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Burning Oil?

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Old Aug 19, 2005 | 07:39 AM
  #1  
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Burning Oil?

I have a 2003 F150 SuperCrew with the 5.4L Triton V8. At every oil change it is about one quart low. I don't see any oil on the ground or lying around on the motor. I assume this is not normal since it only has 30k miles on it. Any ideas?
Reply to the post or to me directly at garberinc@yahoo.com
Thanks!
 
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Old Aug 19, 2005 | 08:51 AM
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7700Rob
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It looks as though it's still under warranty, I would take it to the dealer if I had a concern like that. I've seen service/fleet vehicles use oil, but I know how they were driven too. My '01 5.4 uses no oil at 113k miles, and I don't really baby it all the time. What oil do you put in it? Rob
 
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Old Aug 19, 2005 | 09:40 AM
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ggarrahan
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How many miles between oil changes? A quart every 2k miles is not excessive, especially if you do alot of short trips where the engine really does not warm up. Driving conditions do affect oil consumption. BTW, Ford considers a quart every 1000 miles normal, so unless it's really burning oil, the warranty is not going to help.
 
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Old Aug 19, 2005 | 10:08 AM
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Burning Oil

Thanks guys for the help. I change the oil every 3k-4k. I don't beat the crap out of it but it's not really babied either. I usually get the oil change at Walmart and they put in Valvoline 5w 30.
Any more help?

Thanks again,
jamie
 
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Old Aug 19, 2005 | 10:10 AM
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A quart every 3-4K is just not excessive. I don't think you should worry about it at all.
 
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Old Aug 19, 2005 | 11:50 AM
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Using a little oil is good, that means it is lubricating the cylinder walls. I wouldn't get to nervous.
 
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Old Aug 21, 2005 | 07:52 PM
  #7  
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Burning Oil

Thanks for the help guys- forgive my ignorance, but what would make a relatively new motor burn oil? My brother has a 98 F 150 with 150k miles on it and it doesn't burn any oil.
 
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Old Aug 22, 2005 | 01:59 AM
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Some engines burn oil, some don't. It's just the way life goes. Sometimes it doesn't even matter if the maintenance has been done perfectly. My old Super Duty V10 lost a quart every 3,000 miles. But, when I switched to synthetic the oil cunsumption went away. Part of it has to do with the amount of heat and friction in the newer engines. It causes the oil to break down, and burn away. As a matter of fact, my mom has a Dodge Stratus that did the exact same thing. I also switched it to synthetic, and it quit burning oil. I was really suprised, because in the Super Duty, the more I towed, the more oil I burned. But, the last time I drove it, before I got rid of it, I drove 9,000 miles before I changed the oil, towing the whole way. A 2,000 lb trailer with a 6,500 lb truck on it, and din't loose a single drop the whole time. So, I am sure that in that truck, it was oil break down. After all, if it was burning oil, the synthetic would have lost more because the synthetic is thinner, and would go past the oil control rings easier.
 
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Old Aug 22, 2005 | 02:05 AM
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well if you are buring oil that means it is getting past the rings. the modular engines can develop this when the engine never sees high revs the rings will unseat and allow oil by. this can be prevented by getting the engine up in the rpms once in a while. gm recommends frequent full throttle on their engines, to prevent this and to keep carbon from forming. by the way the valvoline has a low flashpoint so it could be the oil. i would use the mc 5w20 oil and see what happens.
 
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