Slight oil usage (Kinda Long)

[Tony T.]

First of all let me say I change my oil & filter every 5K miles in the 03 CTD. I use Fleetguard Stratspore filters an Delo 400 15w/40 Multigrade oil. I have noticed that at every 5K since new that the oil usage would be, if I were to guess maybe a pint, or so (guessing). I have never added an oil between changes, according to the owners manual it says to add when it gets to add mark around 2 quarts. Truck has always run fine, no excessive smoke, no abnormal sounds, etc. It will stay right on full mark when I first service it to about 3K miles then I start noticing a slight drop off the full mark until it reaches the 5K change. (I check the oil about once a week) I've talked to a good mechanic friend of mine about it an he will just kinda laugh, an say that's no oil usage to speak of, an I agree. It just bugs me that it will go 3K miles on full mark an then start slightly dropping off. Also when I check it I let it set over night an its always same location on the stick slightly under full mark, but above the full mark there may be a small section that is showing a drop or so of oil. Oil is always clean looking until around 4K an then has a slight color change to it (never have seen it black). I have 19K plus miles on it to date with no towing what so ever in the last year. I towed with it at first when truck was new (some towing with a travel trailer around 6K lbs), but not any in the last year at all. I had a very, very, small valve gasket oil leak fixed here recently, but you could not tell it was so small leak you barely would show any oil on a paper towel when I wiped it across. No excessive amount of oil around vent tube to speak of either. Never have done a oil analyze on any vehicle before, but plan to on the CTD at the 20K oil change. After all my rambling here my question would be where is that slight drop of oil on the oil stick going after you reach 3K to 5K. Why would it not just stay on the full mark the full 5K change interval. Looks like if it was going to use a pint of oil it would do it when I change each interval from the start. I've seen others say here on the TDR, their's would not use a drop between changes. Sorry for the long post, just curious more than anything why it would wait to after 3K to start showing a slight oil usage.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Other than reduction of some of the additives as mileage increases, not a clue. My '02 with 27,000 miles on it - same oil as yours, and LOTS of towing never seems to drop a bit between 5000 mile oil changes...

 

[ttreibel]

Mine uses some oil maybe a quart in 7500 miles I like to keep it full. You need to becareful not to overfill takes 15 minutes or so for the oil to drip down to the pan so checking while getting fuel will fool you into adding more than you need.



I do the 7500 mile oil changes and the oil is getting dirty but still looks like I could get 5K more if I had to in a pinch.



Delo&Stratapore here



I am not going to worry about that little of oil useage... . I have a 1995 Saturn SLone that uses 1qt every 500-600 miles now thats consumption! lets say with that car I shop for oil deals!



If the engine has a problem I am sure it will grenade before the 100K warranty expires I have 30K on the clock as of today.

 

[Tony T.]

Originally posted by ttreibel

Mine uses some oil maybe a quart in 7500 miles I like to keep it full. You need to becareful not to overfill takes 15 minutes or so for the oil to drip down to the pan so checking while getting fuel will fool you into adding more than you need.



I do the 7500 mile oil changes and the oil is getting dirty but still looks like I could get 5K more if I had to in a pinch.



Delo&Stratapore here



I am not going to worry about that little of oil useage... . I have a 1995 Saturn SLone that uses 1qt every 500-600 miles now thats consumption! lets say with that car I shop for oil deals!



If the engine has a problem I am sure it will grenade before the 100K warranty expires I have 30K on the clock as of today.

Really no worries here Tom, I would just figure that maybe around 1000 miles you might start seeing the decrease from full mark instead of it staying full up to 3000 or 3500 an then start decreasing from the full mark. I agree a pint or even a quart is nothing to worry about in that 5000 or 7500 mile time frame. Also as I stated in orginal post never have had to add any oil, no need too until close to add mark according to owners manual. Going to send a oil sample to Blackstone here in about a 1000 miles to see what they have to say. Thanks for the replies from you an Gary

 

[rbattelle]

An interesting problem, and one I've encountered before with gas engines I've owned. They'll stay completely full until some magical mileage mark, then start dropping off slowly. I can not offer any logical explanation, however.



I change my oil at 3000 mile intervals, so I have no idea whether my truck might do the same thing. I think the only test you can do is to change oil brands for 1 oil change and see if you get the same effect.

 

[Tony T.]

Ryan, I also have though of changing the oil brand to see what the difference would be. A though crossed my mine about a uncle of mine using Pennzoil in his gasser truck for years. He went to work for a cousin of mine that was a mechanic an he the cousin was a die-hard Valvoline user an was telling my uncle that the Valvoline oil was a lot better oil in his opinon an convinced my uncle to change to it. According to my uncle at the time he said his truck started using oil more with the Valvoline brand an thus he returned to using the Pennzoil oil an truck returned to normal. So go figure, I would figure my truck would already be broke in at 19K an every thing seated. I may try the Rotella this next oil change to see if it stays on full or starts using more.

 

[amsoilman]

Tony T.

Ever hear of "Volatility" ? Volatility is a term used to describe "Boil Off" of engine oils. All engine oils have a measured amount of oil that can be contributed to "boiling off", or some oil that has been lost due to heat.



The test used for this is a standardized test (ASTM D-5800) that measures the amount of oil that has "Boiled off". The test consists of measuring a small amount of oil, then weighing it. Then the oil is heated to a specific temperature for a specified amount of time at that temperature. When the test is completed, the oil is then weighed again and the amount of oil that has "Boiled off" is reported in percent.



Some oils have as much as 17-18 percent weight loss. Perhaps this is happening to you.



In my truck, I can go between 15-20,000 miles before having to add any oil, and then it is very little.



Wayne

amsolman

 

[Tony T.]

Originally posted by amsoilman

Tony T.

Ever hear of "Volatility" ? Volatility is a term used to describe "Boil Off" of engine oils. All engine oils have a measured amount of oil that can be contributed to "boiling off", or some oil that has been lost due to heat.



The test used for this is a standardized test (ASTM D-5800) that measures the amount of oil that has "Boiled off". The test consists of measuring a small amount of oil, then weighing it. Then the oil is heated to a specific temperature for a specified amount of time at that temperature. When the test is completed, the oil is then weighed again and the amount of oil that has "Boiled off" is reported in percent.



Some oils have as much as 17-18 percent weight loss. Perhaps this is happening to you.



In my truck, I can go between 15-20,000 miles before having to add any oil, and then it is very little.



Wayne

amsolman

No, Wayne I have never heard of this, but thats not surprising to me not being up to the physical characteristics of oil. What your saying may be the case. Again no oil has been added between oil changes (just a drop in the bucket). There again I like how the Delo 400 15w/40 has performed for me, I'm now more curious than anything to see if say Rotella or the Delvac would give the same results (more or less).

 

[jeremy judge]

as the engine oil get dirtier is doesn't seal the rings as well and will burn of more rapidly full synthetics aren't as bad and bypass filter and changing filters more often help too.

 

[DPKetchum]

Oil shear,Loss of viscosity.

 

[Tony T.]

This is interesting to me because this is the first diesel I have ever owned for myself. Now all my gassers before I was pretty religious about oil change at 3K mark. My wife's Jimmy I change at 3K an it's always on full mark at the oil change interval. I guess what I'm trying to get to that when I see a decrease showing on the stick I naturally am assuming a problem as a leak or internal problem starting an elevating to larger problem a few miles down the road. Another interesting note is I talked to a guy at work today about his 2002 Ford PS an ask him if it used any oil between changes at 5K intervals, an his reply was yes, that he had to add two quarts between changes. Thanks everyone for clearing some things up why it starts to decrease.

 

[DPKetchum]

Well now I don't know if using a 6. 0 powerstroke as a example is apples to apples. From what I've read they usually change motors every 5k.

 

[rbattelle]

Originally posted by jeremy judge

as the engine oil get dirtier is doesn't seal the rings as well and will burn of more rapidly full synthetics aren't as bad and bypass filter and changing filters more often help too.

Clean oil seals your rings?

 

[champspa]

mine used about a quart every 4k untill 61k and then stopped using (finally broke in) now at 177k hasn't got anything but stronger.

 

[amsoilman]

Clean oil seals your rings?

Rabattle,

I think what Jeremy Judge was trying to get across, is the fact that oil is a "sealant" when it comes to piston rings, as the oil itself, forms a "seal" between the piston ring and the cylinder wall, as the piston moves up and down. When oil gets dirty, or the viscosity becomes less viscous, it will indeed not "seal" as well around this hot area.



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[Tony T.]

Originally posted by DPKetchum

Well now I don't know if using a 6. 0 powerstroke as a example is apples to apples. From what I've read they usually change motors every 5k.

DP, his is a 7. 3 PS (personal vehicle) . An our four man crew at work, we just got a 6. 0 PS 1 ton crewcab here about a month ago. I'll be able to check out the oil consumption along with the longevity of the engine. I say one thing it gets a lot of idle time so far. Our 1994 Ford PS 1 ton crewcab had 181,000 miles on it when we retired it, with tons of hours of idling on it. The shop put a new motor in it an it went to another crew.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Speaking of 6 liter PSDs and oil I read on bobistheoilguy.com that they are hard on oil and shear it down really fast.



Vaughn

 

[DPKetchum]

Oil shear and oil viscosity appears to be a big factor in how the 6. 0 runs. ROMPS. And it appears to vary from truck to truck including the brand and oil weights. Lots of posts from time to time about 7. 3 and WHAT hard usage they take and how well the REMAN works that was installed. I've been on this site a WHILE and don't remember ever reading how well The CUMMIN's reman's perform! I do remember reading posts about ENTIRE truck is SHOT and what to do with the Cummin that is in said truck!

 

[rbattelle]

50k Miles - I now consume oil

In 50k miles my truck has never consumed a single drop of oil. Oil level on the dipstick has never moved a fraction of an inch. Not any more.



I've been slightly overfilling for awhile (never quite get all the old oil out before adding the new oil), maybe 1/8" over the FULL line (more like 3/32, but who's counting? ). In 2k miles since the last oil change (I change at 3K... obsessive) I'm now about 1/16" below the FULL line. That's probably about 1/2 pint of consumption in 2K miles. I don't think it's leaking, but I'll have to check closer.



I just hope this isn't a sign of more significant consumption to come...



-Ryan

 

[Tony T.]

In 50k miles my truck has never consumed a single drop of oil. Oil level on the dipstick has never moved a fraction of an inch. Not any more.



I've been slightly overfilling for awhile (never quite get all the old oil out before adding the new oil), maybe 1/8" over the FULL line (more like 3/32, but who's counting? ). In 2k miles since the last oil change (I change at 3K... obsessive) I'm now about 1/16" below the FULL line. That's probably about 1/2 pint of consumption in 2K miles. I don't think it's leaking, but I'll have to check closer.



I just hope this isn't a sign of more significant consumption to come...



-Ryan

Ever since first oil change on my truck I would buy 3 gallons of Delo,pre-fill the Fleetguard filter, install, and pour the other 11 quarts in. It always was dead on the money on the full mark every time after doing this. This last oil change (at 30K) always using same procedure letting all the oil drain out that could, as times before, the oil stick now shows about a 1/8 over full mark. I have checked it serveral times with almost 2K miles since last oil change, still about a 1/8 over on the stick. Like I said in previous post from the point 3K to 5K it has been dropping about 1/8 below full mark. Curious to see what it does this time after it reaches above 3K miles, if it stays 1/8 above full mark or drops to right on full mark or below for the 5K duration. :-laf



Tony