I've got a 94 supercab 3.0 5-speed with 151K miles. About every 1K or so it'll use about a quart of oil. I dont burn any on startup, or constantly either. The only time I've ever seen any consumption is when I'm driving and get into the uppers of the RPM range. If I were to guess its about the last grand of RPM's, truck came with NO factory tach. I leak no oil whatsoever. Would it be the heads causing my noticable consumption, or the piston rings since its only when its revved REALLY high?

Also, since I think they may have something to do with each other: Whenever the engine is cold I hear valve noise. When I rev the engine up it goes away, but when it settles back to idle the noise comes back. It does this no matter what the outside temperature is. Once at running temperature the valve noise seemingly is gone, tho I think I can still hear a hint of it. FYI I live in the Kansas City area. 50 yesterday, 32 degrees F today, and will be in the 70's come monday or tuesday. Messed up weather I know.

Any ideas of a fix, or at least what the cause of EITHER problem is?

(Sorry BuffmanLT1, I have the same problem and have been meaning to mention it to the guys on here. Feel free to repost your what you were saying on here. lol)

 

Bena,

One possible cause is some wear/play in the valve guides. Seen thi smany times in old style push-rod engines. Some folks rework the heads, bolt them on, and they're good to go.

CMOS

 

Would the wear/play be causing both the burning of oil and the noisy valves? About how much would reworking the heads cost?

 

I don't think this is your problem, but I just read an article that said the 3.0's were bad to carbon up, even to the point that it could cause pinging. They recomended using seafoam. I saw your mileage I thought I would give you a heads up on this, one of the sign is a lose of power. I have no idea what valve guides would cost today, but with your mileage, might not be a bad idea just to get a whole head job if it didn't cost alot more, then you would be good for another 150,000 miles.

 

Valve guides shouldnt pose a problem. Typically it's the valve stem seals that go bad and cause oil to leak.

I myself am wondering where the oil is going. Like I mentioned, I leak a small amount of oil but certainly not a 1qt. A touch is burned at startup (or so at least i I think it is), but a 1qt every 1,000 miles.. Hmm. Im going to install an oil seperator between the pcv valve and then maybe another one on the vent tube from teh oil filler to the intake tract, to see if I have blow by or something..

 

Every oil change I've been using fuel additives for cleaning the system out. I various kinds because I like having all of their different qualities, seafoam, slick 50, and gumout for examples. This past oil change I did actually use seafoam in the gas and it hasnt changed at all. What if I added it to the oil? I read on the label that it was good for both.

 

I would also check the PCV valve itself. a sticky valve could also cause problems. My 93 taurus with 3.0 would consum oil only wile driveing on the highway. found bad PCV causing no crankcase ventalation. Replaced PCV problem solved.

worth a try.

 

My thoughts exactly. Oil may be pooling in the valve cover and splashing up into the PCV. Your valve train quieting down with higher revs made me think of it.

It should'nt take long to tell. Let us know.

Fred

 

For the miles even a qt in a thousand isn't all that bad, but the seals can be done on the engine and also the pvc could be changed. I haven't been a fan of doing a head job on a high milage engine since from what I have heard that it can then start using oil past the rings. The engine can be checked to see whether it is the valves or the rings before doing anything though.

 

Benaghetto,

I would also suggest sending an oil sample to Blackstone Labs. They'll do a full oil analysis for about 20 bucks. They can frequently give you some idea of what is going on based on the chemicals/metals present in your sample. Great folks to deal with. Click the hot link above.

CMOS

 

But a UOA isnt' going to tell him where the oil is going unless he's got a toast headgasket.

I noticed today that i spoke wrong. the 3.0 in my truck doesn't burn any oil at all. the bluish color smoke I was seeing at night when leaving the gf's house is just the headlights reflecting on the exhaust fumes (they're a sell of phillips 4300k bulbs- blue tint on them).

I checked the oil various times today. hadn't been started all day long and checked the oil. It was 1/2 quart low and very dark. I checked it when it was running and during the first check it was down on the stick low. Drove to the gf's house and checked it again when running and when off. Same. same results 30 mins ago when I got back to her house to come home. I get home and check it running, and it's like 1.5 inches above the full line. Oil on the dipstick looks super clean. Turn it off, and wait a couple mins and check it and it's reading 1/2 quart low.

Im going to pull the valve covers tomorrow and make sure there isn't any sludge or caked up oil blocking oil return passages or something. I got an inline filter to install on the PCV to see if I have any blowby(doubt I have that much) and going to pull plugs..

 

well nothing out of the ordinary in the valve covers except a residual amount of oil. I installed that inline filter and after about 1-2hr worth of driving there wasn't much in there except maybe a tablespoon of condesnation with a touch of oil. HMMMM>

 

Baffling indeed keep the seperator in the pcv line for a while. It might be a particular driving condition doing it(if that's it). If all else fails, ya might take to a garage with a sniffer up the tail pipe and analyser to see if your hydrocarbons are up. They can test the truck on rollers for various conditions/loads and be able to tell you if you are indeed burning oil. Wether it's passing the valve guides or rings-who knows. Those engines are known for carbon problems and may seize a ring enough for oil to pass. A quart every thousand miles isn't huge, but it's a lot(compared to vehicles in the '70's its actually just a trickle ). Shampoo and power hose the engine area so you can see if you missed any leaks.

Good luck
fred

 

nope no leaks. I fixed the oil level sensor today. I pretty much tested all driving conidtions today and that's all I acuumulated. Now that bad thing is the truck doesnt start for some stupid reason. I changed the oil, fiddled with some non engine related crap and it doesnt start. Has fuel and spark. HMMM

 

I just replaced the pcv valve today. I changed it probly a year ago, maybe a little more the last time. When I changed it I moticed the area surrounding the pcv was coated with oil! This may have been the culprit this whole time. I'll let ya'll know if there's any moer consumption. Like Buffman stated, I've seen the smoke when someone's driving behind me at night. But unlike what he discovered, I've been told that smoke does exit my tailpipe when I've revved it up to the redline.