Does your late model X burn oil?

[SCEXPLORER]

I've searched about it but most cases are from the earlier models. Anyhow, my X burns oil or the oil sems to disappear. After so many miles, i would check the oil and it is all the way down to the last hole on the dipstick. What could be the problem? I see no oil leak or no blue smoke. Who else has this problem?

 

[AgExplorer]

You may try changing the brand of oil you are using. Sometimes the engine will not like the particular way an oil is blended and "burn" it.

You may also want to switch to a synthetic. They are a lot less volatile to burn off and you may see improvements in performance and fuel mileage.

 

[Robert]

How many miles on your Explorer? What brand are you using? What is the weight of the oil you are putting in? How many miles between oil changes? How many quarts are you putting in?

My '97 SOHC uses no oil between changes that are made anywhere from every 3K to 5K miles. I have 76K on my Explorer, use Quakerstate or Valvoline 5W30 and fill it back up with 5 quarts.

 

[jimbo74]

on an average engine you will use 1 qt evey 1200 miles...

 

[tbomb]

jim, huh? my engine doesnt use any oil. when i fill it up it uses 5 quarts and when i drain it, 5 quarts come out.

 

[SCEXPLORER]

Originally posted by AgExplorer
You may try changing the brand of oil you are using. Sometimes the engine will not like the particular way an oil is blended and "burn" it.

You may also want to switch to a synthetic. They are a lot less volatile to burn off and you may see improvements in performance and fuel mileage.

I use valvoline 10 w30 and have 69,000 miles on it. What brand do you all use?

 

[PLRBEAR]

My 95 has about 126,000miles and it's not burning oil either (i use Mobil 1 5W30). I've heard that on high mileage engines, synthetics tend to clean out all the sludge that has been there, causing oil to leak and burn.
BTW, i thought the correct oil weight to use is 5W30?

 

[Robert]

Originally posted by PLRBEAR
BTW, i thought the correct oil weight to use is 5W30?

It is.

 

[SCEXPLORER]

Originally posted by Robert


It is.

I know it is but my dad has this thing about putting thicker oil because the car is older and the 5 w30 is too thin. I dunno, i'm beginning to notice that i'm starting to know more about cars than he is now. i think some of his practices are just plain wrong. So far this message board has been 100% accurate with the advices i get so i trust this board more than my dad.

 

[JDraper]

Changing from 5W30 to 10W30 as the engine ages is fine. My wife's uncle owns a garage and car dealership, and that's what he recommends. The reason a lot of mfg's went to 5w oils for new vehicles is due to tighter engine tolerances, and better fuel economy. As the engine wears, the gaps in the engine get larger, and a slightly heavier oil will work to help reduce consumption. I run 10w30 in my wife's Firebird (calls for 5w30) and it cut the consumption in half.

 

[SCEXPLORER]

Originally posted by JDraper
Changing from 5W30 to 10W30 as the engine ages is fine. My wife's uncle owns a garage and car dealership, and that's what he recommends. The reason a lot of mfg's went to 5w oils for new vehicles is due to tighter engine tolerances, and better fuel economy. As the engine wears, the gaps in the engine get larger, and a slightly heavier oil will work to help reduce consumption. I run 10w30 in my wife's Firebird (calls for 5w30) and it cut the consumption in half.

How about 10 w40? Is that ok too?

 

[jimbo74]

Originally posted by tbomb
jim, huh? my engine doesnt use any oil. when i fill it up it uses 5 quarts and when i drain it, 5 quarts come out.

good tbomb... i actually meant on a older vehicle.... once a month i have to add a pnt and i drive 1000 miles per month or more...

 

[AgExplorer]

I'd stick with the 5W-30 or 10W-30.

By the way, there is not much difference in the 5W and 10W oils. Both oils perform like straight 30 weight oils at operating temperature, which is when an oil is thinnest. The 5W will flow faster on start up and at colder temperatures.

A rule of thumb is to run the lightest viscocity oil possible to maximize fuel economy and performance. Higher viscocity oils (i.e. 10W-40, 20W-50) can actually increase internal friction because the engine has to overcome the increased resistance of the heavier oil.

 

[PLRBEAR]

Which doesn't explain the burning anyway, since he's using regular oil. I want to say piston rings (usually the case) but that's just from experience...i can't say it's the same for you. Check your exhaust tailpipe and see if it's black. Tail emission colours are quite standard i believe: Blue=gas (you can smell it), white=coolant, black=oil (you can smell it if it's really bad). Yah? Anyone can verify this? Hehe.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by jimabena74
on an average engine you will use 1 qt evey 1200 miles...

I use Mobil 1 synthetic and change every 3-4k miles. I have never had to add a single drop of oil between changes in 46k miles.

 

[rpenner54]

Explorer #1 just turned 80k over and has a leak around the valve cover gaskets. Due to overheating once. So I go through 2-3 quarts every 5k miles. Explorer #2 has never leaked any from what I was told. It has 115k on it.

 

[jimbo74]

my mom just got a bill for $2k....she cracked her heads on her 1996 with 113k miles.... ouch!!!!!!

 

[JDraper]

Originally posted by aldive


I use Mobil 1 synthetic and change every 3-4k miles. I have never had to add a single drop of oil between changes in 46k miles.

Same here, I used either Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec in my old '92. . When the truck wrecked at 102K on the clock, it used ABSOLUTELY no oil whatsoever. Still ran like the day I bought it.

 

[leenjen]

i use Castrol Syntec and it doesn't burn any oil. i dont change it as often as i should (about every 10,000 miles). but even when i do the oil change, there is still 5 quarts.

 

[FMNavajo]

I'm probably wrong but I heard somewhere that the older oils, non-synthetic are suppose to burn away, this is why they went to the synthetic brands. The last average I heard was about a quart every 1000-1500 miles. If your running sythetic oil then you shouldn't be burning any and it's probably a leak somewhere in the area of the head, how's the antifreeze look, do you have brown goo on the inside of the oil filler cap? This would lead me to a leak around the top end. What's the oil pressure look like, does it fluctuate? Is there smoke coming from the exhaust?, hope not!

good luck,
FM