My car lost about 0.6 quarts of oil after driving about 1200 miles from MD to Toronto, Canada and back in 3 days. I owned this car for almost 2 years and i ve never noticed any oil loss during my oil changes until i checked my oil after i came back from canada.

And i drove continously (engine never turned off) from MD to Canada which is about 10hrs one way.

Is the long driving time normal for 0.6 quarts oil loss or i m suddenly begining to burn oil??

 

Did you notice anything unusual during the trip? 0.6 q is like 2 cups. I'd say that would be a bit much. I don't burn that much and I'm approaching 265,000 miles. I didn't burn anywhere near that much on an NC/Fl/NC trip

 

i didnt notice anything unsuall at all during the trip. I sure hope my car isnt start to die on me (its only 113K old)

 

Here's a dumb question. Did you check it BEFORE you went on the trip? Or did you just get in and drive?

 

I changed my oil right b4 leaving the trip. I m pretty sure it was full.

 

Well, you COULD do a compression check to see all's ok.
Otherwise monitor it closely for a while tho to see if it happens again, then go from there. Maybe check to see if the same weight oil was used in the oil change, but even then that shouldn't make it burn that much over a long distance trip. I'm sure others will have other viewpoints.

 

.6 qts. in 1200 miles? Completely normal, BUT - check for an oil leak around the oil pressure switch and around the valve cover gaskets. If everything is dry, don't worry about it. There is nothing wrong with your car.

I do question the six tents measurement.............

 

no oil leak around the oil pressure switch, but tiny bit of sweating around my front valve cover gasket, but it has been like that since i got the car.

My .6 measuerment comes from looking at the dip stick and the oil mark is abit under the half mark with in the cross hatchs on the dipstick indicating "Ok oil level"

 

AWW man!! I thought you'd actually MEASURED it!!! go drive the car!!! lol

 

my oil loss still puzzles me...

 

weather conditions, speed and driving style all play a factor. If you're really worried about it, then go ahead and do the compression test.

 

Did you do the oil change yourself? Perhaps the right volume of oil wasn't added in the first place. I add 4 litres which is about 4.25 US quarts.

Do two AutoRX treatments. That will clean your crankcase, ring packs and engine internals as well as rejuvenate seals and minimize the potential for leaks. See www.auto-rx.com and the Additives forum on www.bobistheoilguy.com

 

1/2qt in 1200 miles is a fair amount. better to leak oil than to burn it. if you've never noticed this level of oil leakage and/or consumption before, it could be related to the viscosity of the oil you just put in (not all 5W30s are the same). a thinner oil will tend to leak out or get past rings/valve seals easier. plus, continuous driving will keep the oil thinner longer (but will also keep the rings sealed better - so it's a bit of a tradeoff).

some other things you can check:
1) main seals...
- check the front one by getting under the car, pulling off the plastic under-trim, and pointing a flashlight in the area of the harmonic balancer (main crank shaft pulley). you might see leakage in that general area.
- check the back one by inspecting the area near the weep hole and inspection plate near where the bellhousing mates to the engine block. you might find leakage there.
2) perform a compression test -- you should do this anytime you suspect oil consumption. you can do this yourself - but you should follow the FSM procedure (don't just buy a gauge, stick it in, and start cranking -- there's more to it than that). if you have low compression, you should be able to determine if it's rings or valves (or head gasket) by adding a little oil down the plug tube and checking again.
3) if you do have low compression due to sticky rings (which I doubt since you did not notice consumption before) then you might try autoRX as noted above. it is supposed to clean ring packs.

 

You have a 3.5 dont you

 

i ve been using the same oil since i bought the car, which is castrol gtx 5w30 HM, which is a pretty thick 5w30 oil. I ll go ahead and prob do a compression test when weather gets warmer, although the car still feels just as peppy as before.