Opinions on oil consumption.

Spark · Post by **Spark** » Mar 21, 2005 8:40 PM

What would one think an acceptable amount of oil consumption would be between changes, assuming one changes their oil every 3,000 miles?

TIA

Tjn182 · Post by **Tjn182** » Mar 21, 2005 8:45 PM

I go about 3000 miles and lose maybe 1/4 or less off the dipstick. I drove 800-1000 miles in one day and I lost almost 1 quart .... dunno why.

Madhungarian · Post by **Madhungarian** » Mar 21, 2005 9:09 PM

Hmm,
Interesting, I have noticed I have burned more oil on extended drives like 1000m + on the interstate vs. local stop and go driving.
What's up with that?

dasMafia · Post by **dasMafia** » Mar 21, 2005 9:23 PM

after chowing a quart a week for the firsts few months, its finally trickled off to add half a quart at the 1500 mile mark or so....

I also had to "re-hydrate" the all the seals in a motor that had been sitting in a junkyard for lord knows how long... but I'm at the 8 month mark IIRC, and so far so good.

Threeshifter · Post by **Threeshifter** » Mar 21, 2005 9:27 PM

I loose about 1.5 quarts per oil change of 3k-4k. I loose most of it thru leakage and not thru the combustion chamber.

Id say that 1 quart per oil change is pretty good/average for 130k+ engines.

Higher sustained engine speeds would produce more oil flow at higher oil pressure per time than stop and go where the engine is at idle form some time. This might lead to more leakage depending on the path.

Higher piston velocities I would think would produce more oil film between the rings and the cylinder.

It is also recommended that heavier oils should be used for sustained high speed driving. This may help reduce oil consumption thru the rings on the long hauls.

shifty · Post by **shifty** » Mar 21, 2005 9:36 PM

All three of my engines have burned about a quart to quart-and-a-half every 3,000-mile oil change, and all three were over 200,000 miles.

I suspect I'll be burning just under a quart this go-round, since I hardly drive it. If I drive harder, it burns more, naturally.

Threeshifter · Post by **Threeshifter** » Mar 21, 2005 9:37 PM

I also had to "re-hydrate" the all the seals in a motor that had been sitting in a junkyard for lord knows how long... but I'm at the 8 month mark IIRC, and so far so good.

Are you referring to the magic additives that revive your seals?

I would recommend not using these products. They essentially swell the polymer components of the seals so that they expand to create higher loading against sealing surfaces. The problem is that this process breaks the polymers down and over time they can deflate and extrude thru the gaps between parts. It will essentially break down the polymers.

dasMafia · Post by **dasMafia** » Mar 21, 2005 9:41 PM

I was very happy at my last change when I went to 5-30 and still had no blow-by or major leaks.... well, except the diff.... but that's another story.

dasMafia · Post by **dasMafia** » Mar 21, 2005 9:46 PM

I also had to "re-hydrate" the all the seals in a motor that had been sitting in a junkyard for lord knows how long... but I'm at the 8 month mark IIRC, and so far so good.

Are you referring to the magic additives that revive your seals?

I would recommend not using these products. They essentially swell the polymer components of the seals so that they expand to create higher loading against sealing surfaces. The problem is that this process breaks the polymers down and over time they can deflate and extrude thru the gaps between parts. It will essentially break down the polymers.

Threeshifter wrote:

Are you referring to the magic additives that revive your seals?

I would recommend not using these products. They essentially swell the polymer components of the seals so that they expand to create higher loading against sealing surfaces. The problem is that this process breaks the polymers down and over time they can deflate and extrude thru the gaps between parts. It will essentially break down the polymers.

nonononnono

just needed to recondition them after sitting for ages... run castrol GTX 10-30 from 7-04 to ~3 weeks ago, and 5-30 from here on out. no additives.

just needed time to get all settled again, it used to smoke something fierce under engine braking... YIPE!

now it clean as far as I can see... seems leak a mite bit more, I'll have to address that issue as I go.

dasMafia · Post by **dasMafia** » Mar 21, 2005 9:52 PM

note: my grammar is really sucking tonight... that or my fingers are just frozen off down here!

Spark · Post by **Spark** » Mar 21, 2005 10:02 PM

could be all that Barley Malt beverage you are consuming ~0

Madhungarian · Post by **Madhungarian** » Mar 21, 2005 10:11 PM

[QUOTE="Spark"]could be all that Barley Malt beverage you are consuming ~0 [/QUOTE]

Time to upgrade to fermented grape juice... No more typing possible

dasMafia · Post by **dasMafia** » Mar 21, 2005 10:20 PM

actually, I had a boulevard when I got home.... that was like 4 hours ago!

pdx 528e · Post by **pdx 528e** » Mar 21, 2005 10:50 PM

I find this interesting (Ch 4 pg 4, Bentley):

BMW states that the maximum allowable oil conumption for the engines covered by this manual is 1 quart per 390 miles. This is why the oil level must be checked, and occasionally corrected, between oil changes.

I also find it disconcerting to notice that my engine never even burns a half a quart every 3000 miles, no matter how I drive it. The motor has 16,000 miles on it. I wondered for a while if I had seized pistons rings, as it had cold running issues. My car sat, after its rebuild, for the greater part of ten years. Most of the lurching went away when I installed a hose clamp on the valve cover breather hose.

[Edit by pdx 528e on [TIME]1111465536[/TIME]]

Tjn182 · Post by **Tjn182** » Mar 21, 2005 11:01 PM

So.... for a turbo engine of almost 20k miles with about 215k miles on currently... burning only 1/2 quart of oil (MAX! usually only 1/4 quart) every 3000 miles is pretty good?

Threeshifter · Post by **Threeshifter** » Mar 21, 2005 11:27 PM

BMW states that the maximum allowable oil conumption for the engines covered by this manual is 1 quart per 390 miles. This is why the oil level must be checked, and occasionally corrected, between oil changes.

Wow that is interesting. I see it in my Bentley too. That means we are on not out of tolerance until we consume 7.7 quarts of oil per 3k oil change interval!

Layton · Post by **Layton** » Mar 22, 2005 1:25 AM

Very consistently, 1 quart of Castrol between 3K oil changes. Has been the same from 115K miles to 170K miles on Black. Blue went to about 1.5 quarts per 3K oil changes at 230K miles. No complaints!

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booker · Post by **booker** » Mar 22, 2005 1:48 AM

I, too, am on the low side of oil usage. Mine uses about 3/4 of a quart every 3k miles, max. Not too shabby!

a · Post by a » Mar 22, 2005 6:03 AM

the Borman6 uses a qt of 20/50 every 1.2- 1.5 k. This has remained steadty since I bought it with 150k . its nearly 297K now. It leaks from the head gsket around #1 cylinder. I use 84 cent a qt oil and 3$ filters changed out at 3-4k intervals. I'm not gonna touch the motor until it gets much worse. I have never even taken off the valve cover. On trips I can go 2kmiles and not use any oil. But maybe this is due to usually changing it before the trip.

dasMafia · Post by **dasMafia** » Mar 22, 2005 12:32 PM

um, valve adjustment??????

dworthy · Post by **dworthy** » Mar 22, 2005 1:05 PM

I use about 1 qt about every 4k if I run normal. Normal meaning keeping the rpm's under 3.5k or so. If I push hard, then about every 3k then. Hard meaning running autobahn speed with rps over 3.5k. I have been using Castrol 5W-50 syntec year round with no problems. When I get a quart low I just change the oil and filter, instead of adding another and then changing at 5k.

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Opinions on oil consumption.