So yesterday I was leaving the hotel and the weirdest thing happened, when I cranked the truck up the "CHECK GAUGES" light came on. I did what it said and the oil pressure was at zero. A few seconds later it popper to where it was supposed to be indicating that there was a malfunction in the electrical somewhere and I said no problem and went about my day. I pull out of the parking lot and start down the road and it pops up again. This time I kill it IMMEDIATELY, toss it in neutral, and coast into the nearest parking lot.

I give Stewart a call knowing damn well he's in the middle of his Birthday shindig and he answers right away (Talk about a friend being there at ANY time). I tell him what happened and I go about running through the checks. First I started with the oil level. I pulled the Krazee Matt out, whoops I meant the dipstick out and the oil looked TERRIBLE! I cleaned the dipstick off and put it back in and when I pulled it back out it was somehow cleaner than it went in! It was lower than low! It was lower than the dipstick joke I made about Matt a second ago (You're the best Matt )!

Stewart tells me to pull the codes as well and then we talk for about 20 minutes about nothing in particular, mostly car stuff and other stories about running vehicles out of oil. He says he has to go back to his Birthday party because the strippers are "By the hour" and I agree that he should go and enjoy the Police Men that are there to punish him.

I pull out my ELM scanner (Thanks Magnus!!!) and turn on the Dash Command app and pull the codes. Nothing shows up and everything seems fine. I hobble about 1/4 mile on my stupid crutches to a Big Lots and purchase their finest quart of $3.80 oil (they only carried one brand, in one weight!!!) and then hobble back IN THE ****ING RAIN(Well it was cold and sprinkling) with several cars passing me and no one offering a ride to the truck. I toss in the quart and it gulps it down like a FTE member opens a UPS box. I crank it up and drive it past not one, but 2 oil change places and end my death ride about 5 miles away at the Ford dealership and get the "Michael Special". By that I mean that when I talked to him before he told me when he had his 6.8 all he ever did was have Ford do the basic FoMoCo oil change and he never had any issues. For about $20 more than the oil change places I got to get the same service and quality as Michael does/did and that makes my insides squeal like Razzi when the turbo spools.

So the question is, where the hell did my oil go?!? The last time it was changed was when I did the headers. I have been diligent and checked it never since then (kind of a lot going on) so I have no idea when it happened but I told the Service Writer about it and he told the mechanic and they saw no issues. So other than my shameful plugs of members and my insanely long post about the oil missing any ideas?

 

How many miles since that last change at header time? Some of these mod motor do get thirsty, but you shouldn't be losing quarts between changes.
Check your PCV valve and hoses for signs of extra oil, a bad valve can lead to oil being sucked out into the intake. Housedad has a very good thread here about that situation.

 

Apoc, that's good advise from Tom on the PCV valve and hoses...

 

My 03 ate 2 quarts during the 5k miles that I've owned it. My old Expedition used to eat about a quart every 5.5k. Dad's old E-250(5.4) was REAL bad, 1 quart per 1k miles. My old 96 Mustang(4.6) had bad stem seals/guides and ate even more if I was beating on it. This is all "normal" according to FoMoCo btw. Funny enough my current 5.0 coyote car eats a little between changes too.

After having over half a dozen mod motor fords in my possession over the years, I check the oil at least once every 500 miles. The modular LOVES to eat oil, there are exceptions but generally that is the case.

The busted PCV valve that Tom mentions is a good possibility too, definitely change it out.

And from now on, check your oil more frequently bud!

 

I did a 5k interval on my truck and noticed over a quart was gone. Back to the 3500 changes for me. Glad your truck is alright.

 

That reminds me that I need to go pick up my new dipstick... It's been waiting since Friday.

 

Happy Birthday Stewart!!

 

I forgot to swap the brand new oil car from my last rig to this one when I sold it and I noticed yesterday that the one on there was pock marked and looked horrible so when they were changing the oil I strolled (sort of) to the parts department and got a new one

 

DAMMIT I NEED TO DO THAT TOO!

Anything ELSE John? Lol.

 

My v10 only eats oil when I am towing or otherwise working it harder than usual. I have a new PCV valve waiting to go in that I hope will slow it down. Been driving it a bit....briskly?

 

Does Michael buy his cigars in Cuba?

 

I short YES!