High oil usage?
Discussion
Having done around 1500 hravy miles over the weekend the car has used what I think could be an especially high amount of oil, around 2.5 litres or so.
It's spitting a lot of it out of the exhausts, I was warming the car while removing the roof one morning - looked down and my biege trousers and shoes were somewhat spotty!
Does this seem excessive and worrying, or is it nothing too bad considering the age of the car.
BTW I was using 10W40, although normally I use the thicker 15W50.
It's spitting a lot of it out of the exhausts, I was warming the car while removing the roof one morning - looked down and my biege trousers and shoes were somewhat spotty!
Does this seem excessive and worrying, or is it nothing too bad considering the age of the car.
BTW I was using 10W40, although normally I use the thicker 15W50.
Tripps said:
It's spitting a lot of it out of the exhausts
Tripps said:
I looked down and my biege trousers and shoes were somewhat spotty!
I toasted my shins putting the roof back on this evening as I was in shorts for the first time for ages.
Does sound a bit heavy use though. I wouldn't expect to use more than 1 litre in that kind of mileage 10W40 too.
That sounds like a lot... its not leaking out is it ? can you see any drips or perhaps spray from oil leaking out at pressure, what is your oil pressure? what colour is the smoke (if any) from your exhaust? what colour are the plugs after a run like that ?
bloody hell, sounds like the spanish inquisition, sorry
K
bloody hell, sounds like the spanish inquisition, sorry
K
As far as I know the V6 engines aren't usually too bad on oil. Mines done 100k now and doesn't use any as far as I can see. I did have a good drip though last year (all over a friend's drive too 
) and that was from round the rocker boxes which did need tightening. It is possible that you have a super leak somewhere and the splashes on the legs could be caused by the exhaust spitting the condensed water/carbon/muck out when it was ticking over?
Apparently a small leak from the crankshaft oilseal is reasonably common and this results in a drip at the rear of the engine. I had this for the last couple of years but have put in some Forte engine stop leak stuff which is supposed to rejuvenate the oil seals in the engine (won't fix damaged ones but apparently they do shrink a bit when they get older and this makes them swell again) and it certainly seems to have done the trick.
I could be wrong but have a good look for leaks (rockers, sump, oil pressure sender, etc)as burning that amount of oil sounds bad news.
Good luck with it - hope its sorted soon.
Jim
) and that was from round the rocker boxes which did need tightening. It is possible that you have a super leak somewhere and the splashes on the legs could be caused by the exhaust spitting the condensed water/carbon/muck out when it was ticking over? Apparently a small leak from the crankshaft oilseal is reasonably common and this results in a drip at the rear of the engine. I had this for the last couple of years but have put in some Forte engine stop leak stuff which is supposed to rejuvenate the oil seals in the engine (won't fix damaged ones but apparently they do shrink a bit when they get older and this makes them swell again) and it certainly seems to have done the trick.
I could be wrong but have a good look for leaks (rockers, sump, oil pressure sender, etc)as burning that amount of oil sounds bad news.
Good luck with it - hope its sorted soon.
Jim
I doubt that the black stuff leaking from the exhaust is oil, the exhaust is very hot and even if some made it into the exhaust is would burn and produce a lot of smoke / soot. The black stuff you can see is therefore likely to be soot.
As for buring oil, if you are maintaining a healthy oil pressure, then check the rings using a compression tester and the trick of no oil in cylinder / oil in cyliner. A good look at your plugs may also highlight a problem if you can see oil fouling.
If you still have low compression with oil in the cylinder, then assume you are loosing it through the valve stem oil seals. My 16V golf used to suffer this alot. Seals are cheap, changing them a PITA (less so when the car is not OHC, but I suppose you do have two cylinder heads to deal with).
Or, you can always try using slightly thicker oil, it has been hot lately.
Z
As for buring oil, if you are maintaining a healthy oil pressure, then check the rings using a compression tester and the trick of no oil in cylinder / oil in cyliner. A good look at your plugs may also highlight a problem if you can see oil fouling.
If you still have low compression with oil in the cylinder, then assume you are loosing it through the valve stem oil seals. My 16V golf used to suffer this alot. Seals are cheap, changing them a PITA (less so when the car is not OHC, but I suppose you do have two cylinder heads to deal with).
Or, you can always try using slightly thicker oil, it has been hot lately.
Z
z_chromozone said:
I doubt that the black stuff leaking from the exhaust is oil, the exhaust is very hot and even if some made it into the exhaust is would burn and produce a lot of smoke / soot. The black stuff you can see is therefore likely to be soot.
It was definitely oil, I've spent the last week trying to shift it from the trousers and shoes I was wearing at the time. When it happened the car has just been started after around 12 hours cooling, I've been told when hot and under load that its letting a small blue cloud out of the rear end.
z_chromozone said:
As for buring oil, if you are maintaining a healthy oil pressure, then check the rings using a compression tester and the trick of no oil in cylinder / oil in cyliner. A good look at your plugs may also highlight a problem if you can see oil fouling.
If you still have low compression with oil in the cylinder, then assume you are loosing it through the valve stem oil seals. My 16V golf used to suffer this alot. Seals are cheap, changing them a PITA (less so when the car is not OHC, but I suppose you do have two cylinder heads to deal with).
Or, you can always try using slightly thicker oil, it has been hot lately.
Pressure stays good yes, up and down, but steady when the revs are. Mind you, at the rate its using the oil it doesn't take long for the top-level to drop down. If you still have low compression with oil in the cylinder, then assume you are loosing it through the valve stem oil seals. My 16V golf used to suffer this alot. Seals are cheap, changing them a PITA (less so when the car is not OHC, but I suppose you do have two cylinder heads to deal with).
Or, you can always try using slightly thicker oil, it has been hot lately.
Reckon I'll get Andy to have a peek next time I take the car down there, as stuff like that will be too much for me right now! Will have a peek at the plugs though to see if they're dirty.
I've been using 10W40, but feel a switch to 15W50 coming on for now in the hope the usage is reduced.
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