I Burned 2.5 quarts of oil in 5K Miles. :eek: Is this Normal? I changed oil yesterday and noted it to be this low. What gives? I know some oil loss is normal but 2.5 quarts.? I was using Rotella 15/40 and now am using synthetic Rotella 5/40.
Ben

I Burned 2.5 quarts of oil in 5K Miles. :eek: Is this Normal? I changed oil yesterday and noted it to be this low. What gives? I know some oil loss is normal but 2.5 quarts.? I was using Rotella 15/40 and now am using synthetic Rotella 5/40.
Ben

you didn't mention the mileage on your truck nor if this is a one time or ongoing issue, or the type of driving/vehicle use during the period in question ... our '02 has over 80,000 miles on it and from day one goes 5,000 miles between changes using Rotella T 15W40 without having to add any oil ... the book calls for 10 quarts but to bring the oil up to the top of the full (top) notch on the dipstick takes 11 quarts, if yours is the same, that might explain 1 of the quarts you are adding ... I have heard of some vehicles that don't handle changes from dino to synthetic oil very well, if you didn't have this problem using dino oil, it might be wise to go back at the next change to see how your engine responds

Jim

I have 85K miles. I do driving on highways as well as some town driving. I just changed to synthetic yesterday when I changed oil. I dont know if this is new or not. I usually dumped my oil into a big pan but yesterday I drained oil into 4 quart containers and that is how I noticed to be low. When I change oil I usually add 10- 10.5 quarts of oil and go off of the dipstick. I called the stealer today and they wanna monitor my truck. They feel that 2.5 is too much.
Ben

I can check that my oil is up to level, then drain the oil into my flat collector, put it in gallon jugs, and it always comes out short. I think that a lot of oil sticks to the sides of the oil collector pan etc. I do not think this is a good way to judge oil burning. My bet is that you are not burning as much oil as you think.

Good luck,

Jay

I sure hope so. It just seems like alot of oil. I wanted some other input from you guys.
Ben

Did you take into account how much a used filter holds? I would bet probably half a quart anyway.

I Burned 2.5 quarts of oil in 5K Miles. :eek: Is this Normal? I changed oil yesterday and noted it to be this low. What gives? I know some oil loss is normal but 2.5 quarts.? I was using Rotella 15/40 and now am using synthetic Rotella 5/40.
Ben

Monitor the dipstick rather than what comes out. Add makeup oil as needed, and keep track. Then you'll know how much you consumed.

Great ideas guys. I will monitor the dipstick as mentioned and if needed add oil. I did not take into consideration about the filter either. THANKS
Ben

I've got 15K+ on mine and the only oil I've used is that wiped off the dip stick when I check it. You need help.

How many of the hours you put on your truck are idle hours? In cold weather (winter time in Montana) and leaving your truck at idle for long periods of time can produce blowby. Your engine does not get up to the proper temps to help the rings seal properly and you can start to blow oil past the rings and also build up carbon in your cylinders and valves. Do you run your truck hard when the engine is cold?
As mentioned ealier I would try to go back to the old oil you were using before and see if the aslo helps. It sounds like to the two may be connected. This also is a result of blowby. The synthetic (although great oil) can also make things to slippery and cause the oil to pass by your rings.

I have maybe 5 minutes of warm up if not plugged in and if plugged in I go. I just installed the high idle bypass and am using that now. Will that help prevent oil blow-by? No I dont run my rig hard when it is cold.

Why should I switch back to the old oil? I was using 15/40 Rotella up until yesterday and just yesterday I switched to syn 5/40.
Thanks
Ben

One other question is was your oil nice and hot when you drained it? I run mine at least a half hour around town with a heavy foot or 30 miles on the freeway before draining it. I'm sure since the Montana weather has turned cold finally that it is harder for you to get your truck warmed up properly.

Mine starts burning oil at about 4500+ miles. It burned scamsoil the worse.

Shell rotella synthetic the least.

Now I change it at about 6500 miles.

Its uses about 1-2 qts from 4800-6500.

Burning means the oil is breaking down.

Mine burns ZERO oil before 4500 miles.

It was not that hot. I drained her till she was dry. Maybe I am making a mountain over a mole hill here too. Thanks for all your help guys.
Ben

I now read through PCs reply and that does make me feel better. So if this is true for most out there, then how can they run 10K + miles before changing oil? They just add new/fresh to the dying oil? HMMMMMM
Ben

Stick with the synthetic. It is another old wives tale that synthetic burns more. The rings are seated before you drove the truck off the lot. It is Dec. 2004 not 1984 when we were still using straight cast iron rings and break in oil. Follow John's advice. Any engine burning oil will blow blue/white smoke and that much would probably gum up the pipe a little. Later! Frank

Stick with the synthetic. It is another old wives tale that synthetic burns more. The rings are seated before you drove the truck off the lot. It is Dec. 2004 not 1984 when we were still using straight cast iron rings and break in oil. Follow John's advice. Any engine burning oil will blow blue/white smoke and that much would probably gum up the pipe a little. Later! Frank
burning or not, my experience is that after a bunch of highway miles the oil level on my dipstick is down when I was using Rotella synthetic. Using dino oil I don't don't have the dropping oil level. The oil has to go someplace, I assume it goes out the tail pipe, either by going past the rings or through the pcv system (which is again out the tail pipe). I did not notice blue/white smoke. I gave up on synthetic and now use dino.

Jim

If I go past 5000, I start to burn a little. At my last change, at 7K plus, I was down about 1.5 quarts. I have been running Valvoline "Blue" Synthetic since 5K miles and currently at 45K.

45K miles on my truck.......... I have used Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15w-40 since the first oil change. The most I have had to add to the engine was 1/2 a quart between oil changes 5-7K intervals depending on how much towing I was doing. As others have mentioned, track oil usage by how much you "add" to keep it on the full mark on the dipstick, not by how much you drain out.

My truck burns oil--I have not added oil to see how much--but noticed it burns too two notches down on the stick--starts around 4k--two notches down at 5k.

This is using Amsoil 15W-40 and Delvac 1 5W-40 synthetics.

I am using Schaeffers now--will see but when you change oils--sometimes you get oil consumption.

There those that see oil burning and those that do not.

The problem I see--is that there is no oil burned for say 4k miles--then it starts burning after that--this to me indicates something has changed in the oil--I could be wrong.

Putting the high idle on your truck will help the engine to stay close to operating temps when parked. This will help prevent blowby.
I don't know about you guys but I don't look in my mirrors all the time to see what I passed or what my exhaust looks like. I do on ocasion look to see how much black smoke I am putting out as well to see any other possible problems, but if you are only burning a couple of quarts of oil in 5000 miles than it is not going to blow out black or white or blue or red smoke all the time and if or when it does blow it out it could be at night when you can not see it.
I for one have not noticed that much loss in oil on my truck but I only have about 13,000 miles on it.
I thought you had switched to the synthetic oil just before the 5000 mile journey.
I know people that have run their truck ('96 Ford) for 15,000 miles on RP synthetic (a dealer) and he did not loose any oil and when he took the heads off it looked like new. Synthetic oil is better than the dino oil for the most part, but there are cases that people have switched to syn. and started to have leaks. The syn is a lot more slippery and will not break down as fast as dino oil.
Stay with the synthetic if you feel it is not the reason for the loss. It is a much better oil. These engines are prone to wear whether or not it was made in the 80's or now.

These engines are prone to wear whether or not it was made in the 80's or now.
Yeah! Right!

When I idle I do notice alot of white/blue smoke. I can be idling normally or by my high idle. Any ideas? It is getting annoying and does not smell too good either.
Ben

Been running syn oils for a long time. I have purchased used vehicles and change from dino to syn and had zero problems a number of time. Had an old Dodge with the Cummins switched it at 130,000 to syn not a leak and nor did it consume it. Had 200,000 miles on it when I sold it, still not leaking or eating any oil. Have an old S-10 with the 4.3 that got switched to syn at 140,000 and it has 185,000 on it now and it eats about a quart every 15,000 miles. On the Gas motor it gets reqular filter replacements and oil changed every 25,000 or 12 months which ever come first. Just purchased a GMC with the Duramax and I switched that to syn and have so far put 3000 miles on that oil and am experiencing zero problems at all.

When I changed to syn. first load truck burned about a quart in 1000 miles. Worried me a little then it never changed level again. Maybe had to get broken in to it I dont know. Has not burned a drop since. Oil is changed about 6500 to 7000 miles.

I fill with mobil delvac 1 5-40. Spec sheet shows my truck to take 10 quarts, but to get it to the F mark on the dipstick I have to add at least 11 maybe closer to 12. Regardless, is it ok if I have burned a quart and then I add a different 5-40 fully synthetic oil on top of my delvac. sometimes at a truck stop or somewhere I need a quart but dont have access to my delvac.

I had a similar problem on my PSD but worse than yours so my comments are based on my experience with this engine and not the DMAX. I was going though a quart of oil every 200-300 miles! Before I figured out what was happening the engine used up enough oil to stall the motor due to losing oil pressure to drive the injectors.

There were at least two major areas the oil was going, and it was not on the ground. Nor was there any smoke from the tailpipe. Everyone said you'd see smoke if the oil was being burned in the cylinders. NOT TRUE.

1) Turbo bearing leak. The intercooler line was full of oil as a giveaway. An oily residue inside is normal but your finger came out wet with oil after cracking a line and sticking a finger in.

2) Injector failure. The high pressure oil was blowing through the injector into the cylinder and was being burned instead of diesel. NO SMOKE detected.

Just wanted to share this info in case it helps in some way.

Jeff

I do notice white/blue smoke alot. What does this mean?

Ben

Is it usually at idle or just after starting? If the motor has been shut off overnight there may be some pooling of the oil from the cyl walls which might burn off when starting. That is pretty normal on my DMAX. Some days are worse than others (like when it's colder). I think there is a TSB out for constant white smoke at idle (along with surging etc..) Usually mandates the reflash.

During idle. I smells like crap too. It can happen with the high idle or not. Any ideas?
Ben

Correct me if I am wrong, blue smoke indicates burning oil, white smoke indicates coolant leak or it could be for a short while during warming up periods when it is cold out. If you have alot of white smoke all the time you may have some other issues.
you may have a leak in the heads. When you start your truck the oil presure is high and the coolant pressure or temp is low so this may be why you are loosing oil. When your truck gets up to temp the coolant pressure is higher then the oil pressure so this could be why you are seeing white smoke.
This is just a guess. Maybe someone could clarify this.

It seems I have white smoke alot of the time, even when I am driving. Thanks for the input akdiesel. I am taking her in tomorrow AM and have removed the edge. I will let you guys know what I find.
Ben