How much oil burning is acceptable?

In every oil burning car I’ve ever owned I always use heavy synthetic 40 or 50 wt oils to “top off” regardless of the weight in the manual with 0w40 Mobil 1 being my favorite but with Mobil Delvac at $2 a gallon it’s a tempting option for my truck that calls for 20wt

Also I’ve never done an oil change because of burning, in some cases I did the opposite and moved the 3000-3500 mile change to as much as 5000 miles, never had the motor fail doing this right wrong or indifferent.

One particularly bad Chrysler minivan we used 60wt oil to top up and after each top off, the burn rate slowed and the motor seemed to run smoother with cleaner exhaust.

 

Bookkeepper, the light comes on based on time, as well as mileage. It’s probably getting close to 1yr since the last change and good idea to change the oil...

 

Well, I was told the oil was changed as prep for selling it. It was on the lot for 'a while' (used lot, not dealer, so no record) and I have put 5k miles on it give or take.

My uncle happens to be the kind of person who enjoys getting hands dirty - he's definitely not a car guy but he lovingly maintains a 1997 Cadillac because he bought it and he's gonna keep using it. He might be up for a weekend project.

So should I just jump to heavier oil? I want to be cautious - maybe a 0W-30? Synthetic, probably high mileage cause this thing's at 130k and I want to take it to 200. I envision an EGR cleaning in the future...

 

I’ve been using 5w-30 since 120 k miles as our 2010 uses about a quart every 5 k miles.

Now at 185 k miles, it’s still going strong .

My plan is to club up to 0w-40 at the 190 k mile change.

I’ve done the egr cleaning at 120 and 173 k miles and plan on doing it every 50 k miles going forward .

 

Wait a minute. You put 5k miles on it just in the last few/couple of months? You’re a good candidate for the extended life oils then. Mobil makes one that will go 20k miles between changes, (what I’m using), and then there’s Amsoil which they say goes 25k miles. I’d stick to the recommended weight as in the manual, and check/top off every fill up as recommended as well....

As far as I know the light comes on once a year or 10k miles, which is kind of odd that it came on for you at around 5k miles from what I’m understanding....

 

The oil maintenance light comes on every 5k miles .

We put 23-25 k miles on our 2010 every year, so about 2 k miles a month.

The reason I have gone up in oil weight is due to oil consumption. If I still ran 0w-20, I’d be consuming more oil.

But going up in weight doesn’t hurt mpg or the engine. I’ve actually stabilized at 49 mpg and going strong.

I’ve used various 5w-30 oils (Toyota, Castrol Edge, Pennzoil Pure Platinum, Mobil One, Redline) with a similar 1 quart every 5k miles consumption rate. In working with my oil expert, we’re going up to 0w-40 as this is non-Dexos stuff .

I also do a BG Products EPR flush prior to draining the oil and also add BG Products Extended Life moa with the new oil.

Keeps the oil basic longer.

 

Raytheeagle, how much more is/was the consumption before the switch? I’m sort of amazed that MPG has stayed consistent, the whole 0W-20 or even 0W-16 was supposed to be “Energy Conserving”. But then you are adding an additive which changes things I guess......

About the 5k mike interval, I guess my parents are pretty consistently under 5k every year because I never get a “hey the light is on” from them until around the 1 yr mark. My apologies.

 

Do you know how many miles the oil's been in there? Or being a new acquisition it's a bit of a mystery.

This is basically an odometer counter, and all it's really telling you is that it's about 5000 miles since it last was reset. It's up to you when you change the oil. With a newly acquired car, and if you have no idea when it was last changed, hard to say.

Personally, I would change it sooner than later, just so I know what's going on. But for me that's an hour or two in the garage, and about $30.

I think what you actually mean is the oil on the dipstick is still pretty clean? I know with a couple of other (conventional) vehicles I'm maintaining when I check the dipsticks the oil is very dark, while our Prius the dipstick oil invariably looks like I just changed it.

Still, when I drain it, even after a mere 4~5K kms (Canadian schedule is more stringent: 8K kms OR 6 months, whichever comes first), yes: the dipstick oil still looks like honey, but the drained oil is black as ink.

That said, it probably still IS fine. But new-to-you vehicle, oil never been changed, I'd be inclined to overdo, change it, if just to have a certain start point.

 

0w-20 or 0w-16 is just CAFE at its finest .

Consumption was about a quart every 3k miles or so before clubbing up.

My bet is that it would have degraded more if I have not done what I have done. And I check the oil every Saturday and have not let any dash light alert me to low oil.

Maybe they know the chicken dance and turn the light off.

Hope that helps.

Edit to add:

The Extended Life moa helps keep the oil basic. As the engine ages, gas will blow by creating an acidic environment which will degrade the soft components. This will only make the situation worse.

If you keep the oil basic, the situation stabilizes. Think of the Extended Life moa as a buffer solution that the gas attacks and is sacrificial for the greater engine good.

 

Very interesting! Thank you!

I have looked at oil TBN ratings to sort of gauge oil longevity. (It is part of Amsoil training). The higher it is, the longer the oil can go. The interesting thing is that some oil companies have avoided listing this number, at least in the past. Mobil has around the same TBN as Amsoil, for the 0W-40 you are considering, which is to be used 10k mi in Mercedes vehicles, while Amsoil Signature Series claims 25k miles. Mobil has hidden the TBN number for their Annual Protection product, which is designed to go 20k miles. I’m guessing they have provided themselves a significant buffer....

Wonder how much TBN increase the BGN Extended Life MAO provides. Very interesting product!

 

I lived out in Wichita for awhile. That’s where BG is based.

A lot of the dealers and independent mechanics used it, so it got my interest .

Glad I found it.

 

LSPI has nothing to do with our Priuses. It’s to deal with the tremendous cylinder pressures encountered from full (turbo) boost at a very low rpm in many modern turbo cars. The conditions required for LSPI are not there in our cars. Only recently have we been able to make 20psi manifold pressure at only 1,400rpm and it’s accompanying incredible low end torque figures and still pull to redline. As many newer cars are capable of. This took us from turbo cars making great peak numbers but laggy to having a 2.0l that drives like a big block.

 

That's false too.

 

Just editorial: LSPI stands for Low Speed Pre-Ignition.

Low-speed pre-ignition - Wikipedia

 

Yes sir, and I should have been more clear but I’m always in a hurry. It’s possible in any engine but typically a non issue in naturally aspirated engines as long as all systems are operating properly. EGR and moderate to severe oil burning come to mind. And while I personally think no preignition is acceptable, usually low speed preignition is very minor if it happens in a NA engine. The load and heat factor just arent there without the turbo creating the high cylinder pressures at such low rpms that I could only dream about years ago. Obviously I’ve made some assumptions in this post.
“

 

I had a couple of old vehicles that I ran heavy 10 W 50 oil in because the rod bearing clearances were too wide and the engine would rattle.
What they really needed was an oil pump but if you wait too long the damage has already been done. Sometimes I ran STP and increased the viscosity of the oil and the rattle goes away and then you don't worry about it.