Just bought a 2001 F-350 w/7.3L Power Stroke. My first diesel!
But I've already put over a quart of oil in it and I've driven it maybe 400 - 500 miles.
What is "normal" oil consumtion on these engines? Dealer used Motorcraft diesel oil in the 15-40 weight.

 

My personal opinion is that a quart in less than 2000 miles is excessive.
I think Ford says that a quart in 1000 miles is normal.
I find that mine uses more oil if I try to keep it at the top of the cross-hatch area than if it try to keep it in the middle.

 

That reminds me . . . the checkered area on dipstick represents 2 quarts, right?

 

I have a "97 with a little over 180K. If I put a quart in between oil changes - unusual. I think you are going through way to much oil. Are you towing heavy loads?

 

Check your fuel filter if the fuel in the filter housing is straw colored it's ok. If it's so dark you can not see to bottom of housing you may have an oring problem on an injector. Becaues the oil pressure is higher then the fuel pressure the oil will leak in to the fuel at the injector seals.

 

It seems most oil consumption is related more to leaks than internal problems. Check top and bottom for signs of leaks. O-rings at the high pressure oil pump, turbo pedestal and oil galley plugs are common areas.

 

I have about 3500 miles on my oil and its about a 1/2 quart low. My 86 6.9 goes through one every 6 or 700 miles.

 

The idi 6.9l and 7.3l all liked to eat the first quart of oil after it was changed then they did not use much at all after that first quart. Toped it back off and it just eats that one, so I just lift it down that one quart and that worked.

 

Mine used about a quart every 1500 miles until I made the PCV mod. This changed everything, and now it doesn't use any oil at all. Apparently, it was sucking quite a bit of oil out of the valve cover and through the turbo.

 

I have nearly 260,000 on my 1997 PSD. It does not use any oil between changes. It did before I changed the injectors so I would suspect you have bad "O" rings on the injectors.

Before it was using oil like you are experiencing. After "0" Consumption.

Like others posted here...check the fuel filter. First indicator of this being the source of your consumption problem.

Get a set of "o" Rings from one of the sponsors. Should be all you need...You can usually reuse the valve cover gaskets. Use caution and care when unplugging the wiring harness from the valve cover gasket. The most likely place it will break is on the plug inside the valve cover where it plugs into the valve cover gasket. The clips like to break off....You are looking at nearly $40 per harness and there are 4 of them. The valve cover gaskets are nearly $100 per pair. They are designed to be reusable. If you do not have any leakage around the valve cover, than I would reuse them. Check the connections and clean appropriately before reuse.

I have done both. On my current 1997, I recently replaced the injectors and at the same time replaced the gaskets and harnesses since it had over 250,000 on them.

 

one other thing i would like to add... if you just bought this truck i am wondering how long it sat at the dealership... one thing i have witnessed is that most engines don't like to "sit"... the oil seals are prone to drying up a little and then they don't seal properly... sometimes just driving a vehicle will cure this as the seals "soak up" some oil and swell a little and then seal... the heat of the engine aids in this process.. but unfortunately the diesel is designed to do some serious work.. so... simply running it down the roads doesn't really bring it up to full temp, unless it's a long trip on a really hot day...! just my 02's worth... this might not be the problem in your case.. but if your leaking some oil and you think that's your problem... try running her a little and see what happens... just keep an eye on your oil level..!

 

I've had my truck barely 6 months, and it was down 2 quarts by the time I did the first oil change at 3000 miles. Some good info here, stuff for me to check out.

 

I think Fis Tech has it. I've not lost any once the first quart disappeared!
Stays steady at 1 quart low!

 

Never used a drop. I don't have to check the dipstick to be honest, 114k miles.

 

The fuel system on the late models are dead headed in the heads. The older models had circulating fuel, so when an injector o'ring would go it would pump the oil into the fuel. Don't think the dead head will put the oil back into the fuel.