5.4L eating oil like crazy.. SOLVED
 

I never posted for help on this one.
Instead I just read many posts about the mysterious oil loss.
I noticed before a 300 mile trip that the oil was extremely low.
I put a couple of quarts in and that brought it up to the middle of the safe
area. I figured I would top it off at the first fuel stop.
When I got there I had to add another quart to get it back up where it was.
Coming home from the trip 2 more quarts.. and another at the same fuel stop.
This is about 700 miles of travel..
No smoke, no signs of leakage either where I park or sticking to the underside.

I saw several posts where LXMAN1 suggested that it could be a bad PCV valve.

So last week before another trip I reached in (E150) and managed to
pull the PCV valve and rubber elbow out of the valve cover.

Ah Ha.... the rubber elbow was gummy and collapsed..
The local auto parts store was out of PCV valves for this beast.
I ended up cleaning the PCV valve and rubber elbow.
I've not found the elbow available anywhere yet..(have not checked the dealer)
I did find that they now have the other elbow that goes to the back of
the intake.

I sacrificed a ballpoint pen tube as an insert into the rubber elbow to
keep the vacuum flowing. Wrapped the whole thing with several layers of
electrical tape..
Filled the oil and drove it the 600 miles round trip..

Now we are back to normal oil consumption.. Which is about a quart every 4000 miles.. (time for an oil change)..
Just though I would share..

Now to find a new rubber elbow....!!

Duane

1997 E150 5.4L
1996 Aerostar 4.0L

Hard to imagine how 6 qts. of oil disappeared out of an engine in 700 miles without a trace of where it was coming out.

disappearing oil
 

I did see a cloud come out the exhaust in my rearview mirror once as
I was passing someone on the 4 lane.. looked like a steam cloud..
I can only imagine that it was unburnt in liquid form..
I haven't checked the tailpipe for oil though..
Its not eating it now...still at the top of the line..

Duane

It's good that you're no longer losing oil so as to where it went is really insignificant now.

That 600 mile trip might have saved your cats. All that oil could have ruined them. Take it for another long drive so they get really hot and burn the gunk out of them.