Where is my oil going?

[spdy0001]

Ok so I recently had a junkyard engine put in my 91X. The engine was from a 92 and was "low" mileage as all junkyard engines are. The engine runs twice as strong as my old engine ever did and is soo smooth. I love driving my truck now except for the fact that it goes through a quart of oil every 400 miles. When I notice the first quart was missing I took it back to the shop that did the work and he swapped the PCV valve, overfilled the oil and told me to drive it. I put another 500 miles on it this weekend and and it used over a quart of oil. It hasn't leaked a drop of oil that I can see and I have only seen one puff of smoke. I used to have an oil burning honda that didn't use this much oil and I had a constant smoke screen behind me. I would expect that with this much oil missing.

Any other ideas? The junkyard I got the engine from gave me a 30 day warranty which I am still under but their only suggestion was to try an oil additive, but I don't like that idea because I know they are bad for the engine

 

[wood1]

You could check the torque on the lower intake manifold bolts. It's common for them to be loose and allow oil to seep past the gaskets.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Check the antifreeze, make sure it's not getting into the coolant somehow. I'd also do as someone suggested and check the bolts, and also maybe a pcv valve filter, maybe it's getting sucked through. I go through a quarter about every 1000 miles, but 400 seems like there's something else going on.

 

[spdy0001]

Check the antifreeze, make sure it's not getting into the coolant somehow. I'd also do as someone suggested and check the bolts, and also maybe a pcv valve filter, maybe it's getting sucked through. I go through a quarter about every 1000 miles, but 400 seems like there's something else going on.

Coolant doesn't look contaminated and the PCV valve is new. We are going to re torque all the bolts this weekend and see what we find.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

I've seen a few people get new valves and they'll be defective, but I think if you shake it and can hear it rattle it's all right. Maybe a PCV valve filter, it filters out the oil going into it so you can keep everything clean. If you install one of those, you can see if the oil is going through there.

Give the undercarriage a good pressure wash and see if you see anything. I know you said it wasn't dripping, but it's worth a shot at this point. Plus you get a clean undercarriage!

 

[Hossexplorer]

Oil additives will not help if you are using that much oil somehow. I would take the engine back to the junkyard if you want to go through the trouble of taking it back out!

 

[GuitaristRondo]

Coolant in the oil?

There is no water or antifreeze in the oil is there? I had this problem in my cherokee where I would put a quart in every other day. I used a stop leak and it actually worked. I cant remember what brand. I had to drain the coolant completely before running it through the system. Never had to run it through my ex but i imagine it would work. Ill try to remember what I used and post again if i find it.

 

[SteveH - Colo]

In my experience, engines that have been sitting (in a junkyard or elsehwere) typically need new valve stem seals, and when you can't see an obvious cloud of smoke (due to bad rings, for instance), but are burning oil, then valve stem seals are implicated. It also may burn less after you drive it some. If you suspect the engine was neglected, change the oil more frequently at first to get some of the crud out of it.

 

[boggs1227]

also ... use a good oil filter .mine when i got it the truck sat in the woods for 3 years, it sat so long that the roots of vines were growing into the blocks of the tire tread !!! so after getting it running again i changed the oil alot .i got about 16k on it since i have had it and changed the oil about 6 times so far .get a good filter like k&n , motorcraft , or mobil one ...they al use a check valve that keeps oil from draining back into the pan plus like mobil one and k&n they filter much more than other cheaper oil filters but the bad thing about that is that if the engine is really dirty then you have to replace the filters more often .

 

[Trebor]

i currently have the same problem. ichanged grades of oil i use and swithed back to regular oil. i noticed with the synthetic oil i was burning it twice as fast so now im back to regular oil and it doesnt burn as much. maybe give that a try, dunno if your using synthetic or not.

 

[spdy0001]

There is no water or antifreeze in the oil is there? I had this problem in my cherokee where I would put a quart in every other day. I used a stop leak and it actually worked. I cant remember what brand. I had to drain the coolant completely before running it through the system. Never had to run it through my ex but i imagine it would work. Ill try to remember what I used and post again if i find it.

Nope no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant.

I have no idea how long the engine was sitting before i got it. I can only hope that by driving it something will seal up and the oil loss will go away. We are going to torque everything this weekend, but at worst case scenario I will just add some oil as needed. Luckily for me this is a spare vehicle, which I only drive about 4-5K miles a year.

 

[spdy0001]

i currently have the same problem. ichanged grades of oil i use and swithed back to regular oil. i noticed with the synthetic oil i was burning it twice as fast so now im back to regular oil and it doesnt burn as much. maybe give that a try, dunno if your using synthetic or not.

The oil I gave to the shop to put in it was Valvoline Max Life 10W-30. Which I actually just realized is a synthetic blend. I may start putting Mobile 5000 in it which is what I ran in my last engine.

 

[Trebor]

The oil I gave to the shop to put in it was Valvoline Max Life 10W-30. Which I actually just realized is a synthetic blend. I may start putting Mobile 5000 in it which is what I ran in my last engine.

it made a world of difference for me. i also flushed and drained the coolant as i was praying it didnt go there, but 2000 miles latter coolant is still good and only had to add oil once.

i was using 5w-30 synthetic and even switched to 10w-30 synthetic but still had to add more every week. but now i use 10w-30 mobile, havnt had a problem. i maybe added half a quart in about a month

 

[SPORTEXP]

Nope no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant.

I have no idea how long the engine was sitting before i got it. I can only hope that by driving it something will seal up and the oil loss will go away. We are going to torque everything this weekend, but at worst case scenario I will just add some oil as needed. Luckily for me this is a spare vehicle, which I only drive about 4-5K miles a year.

Mine leaked the same way after replacing with a motor that sat around for about 6 years. But after driving for a while, the leak has slowed way down to almost none just from driving alone. Make sure that the valve cover gaskets were replaced with the newer modified ones. The older cork type ones were prone to leak after time.