hi, new to the board. i have an '89 f-350, 460 engine is using about 1 gallon of oil per 100 miles. engine does not smoke, except under heavy acceleration. some oil in coolant. no oil leaks. truck goes in shop this week. i have my suspicions, but any knowledge of this would be greatly apprieciated. thank you

 

Prepare for a new engine, or at least an overhaul.


ONLY LITTLE BOYS WEAR BOW TIES

 

I just bought an 88 F250 with a 460 and it does the exact same thing (though I'm not sure if it's quite a gallon per 100 miles, but it's a LOT)... The trip from Raleigh to Charlotte burned up about 5 quarts of 20w50 motor oil. I'm going to try to run some Lucas Oil Stabilizer through it to see if that helps, but I have a feeling a rebuild is in my future. The way I am looking at my purchase is that a rebuild is pricey, oil is cheap. I'll just buy oil by the case at Costco and keep a couple cases in the truck, checking the oil in the mornings and adding when necessary. I did that with my Jeep Wrangler when it had the leaky 4 banger in it and it was literally spraying oil out of the motor.

I'll be interested to see how yours turns out. I read a Technical Service Bulletin on the 460 that indicates "SOME VEHICLES MAY DEVELOP "CAVITATION" EROSION IN THE CYLINDER WALL OF THE ENGINE.", so apparently it's a known problem that Ford will probably do nothing about, but will hand you a hefty bill to fix their own *****-up.

Matt (not really looking forward to getting the re-build bill)

 

thanks for the replies. a check on the engine indicates back passenger cylinder problem. either broken ring or cylinder erosion. we will be replacing the engine with a reman. i can't complain, this truck works very hard for me. although not as economical as my cummins powered truck, it does it's job very well. will keep you posted.

 

New to message board. I have the same problem as all of you guys. And it seems to be quite common. Quite a few of people have mentioned that it could be a manifold gasket. Could be a pcv valve. I do have a lot of oil in my upper manifold. I have a 92 f-350 with fuel injection. Seems to be coming from my PCV. No oil burning. No leaking. Some in water but could be from a water pump gasket that I got on wrong.I go through 20w-50 at about 1 qt per 150 mi. Runs awsome. Spark plugs look fine so far. Have only taken 3 out. What gets me is how much oil is in the upper manifold where the PCV comes in. And no oil in the air breather. Has anyone Changed the intake Gasket and found the problem.