What kind of driving is likely to burn the most oil?

[Ramblin Fever]

Try 4-5k RPM for 200 miles of mountainous terrain in a 4-cylinder stick-shift Toyota truck weighing more then it rightly should - can we say 1/2 qt right there!

Otherwise, it only burns 1/2-1 qt in 4k miles half city/half highway.

My other vehicle, Rodeo, doesn't use enough oil to even bother with adding to after running 3k rpm's at 70 mph for upwards of 2-3k mile trips at one time, or 3k miles of city use at most 2k rpm's.

The diesel, we keep it 1/2 qt low at every 7k change, never have to add any - it's primarly used for open highway, very rarely used for city driving.

To answer your question, I'd say city aggressive driving will use more actual oil; however, the highway driving will burn off the extra fuel/water that's in the oil giving you the illusion that it's used some oil.

 

[ARB1977]

Driving to work and the needle on the temp gauge hasent even moved then shut it off. Then going on a long distance trip. My dads tundra 3.4L does that burns about a qrt on every trip.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Higher work-load will definitely trigger oil use - I guarantee you to take say 2 Chevy 6.0 Vortec, 4x4, 5-speed, 2500HD, long-bed trucks side by side, doing say 65mph up a mountain pass, one empty in 5th gear easily, the other hauling a 30' 5th wheel in 4th, possibly 3rd gear, and I'll give you 2 guesses, but you'll only need one.

However, I also believe overall engine maintenance and the right viscosity plays a big factor in use as well.

 

[Schism]

vad, I have heard it can be benefical to use some oil and is nothing to worry about. Also, if you race a car where it is basically going to be kept at 4000 rpm and above, it is going to use oil, won't matter how modern it is. However I won't say there isn't going to be a fluke here and there.

 

[Cogito]

Why would VTEC engines use oil? Is it common that they do? How much?

 

[tamu_man]

It's not the vtec, it's the high rev nature of the vtec. IMO

 

[the_oil_dealer]

if your rings arent tensioned properly, then cruising at high speeds could burn more oil off, because of the constant high vacuum caused by high rpms and partial throttle.

on the other hand, constant acceleration and deceleration can cause some engines to allow the rings to slide on over the coating of oil that is held and trapped by the crosshatch and right into the high pressure combustion chamber where it can easily be burned off, thus drawing more oil up the 'crosshatch ladder'

 

[TheTanSedan]

Towing a heavy load thru the mountains.

 

[leel]

My ride uses more at high speeds. 98 mazda 626 2.0 4cyl.

 

[r961161]

quote:

---

WOW, people!
What are you driving???
I expect the Honda VTEC engines to consume some oil due to the nature of the beast, but common...
The rest of the modern day engines are not supposed to burn any oil (as judged by the dipstick), highway, city or anywhere else.
The most of you pretty much take your engine oil burning for granted as a normal event.
Am I being unreasonable here?

---

I am with Vad here!
My 2001 2.0L CR-V now at almost 105000 miles and I have NEVER EVER added any oil between OCI's. I had been doing 3k miles OCI on dino till about 50K miles and after that till now doing 5K miles OCI on synthetics 5W30 and most recenty converted to the GC clan and now using 0W30 GC. My daily commute is approx 30miles and my driving style is average, some times aggressive with WOT's and sometimes normal easy driving. But never I have added any top up oil, never.

Just to be clear, I check the oil level at least once a week on my CR-V.

 

[Tim]

The faster I go, the more I burn.

 

[Jim 5]

My wife's Acura 3.2 TL consumes no perceptible oil in any 6k mile OCI...or at least not enough to notice a difference on the dipstick. My wife is relatively easy on the throttle. This car has 49k miles on mobil 1 0w-20 and more recently XD3 0w-30.

My BMW 330ci uses about 1/3 of a quart at the very most in 6 - 8k miles ...and I run this engine to the redline every single time I drive it (provided I've been driving at least 20 minutes first).

After a two day track session, it dropped perhaps 1/5 quart at the very most. That was two 4 hour sessions of flat-out driving, typically in the top 1/5th of the RPM range of the engine. This car has 35k miles on BMW 5w30 synth or GC.

My 1998 Chev K1500 with 180k miles on the clock uses no perceptible oil in a 5k miles OCI, and it has had dino 5w30 all its life at religiously observed intervals. I also am pretty heavy on the throttle on this vehicle once it is warm. I pay at the pump for this behavior.

My 2003 Triumph sprint ST 995 motorcycle uses the most of the bunch. It goes through around 1/4 of a quart every 2500 miles or so (which is as far as I go on an OCI). I am pretty aggressive on the thottle on this vehicle as well. It spends a healthy amount of time at or near a relatively high redline (by car standards).

I attribute low oil use in each case to diligence when it comes to oil and filter change intevals....however as was said before, some engines use more oil

 

[javacontour]

I've found the age of the oil is an important factor. I've been using Mobil 1 EP 5W30 and have been taking it to about 10K - 15K miles in 6 months. The first 5K miles are so, there is little oil consumption. The two vehicles in question are Oilbabe's 2002 Camry with 124K on the clock, that goes 15K miles every 6 months and my 1994 Geo Prizm with 180K on the clock and goes 10K+ but not over 15k in 6 months.

I think I added three quarts to OilBabe's sump last time making a total of 7 quarts installed or added to her Toyota 2.4L I4 engine. It has a fill capacity of 4L IIRC with the filter change.

My Geo Prizm has the 1.6L 4AFE engine, IIRC and it holds 3L or about 3.2 quarts. I know over 6 months, I more than replace that quantity of oil, but it doesn't really start dropping until 4K or 5K miles into the OCI.

As you can tell, both cars get driven a bit. Mine usually at least 70 miles/day and sometimes 200. Unless of course I'm driving the 06 Scion tC (still on the factory fill, BTW)

She does the same, with a 15 minute mostly highway drive to the school where she works. So not much around town, stop and go. She gets rural highway and some interstate driving on the weekends. I get rural highway, interstate and urban expressway driving M-F.

I've not really measured these values. But I can say the mechanical condition of the engine doesn't change significantly from the beginning to the end of the OCI, yet the consumption is NOT linear. The driving remains essentially the same, and I've seen it go from Spring to Fall and Fall to Spring during the OCI's, so I don't think weather is a big factor.

So, FWIW,

T

 

[MN Driver]

...about an earlier post in this thread, I used to think that modern engines didn't burn oil at all because none of the cars that anybody in my family owned had burned any, it wasn't until I camt to this forum and found that it was normal. After some neglect to a 99 Grand Am that was out of my own control, it began a 1 quart per 1500 mile sip. My 1995 Prizm consumes about a quart every 2000 miles or so, but I recently changed the PCV and I haven't been seeing any drop in the past 500 miles, but I will see what happens as the car is a recent purchase. javacontour, i'm curious if that increased oil consumption could ave something to do with the Mobil 1 performing a stereotypical thinning.

 

[javacontour]

MN Driver,

I suppose that's possible, it could be the add pack diminishes, or any number of things I suppose.

I just know the consumption is not linear.

I also know that our experience with the Prizm is close to the same, almost no consumption for 4-5K miles and then a quart every 1500 to 2000 miles.

I changed my PCV a year ago, and will probably address it again during the spring tune up. I have a major service planned for the end of this month, new struts, new axles and the tune up items.

T

 

[Dr. T]

I would agree with the greatest load/highest rpm would induce the most consumption. In other words, 4000rpm at 100mph is a greater load than 4000 rpm at 30mph (1st gear) assuming all else is the same.

Otherwise, I have the greatest consumption in my BMW depending on the number and frequency of cold starts. I can drive 12 hrs straight at 70-100mph and have zero consumption, but 20-30 cold winter starts cause ~1qt. of consumption probably because of leakage past the valve stems when cold.

 

[MN Driver]

Nevermind on the PCV thing, it just burned about 1/8 to 1/4 quart in this past 400 mile driving week, of which had a 2 hour driving trip on the highway getting up to 75mph and then climbing some hills towards the end of the trip, not a PCV issue for me. Some weeks it consumes and some it doesn't. It's definetly worse as it gets colder, I will be running a thicker oil for my next change, most likely a 15w40 HDEO, I'm not sure which one would consume the least, but I suppose I could try multiple brands and compare. I usually check when I get home after I fuel fill when I can wait at least 10 minutes for it to drain down because it always shows short because it has about a 1/8 quart hangup if I check after 5, so I can't really get a good reading at the gas station. I've got a 420 mile trip from minneapolis to chicago, and I've got the feeling that the constant high speed highway trip might drink up to a quart before I get there and fill up the gas tank. I'll probably throw a new jug of Mobil1(current fill) in there just in case as this will be the first trip that I will be taking with this car on the highway at one time.

 

[buster]

I've always noticed, at least with 4cyl engines, the fasterI drove the more I burned. I use about 1/2qt in 5k miles on a 05 Accord. 80mph for at least 60 miles a day. I shift at 4-5k rpms now and then also so that adds to it.

Some engines by design are supposed to use a little oil from what I've read. Some use oil indirectly as a result of engine design. Either way it is not a big deal at all. I've said before that it has been said by some that engines last longer that consume a little oil.

 

[jamesn]

on my hondas and acuras, they burn 10X more per hundred miles at 6500 rpms than cruising down the interstate heavily loaded at 3000 rpms. my integra was in 2 1 hour sprint races and burned about a quart in a hour (88 miles). kinda scared me. that was before auto-rx cleaning though. i will know more this summer when i do it again.

my 22re 5 speed toyota truck burned the most while heavily laden and driving through the mountains. basically floored the whole time. a quart to every 200 miles. once again, kinda scared me.