil Clean 5000 for a few oil changes since it was so cheap and hardly lost a drop. Is it hurting my car to burn oil between changes? Should I stick with MC5k?

 

[Spyder7]

Mine seems to burn syn and dino equally; however, as the oil begins to sheer and thin, consumption begins to increase. I've noticed on my previous OCI with PP that the sheering and thinning effect, and resultant increase in burn off, occurred much later in the OCI than with dino. So in my case y consumption with dino was higher, but only in the sense that it thinned sooner and burned off faster. Otherwise it was the same either way.

-Spyder

 

[dave300]

I'm surprised at all the folks who have engines that consume oil. I can honestly say that I've never had to add oil in any car that I've owned (and it's been many since 1975). A couple of vehicles were driven to 180K miles. Have I just been lucky?

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: dave300
I'm surprised at all the folks who have engines that consume oil. I can honestly say that I've never had to add oil in any car that I've owned (and it's been many since 1975). A couple of vehicles were driven to 180K miles. Have I just been lucky?



Yep.

 

[SteveSRT8]

We have a van in our fleet with 400k miles that does not drip or burn any oil at all.

Another with less than 30k miles uses a quart every week or so.

And everywhere in between...