Typical Oil Consumption

[oldoutboardjim]

What is "typical oil consumption". I have a 2004 SVT Focus with 14,000 miles. I bought it used with 6,000 miles. I have no idea how it was driven during break in. Oil consumption is about 1 quart in 2,200 miles (Ford Semi-Synthetic 10w30, which is what Ford Recommends).
1) Is this "typical"? I don't drive hard, but I like to accelerate briskly.
2) If I "babied it", would consumption be reduced?

 

[miked2]

My daughter has a 2003 Focus ZTS/16 valve. I don't know if we have the same engine. She's had it about 2 months & has put 2000 miles on it.
Presantly, it is down about half a quart.
That will work out fine, since I plan on OCI's of 4000 miles. The car has 25,000 miles on it.
This engine calls for Synthetic Blend 5W-20. I thought most late model Ford products used 5W-20?
I am suprised yours takes 10w30. I would make sure you use a high quality (Motorcraft or Wix) filter. Good luck!

 

[m2200b]

WOT runs use oil. All you have to do is change your style for awhile and see what gas and oil consumption is during that period.

 

[rpn453]

I typically see about 1/2 quart of consumption per oil change on our vehicles, with OCI's of about 5000 miles.

 

[oldoutboardjim]

My bad on the oil viscosity rating. It is 5w30, not 10w30. This is a high-performance engine (2.0 liters, 170 HP), and it seems typical that manufacturers recommend a slightly higher viscosity rated oil for them (ex.: My 1992 Acura Integra GS-R used 10w30, while regular Integras of that era recommended 5w30).

 

[racer12306]

In many manufacturers eyes 1 qt per 1000 miles is considered normal. Even though to me that is unacceptable. On my neon I use a qt in 5000 miles. Also do you do a lot of extended highway use. I have heard that extended highway trips will cause you to use oil, which I drive 50 miles each way, all highway.

 

[Bamaro]

When it comes right down to it, "typical oil consumption" is whatever the manufacturer wants to say it is. I use a quart every 1500 miles and Nissan says that this is normal.

 

[Junior]

While I would not be happy with the consumption, IMHO it is not a problem. Just keep an eye on it.

Al, actually, I am a firm believer in the break it in how you want it to run. IMHO Babying an engine during break-in isn't the best thing for it. I would much rather see someone warm an engine up and take it out a put a good load (short spurts) on it up to say 4000 rpm rather than putt putt around for the first 1000 miles. IMO a few blasts up to higher rpm in low gear are good for a new engine.

To your point though, it could have been run hard cold and not set the rings properly.

 

[rpn453]

On further consideration, I'd say 1 quart per OCI is common for the cars I look after. I usually add a half-quart at some point during the interval, and it's usually below the full mark when I do the oil change. I was thinking more along the lines of "how much do I add between changes" when I said a half-quart.

I think your consumption is a little higher than normal, but not enough to worry about.

 

[oldoutboardjim]

Approx. 50% of trips are to/from work (7 miles one way). About 50% are 20-50 miles each way. Probably 2% of all trips are 100 miles or more each way.

 

[Al]

I would be unhappy with that. It was probably run hard (beaten? ) in its break in days.

 

[Schism]

Seems like it might be slightly high, but you can know for sure if you visit a Focus(SVT) forum and ask them what their typical oil use is. I bet some use very little and some use quite a bit. Will it affect the life of the engine? I kind of doubt it.

My moms ford van has used about 1qt every 800(when towing)-2000 miles since we bought it used with 70kmiles, now has 112k miles. Has a bad miss right now, but I doubt it is the motor itself, I believe it to be a Coil, plus it is due for plugs.

 

[outrun]

For some engines GM has spec'd 1qt/3000miles to be an "acceptable" consumption range.

My car has been run on syn so long can't remember what factory fill (10W30) dino did. Nievely using a ultra short interval of 3500miles w/ M1 TriSyn 5W30 I burned 1/2-1qt every time. Using German Castrol, at 7500-8,000miles, my 1st "extended interval" I added 2.5+ quarts in top off oil. Keep in mind I do overfill the dip stick by .7qts (5qts total) The previous poster may be on to something, WOT may significantly increase throttle.

My greatest concern is that does 1qt/3k cause damaging results to catalytic convertors? What about increased rate of deposits on combustion chambers/exhaust valves & ports? Other posters indicate synthetic deposits are the most aggressive and do not resolvate easily ... outside of an overhaul liquid salt or hot water bath.

 

[Soonerfan]

I'm on my second Focus and neither one has ever used any oil. That said I know that an SVT is a higher performance machine. But it sounds to me like the previous owner may have been hard on it. I would recommend that you do an Auto-Rx treatment on the engine and see if that helps the oil consumption.
www.auto-rx.com

 

[Mulaka]

I have an '05 Grand Prix, and I have done two oil changes so far...no consumption at all, and I am at 25,000 miles.

Same goes for my wifes '05 Accord.

 

[harry j]

I have a 1993 Civic, presently 176,000 miles. some years ago, I took a 3,000 mile trip to New York. The car had 85,000 miles at the time. I went through 3 qts of Castrol GTX 5w30. I made the same trip 3 years later, this time using Amsoil 0W-30. I had the oil changed just before I left, it was exactly at the full mark. When the trip was over, the same 3,000 miles, I was astonished to see that I had used no oil!

 

[oldoutboardjim]

Here's a new wrinkle: I have an oil leak. It is probably engine oil, but I cannot yet confirm that. After sitting last night for about 10 hours with a fresh newspaper on the floor to catch the drippings, I am speculating that I had about ½ teaspoon of oil on the paper.
Maybe the oil is leaking and is not being consumed! I'm glad it is still under warranty!

 

[oldoutboardjim]

I just got my car back a week ago. The engine was changed due to a catastrophic failure in #3 cylinder (compression of #1, 2, & 4 was 150 PSI, while #3 was 60PSI). The ongoing oil leak was due to oil being sucked into the breather hose and dripping out. Ford attributed the engine failure to the 1st owner. Speculation is that #3 cylinder has a broken ring. The cylinder wall is badly scored.
Regarding oil usage with the new engine: I am breaking it in gently for the 1st 1,000 miles (no high RPM’s, but frequent heavy acceleration to <4,000 RPM’s to load the rings and cause them to seat well). Changed oil at 200 miles, and will change again at 1,000 miles before I “turn it loose”. So far oil consumption is zero!

 

[addyguy]

Ouch! sounds like that first engine was abused pretty badly to have died completely with less than 20,000 miles on it! Usually a modern abused motor will run fine for its life, but just use more oil than a non-abused engne - it is rare to hear of them doing something like what yours did....

 

[C.O. Jones]

My 93 Saab 9000, with 157k miles uses no oil. I've never had to add oil, never seen it go down significantly, but my OCI is 3k miles or 4 mo and I usually hit 4 mo before 3k miles.