Oil Change Frequency - 04 Neon

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I started driving my Neon daily again back in October when I changed positions that took away a company car. (used to do field work, now in office) I'm currently putting a quart every 1000-1500 miles, which I think is generally "in spec" but it is quite excessive in my opinion.


Feb 2004 - Jan 2008, drove daily to work, college, etc. Battled a little bit of oil consumption early, but I can't really remember how much but I don't remember adding a significant amount. Put about 87000-90000 miles on it during this period. Always synthetic oil, generally Pennzoil Platinum or QSUD.

Jan 2008 - Oct 2015, periodic use, would only start it if I could get it warmed up nicely, even if it meant I had to drive it extra to get it hot. Put probably 12000-15000 miles on it during this period. Still PP or QSUD.

Oct 2015 - present, as mentioned daily use, already put 15000 miles on it since then. Used M1 0w40 (was an experiment to see if the engine would be "happier") with high consumption. Currently using PUP 5w20 (went with 5w20 because the 2005 was spec'd for 5w20 with no engine differences) with the same consumption. I do need to try 5w30 just to rule out it being an oil weight issue, although I don't suspect it is.


Currently has 118,000 miles
Current drive is 4% neighborhood/local, 7% rural hwy and 89% interstate and is 55 miles each way.


Couple questions:

1. Any tricks to try to reduce this consumption? I'm not pulling the engine apart.

2. Assuming I have to keep putting this quantity of oil, I will be switching to SuperTech Conventional, but then the question is, how often to change the oil? Assuming that I am replenishing the oil with a fresh quart every 1000-1500 miles, the sump is quasi changed every 5000-7500 miles. Is it reasonable to change the filter every 7500-10000 miles and maybe dump the sump at that interval as well?

Additional thoughts?
 
If that were my Neon, I'd find a friend with a Sam's Club membership and buy the 12 quart boxes of Certified oil at 10W-30 or whatever's available. In my experience with notorious oil burners, no oil can truly fix a burning issue. High mileage oils can maybe sometimes slow it down a little, but not to any long term appreciable degree. Barring any emotional attachment to the Neon, I'd buy cheap and run it to the ground!
 
Originally Posted By: JC1
I would try a high milage oil like maxlife to see if that helps a bit. I think I'd start out with 5w-30.


I've never been a huge believe in the HM oils, but I could give a couple changes a try to see what happens.

Originally Posted By: TeddyVelvet
Barring any emotional attachment to the Neon, I'd buy cheap and run it to the ground!


Pretty much the plan. Only car I have an emotional attachment with is a former 85 Monte Carlo SS, I'd buy it back tomorrow if given the opportunity.


What's impressive is, while it's using so much oil, it certainly hasn't affected fuel economy. Regularly getting 34-35 MPG.
 
It'd a Dodge neon. Top it up, change the filter and change the filter on a regular basis. When it hits the 30,000 mile blown headgasket interval, then change the oil!
 
Originally Posted By: Noey
Just a quick q...is it burning oil or is it leaking it?


There may be some minor seepage from the pan gasket, but certainly not this much. Nothing on the driveway either.

Originally Posted By: Miller88
It'd a Dodge neon. Top it up, change the filter and change the filter on a regular basis. When it hits the 30,000 mile blown headgasket interval, then change the oil!


Good ol Neon joke.

OEM headgasket, still going strong at 118000 miles.
 
I have had good results with ATP 205 re seal with leaky gaskets on my very high mileage Altima. It's worth a shot if you don't have success with Maxlife which I agree with trying. You could use them together but if it solves your problem you won't know which item fixed it.
 
Is there a point to ATP 205 when it doesn't really leak? The seepage around the pan is hardly anything, just a wet seal, no other evidence of oil anywhere.
 
MaxLife synthetic is a good choice, if you want to stay synthetic, or just get Defy or any old HM & dump it in there! Hopefully it doesn't take out your catalytic converter.
 
Step up a viscosity grade with Pennzoil High Mileage & see what happens. Perhaps a 10W-40. If that doesn't slow it down & you're still adding a fresh quart every 1K-1.5K, I wouldn't dump the sump until at least 10,000 miles & use the cheapest oil you can get. I don't see a need to change the oil if you've technically replenished the entire sump over a normal oil change interval.
 
Originally Posted By: Branson304
Step up a viscosity grade with Pennzoil High Mileage & see what happens. Perhaps a 10W-40. If that doesn't slow it down & you're still adding a fresh quart every 1K-1.5K, I wouldn't dump the sump until at least 10,000 miles & use the cheapest oil you can get. I don't see a need to change the oil if you've technically replenished the entire sump over a normal oil change interval.


The car didn't seem to happy with 0w40 in it over last winter, so I'd be wary about giong with 10w40. Definitely want to stick with a xw30.



Picked up a jug of Maxlife Blend last night for the next change. We'll see what happens.
 
Didn't Chrysler release a TSB for this engine recommending to run 5w-20 because they made funny noises on heavier oils?

My friend has a 2002 Neon with 106K. It really lives up to all of the Neon stereotypes, but it's super noisey until the engine warms up.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Didn't Chrysler release a TSB for this engine recommending to run 5w-20 because they made funny noises on heavier oils?

My friend has a 2002 Neon with 106K. It really lives up to all of the Neon stereotypes, but it's super noisey until the engine warms up.



Not sure about that TSB. The Chrysler 2.0 SOHC engine is a noisy SOB even when warm. There are plenty of 1st Generation owners who think they know best and run 10w40 or 20w50 in their engines and claim it's happier.

I noticed a slight difference in noise with 0w40 until a few thousand miles into the interval, but other than that it doesn't seem to matter 5w20 or 5w30, it's noisy.
 
Yeah, MaxLife Blend is your best bet. Give it a couple of changes for best results. Avoid full synthetics, even the HM ones. Full synthetics are great for newer cars or cars that don't burn/use much oil.
 
Originally Posted By: bigt61
Yeah, MaxLife Blend is your best bet. Give it a couple of changes for best results. Avoid full synthetics, even the HM ones. Full synthetics are great for newer cars or cars that don't burn/use much oil.


I'll give it a go. The car has had synthetic it's entire life, so that shouldn't affect anything, I'm just not going to spend the money on it to dump it out the tail pipe.
 
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