my friends truck 2002 f250 5.4l is burning oil at 60k miles. uses about a quart between oil changes (3k) miles. what should i look for? there is no visible signs of anything on the engine... trucks seems like it runs fine. only thing i did notice is that when your accelerating you hear like a "spraying" from the engine right before it shifts, what could that be? may not be related at all, but just seemed to be louder then usual.

 

1 quart every 3000 isn't excessive. Are you sure it is being burnt? That much oil getting past the rings should cause some blue smoke out of the tailpipe. If you see no blue smoke, you may want to look elsewhere for the answer to "Where is it going." If you are still convinced it is "burning oil" then a compression test and even a leak down test of each cylinder would be the next step.

Possible causes for oil consumption.

Leaking seals/gaskets (examine underside of truck carefully, park overnight on a clean peice of cardboard)
Faulty PCV valve.
Blown head gasket (any oil in the coolant?)
Improper oil change procedure (Is the engine run, then turned off, let sit for 5 minutes, then is the level checked?)

The "spraying" noise may or may not be related.

 

I've got about 60,500 on my 2006, oil gets changed every 5K miles and have absolutely no oil problems. sounds like maintenance issues.

 

yes he did notice blue smoke momentarily the other day. he said it was definatley blue smoke, but it doesnt do it constantly.

 

My Sd has a 176,000 miles on it. Depending what I use, synthetic, or not it uses oil. Synthetic will use a quart a change were the non will not. I hear this is not an unusual phenomenon. I just changed oil to Brad Penn 5W30, we'll see what happens, the truck likes it, after a week I noticed a much quieter engine on start up. Anyways I wouldn't worry about a quart every 3,000 miles, check the PVC as stated above and look for leaks. If all is good drive that dude.

 

well that would make sense because it is synthetic oil, he tried to get 6k miles out of it, but noticed at around 3k it was a quart short. However the blue smoke urks me? i thought synthetic wouldnt blow blue smoke, even if it was leaking? Theres no oil in the coolant, and oil change procedures are done properly.

as for the PCV valve: ive heard of them before. where exactly is this located? anybody have picturs? are they hard/difficult to change for a weekend mechanice? any special tools required? how much is the part roughly?

Thanks guys...

 

takes about 3 minutes with pliers (if even that long)

Look on the passenger side valve cover, you'll see a silver (black if covered in dirt) circular part sticking out of the cover with a black rubber hose and elbow connected to it. Once located you just pull the hose off the pcv valve, take your pliers and pull upward on the pcv valve to remove, then remove the new three dollar part from the box and reassemble with the same steps above.

nothing to it.

 

If your friend takes the truck to a local national chain auto parts store, he could probably get the staff to change the PCV valve for him.

 

take a look at the passanger side head where it meets the block, a common problem is the headgaskets on the trucks i just had the headgaskets done at 70k miles and had the same problem (burning a quart every 1500 mile)

 

I'm dealing with about the same, right at 2.5k I hear a ticking under heavy acceleration and my oil appears to be low. change it out and all is well for about 2.5k miles. Engine, Bay and pan are clean, no drips, no blue smoke. Just the normal white of firing up on cold, humid mornings.

I've been suspecting the PCV for a couple of weeks, just haven't had time to work on it right now.

 

With all the replies on here...
Nobody has bothered to ask if the blue smoke is only at start up or
all the time or during take off?
If its only noticable at start up, then its the valve guides.
If its only noticable at take off or constantly, then its the piston rings.
Either way, its going to be costly to repair ($1,000-3,000).

Sorry guys, come on now...
That amount of oil burning is not normal and should get checked out.
A quart per oil change (7,500 miles) is normal, but not that much.
He already said that there is no leaking oil anywhere, so that means
some rebuilding work in the future.

Can it be driven without hurting it?
The damage is already done, its a matter of how long it will last.
If its not smoking bad, just drive it and constantly keep oil in it.

 

the blue smoke was onlyt noticed briefly while the truck was idling when he went in for lunch. it does not blow blue smoke ny other time. In factin the morning on a cold start its normal white color.

I changed the PCV valve today (that was super simple), seem to eliminate the "spraying" noise at 2500+/- RPM...

 

That is a good bit of oil in that many miles, if it was aleak you would notice it on the ground. It sounds like the piston rings are worn especially if he tries to go 6000 miles between changes. Maybe try a heavier oil it may help some.

 

what weight oil would you suggest?

 

Winter 5w20, summer 10w30 or40. Don't worry so much about the oil consumption, unless it gets worse. Drive it, enjoy it, it will be just fine. Some trucks like oil more than others and who knows maybe the new PVC fixed it. What type of oil is he running Synthetic or regular.