I just don't understand the idea that all engines use oil. My Chevy 5.3 that I'm trying to sell after deciding I just had to go back to my beloved Ford used no oil at all in 4000 mile changes , has 115000 K. In past 5 years I've owned a 05 f-250 6.0 turbo which used no oil, a Pontiac G6 that used no oil whatsoever in 7500 mile changes. 2000 f-350 drw 7.3 that would use a heavy quart in 5000K. Yamaha 90 hp outboard on boat uses no oil, i could go on and on. Guess I should consider myself lucky.

 

Most don't. But the factory service manual for most vehicles I've owned states that some consumption is normal. I remember the service manual for my '00 Contour stated that anything under 0.9 quarts per thousand miles was normal!

I've only had a few engines that burned oil...my '11 5.0L Mustang consumed a small amount of oil, and poking around on Mustang forums at the time I was far from the only one. Same engine as your F150, so it doesn't surprise me.

 

Thanks for your replys tom. Don't get me wrong, I love the truck, just want it to be perfect (make 20 mpg and use small amount of oil and no funny noises), oh well. I have no problem with the oil usage as long as don't get worse.

 

Not picking a fight, but just asking the question:

How many of those above had low tension rings? It's hard to make a comparison to the engines of old as far as design goes. The newer engines make more power and get better mileage, but also have a greater overall consumption rate.

I'm with you in the fact that I dont think they should use oil, but so long as it is not excessive it is just a nuisance. I've gotten my expedition down to less than a quart in 5,000 miles and thats pretty good considering it was 1qt/2,000 when I got it.

I just look at the odometer, and check it every 1,000 religiously. It is consistent and predictable, except that it does use more when towing heavy so I just keep an eye on it and top off when needed.

I doubt yours will get any worse.

One good thing about a slight bit of consumption is the top off oil does rejuvenate the additive package in the oil making longer runs on the oil possible. I've got a couple back to back oil analysis reports that show what a difference the add oil can make. So it is not completely without benefits having to top off occasionally.

 

I have racked up a little over 9,000 miles since buying my truck. The oil was changed about 12 months ago by the dealership I eventually bought the truck from in January. My OLM showed 7% life remaining.

The weather was nice yesterday so I decided to go ahead and change it. I used Motorcraft but I went with 5W30 instead of 5W20.

My dipstick showed that I was at the bottom of the hatched area. So it was a slight bit low. I guess that bottom line means you're 1 quart low? I do periodically check the oil level but hadn't checked it in the past couple of months. One quart in over 9,000 miles isn't bad I guess.

I've never had to add oil to any other vehicles, and I've owned a lot of vehicles.

Also, my oil looked terrible. It was really dark and toward the end of the draining it started kind of coming out in blobs. Looked pretty nasty in the drain pan too compared to what I've seen with all my previous 4x4s. These 5.0s don't have direct injection or any of that fancy crap on them so I'm not sure why the oil looked so poor, unless Motorcraft oil just isn't very good. If I get that result again next time, I'm going to switch back to Pennzoil.

 

A couple thoughts here ...

The hatched area marks the "safe" zone. You aren't "low" until you are below the hatched area. No need to keep it all the way at the top, and I don't add until it is at the very bottom or a little below. So you aren't a quart low at the bottom of the hatched area, but rather if you were truly a quart low, it would take you 2 quarts to get to the top of the hatched area.

Terrible looking oil isn't necessarily a bad mark against the oil. That being said, coming out in blobs is bad.

It is possible that the blobs are from a previous owner running too long on oil changes and you are just cleaning out old junk that was left behind. Its hard to say.

Regarding the quality of motorcraft oil, id say it is a quality oil. Reportedly, it is a 60% blend of group 3 with 40% group 1 oil. It is also the oils that ford bases the IOLM calculations on.

Oil opinions abound, but having used Pennzoil (platinum), ill take motorcraft hands down. They say the Pennzoil is good oil, and their gas to liquid technology makes some of the most pure base oils, but i found engine noises were very prominent with it and my consumption was 1qt/2000mi vs 1qt/4000 miles with the motorcraft (actually Trop artic, which is identical in every way but price).

Newer engines are just more likely to consume oil as compared to older engines. It is just a byproduct of the newer designs.

 

I agree with Mike. I'd like to add that you really need to do an oil analysis to have any kind of idea what's going on with your oil. There's no way to accurately eyeball the oil's condition.

 

I partially agree. When you put the oil into the engine, it's honey colored and transparent. When you take it out, it's black and not transparent. What changed? Well, it picked up a lot of contaminates, that's what. The particulates and contaminates are what give the oil it's dark, nasty look. The darker and nastier the oil looks, the worse condition it's in. Eight quarts of oil can only hold X amount of this junk.

So, while you cannot look at oil in a drain pan and tell it's chemical composition and precisely what percentage of wear life it has remaining before it fails, you certainly can eyeball it and tell that it's well due for a change.

Seems like somebody posted actual test results from all the oils on the shelf and I had a link to it once. I may have to try and find that and see where the Motorcraft oil stacks up. I do remember that the Pennzoil was near the top of the list. If I find it, I'll post it up for everybody to see.

 

That's speculation. Every diesel engine I've owned would turn the oil as black as the tires within days of changing the oil. The Freightliner and Kenworth tractors I drove in a past career would do the same within 2,000 miles. They used 30,000 mile OCIs, and the engines still held up well past the 500,000 mile point that they traded them at. I know, I know...different engines for a different application. But they illustrate the point that oil color doesn't equal condition.

Think about it another way for a second...most of that darkness comes from contaminates, right? Wouldn't a good oil suspend these instead of letting them become deposited on internal engine bits? By that logic, the best oils would be the ones that turned dark the fastest, because they retain the most contaminants.

 

Something else to think about, specifically regarding consumption, is viscosity. All SAE grades have a range. Some are toward the bottom end of the scale, some are toward the top.

If you are having consumption issues with a particular brand, it may be because that brand hugs the bottom end of the grade scale and a change to a brand which hugs the upper end may help.

Specifically with my expedition, I was using 1qt/2000 miles with Trop artic 5w20. A switch to Trop artic 5w30 cut that in half. Pennzoil platinum consumed at the rate of 1qt/2000 miles. Castrol edge gold was between 4000-5000 miles per quart. Mobil 1 high mileage has been 1qt/5000 miles or better. If you look at the viscosity of these oils, the trend is that the thicker oils consume less than the thinner ones. Worth noting also, is that all of these 5w30 oils sheared down into the 20 weight range by the end of the change. And they also seem to use oil slightly faster at the end of the change than at the beginning.

Now, there is an up side to a small amount of consumption. I did two Used Oil Analysis back to back with Castrol gold at 9,000 miles. One sample I added a quart, one I added 2 quarts across the oil change. The TBN was notably better with more add oil, so by adding some you do rejuvenate the additives in the oil making longer change intervals more practical and safer.

 

There are those who tell you exactly that. I'm not sure I agree.

I will say that Pennzoil is the only brand I've changed short based on color (and noise)

I think color means something, but it is not directly linked to the useful life of the oil. For me, I just refuse to use oils that turn black quickly when I can find one that dont. Just an opinion and a comfort level for me.

Even after 9,000 miles the Castrol edge was just a dark amber. But with a TBN of 1.4, it was clearly "well used" and near the end of its useful life.