Im not sure the quarts to miles. we've only got 30 miles of road up here, and have put 7000 miles on the motor in 2 years. In that time I'd guess a dozen or so quarts. I seem to rember doing a vac test when I did the compression but I will check it again, as well as the plugs this morning. But as I rember everything was o.k. As far as competent mechanics, I dont think there are any. This motor was rebuild by one, who had the only shop in town and who just retired. I bought the truck for the engine, as a reliable rig for the wife and kids. hahaha. I have not taken anything to a shop in ten years, so if we can tackle this one I would pefer to. Thanks for your help, I will post this afternoon(alaska time)

 

when i have a customer that is concerned with oil consumption and there are no visable signs of leaks, and it doesnt appear that the oil is being burnt (blue smoke) i start a oil consumtion test.
1st. get the engine up to op temp. and drain the oil, and remove the oil filter, let veh drain real good.
2nd. install a new filter, replace drain plug and add all but one qt of oil. (in this case 5qts.) (6qts. is total)
3rd. start engine and let run for just a moment to let the oil get through out sys. then let set so all the oil can drain down to pan.
now check your oil level, VERIFY WERE IT'S AT ON THE DIPSTICK, this is your 1qt. low level. mark it with a chissle what ever. i use side cuts to notch the side.
4th. now add your last qt. let sit so all the oil can drain down.
5th check the oil level again, this indicates your full level.
note-this may seem stupid but it is a test made by FOMOCO. because ford admits that not all dipsticks are calibrated accuratly. and this test accuratly indicates the levels. and now another note, and i'm not trying to be a smart#$$ by this, it's just something i like to remind people of. check your oil level when engine is COLD, and on LEVEL ground. now drive your veh as you normaly would. and once a week check your fluid level and keep note of how much you add. when your veh was showroom new ford spec on oil use was 1qt./1000 miles was acceptable. this test will show just how much oil in what kind of time/distance is being used. if it is determind that the engine in question is burning more oil than it should we start looking at plugs, etc. but we have never had an engine that acctualy used more than what ford said it should once we started the test. hope this hepls

 

A long time ago I had a fairly new '89 Mustang LX 5.0 that had a problem similar to yours. It used a quart every 200 miles and it was still under factory warranty. No leaks, and I could just barely see a little blue smoke under hard acceleration. The dealer tried to snow me at first. Ford even had the gall to publish a TSB saying that kind of oil consumption was acceptable!
Finally they did the test that marshall0351 described to determine if it was using oil (guess what- it was. Duh!).
They finally replaced the stem seals and the consumption went to about a quart every 1500 miles, which is not great, but a lot better.
If you're in Juneau, I think I know who rebuilt your engine. I'd be inclined to check and see if he used positive seals on the valve stems and if he used guide liners instead of new guides. You also might want to check the inside of your intake manifold to see if there's any oil in there that got sucked in by the PCV.

 

If you have or can borrow a compressor and leakdown gauge, you can do it yourself. If the valves and rings are fairly tight (if not you'll immediately hear it) it almost has to be guides, seals or an emission valve.

 

thanks all for all the suggestions. Ive been so swamped with work I havent even been able to pop the hood. I'm hoping this weekend. I'll let you know. I'll also try to locate a leakdown guage (got the compressor).

 

Ive been so-oo busy, and still havent gotten to her yet. I am on the hunt for a leak down tester and plan on doing it all at once. I think Ive located one, just have to wait for him to return to the island. I do have an update to the symptom list which I hope can help pinpoint the smoke. Yesterday was the first chance I got to drive her again (wife drives it daily). The Temperature has dropped considerably since my initall test drive. So, at 40 deg. she pours smokes out the tail, and at 20 deg. no smoke, no matter how hard I mash it. There was a slight puff from 2nd to 3rd at full acceleration from the line. Does this help any? Thanxs again.