I have a 98 Exped, EB 4x4 w/ the 5.4 liter. It has 78k miles but has always burned what i think is a lot of oil, even when it had 38k miles. Basically, if i change the oil and it hits the full or almost full mark, you can bet that at 3000 miles, the oil won't hit the dip stick. in other words, every 3000 miles/3 months, i am losing about a quart of oil. Strangely, i never see any white smoke or anything that would suggest its burning oil.

the last oil change was by Ford and they used the specified 5/30. i use 5/30 castrol with the same results. I am thinking about going to 10/30 to see if that helps reduce the burn rate. Any idea what's going on? is this typical?

living in Florida, i could prob get away w/ straight 30wt, but i think the 10/30 would be safer.

 

My understanding is that 1quart for 3000miles is about right... It was new to me too. My 99 uses about that much--but has 97k miles on it.

Clint

 

These engines use oil on a regular basis. My father's 2000 E-250 with the 5.4 uses about a quart every 1500-2000 miles. His truck has 130k, however he uses Mobil 1 10-30 fully synthetic motor oil. His older truck used to be a 95 E-250 with the 5.8 Windsor and that motor never used a drop. Im sure that someone will chime in with a more logical explanation but it looks like these modular motors are simply oil users.

P.S. I even remember reading in a Chilton repair book that if your engine uses a quart of oil every 2k miles it is acceptable by the manuefacturer.

 

i think that's outrageous. Given the emission stds, i am surprised manuf get away with it. i have never owned a vehicle that burned so much oil, and i have owned a bunch.

 

Sounds like you guys have ring issues. I haven't owned a vehicle that burned a quart per 3000 since my old 79 Gutless. My 96 Tahoe with 120K didn't burn a drop of it's Mobil1 even if I let the oil go 5,000 miles. If my new X starts burning a quart per 3,000, it's going in for warranty work.

 

My 98 5.4 just rolled over 190,000. Bought it last april with 150,000. I have run both 5/30 and 10/30 , always change at 4000 miles. Usually at around 2500 I check it and it's usually a half quart low. I add the rest left from oil change, that carries me through my 4000 miles with just a little drop in oil level.

 

Check your PCV valve and make sure its not plugged... If you have never changed it and you have some miles, change it... its cheap. If it fails it can suck oil into the manifold anytime your idling. The only sign will be a small puff of smoke when pulling out of a drive through, etc... Ask me how I know!

Eric

P.S. Some oil consumption is normal but it could also be a sign of stuck rings.. have it checked if its more than a quart between oil changes... again, ask me how I know!

 

None of my Ford engines have ever burned a drop of oil, I've had a 5.8, a 5.4, and a 4.6 and at 3k still at the top of the dipstick.

 

This has been a widely discussed topic for the past 4 or 5 years. Many of the modular engines "use" a quart or more between oil changes (3,000-5,000 miles), mine included.....no biggie. I replaced my pcv valve a year ago but doing so didn't change a thing.

 

I agree with buzzard. I think that these engines just use oil, our trucks have always been maintained and never abused. However they still use about a +/- quart of oil between changes. Like I said earlier my dad's old workhorse had a 5.8 Windsor and it never used a single drop between changes.

 

mine never uses any between oil changes.

 

I recently changed the PCV valve in my '97 Expedition 4.6L. The Expy had 110k miles on it when I changed the PCV. This was the first time it had ever been changed. It has considerably slowed the oil consumption rate. It was using approx. 1.5-1.75 qt's per 3k miles. Since I changed it 1000 miles ago, the oil level on the dipstick has only dropped about 1/16".