I have a 97 F150 with a 4.6L 140K runs great, but uses oil. When I bought the truck the guy told me it used some oil, but I am using about a quart every 1000-1500 miles. He told me it mostly burned oil at start up. I noticed this a few times once I first got it, but since then I havent ever noticed it at start up. Any ideas on what could be wrong?

 

In my opinion that is not bad at all, in my experience I would call that perfectly normal. I'm sure others will have a different opinion.

 

^^^ True, I have a different opinion... 162,000 and not a drop used per oil change. Have you noticed smoke in exhaust? Do you see a leak? I have a remote filter under the bumper that had a compression fitting leaking because it was loose (about 4 years ago)... tightened it up and no probs since. If you have ruled everything else out, I would try a leak down test to see what kind of compression you have.

 

The simple fact is that some engines consume oil, others don't. My truck consumes oil sometimes, and not other times. I have yet to find the rhyme and reason to it.

Ford's official spec for excessive oil consumption is 1 quart in 900 miles. Anything less than that is, in fact, considered normal. If you went through 5 quarts in 5000 miles, it'd still be considered OK by Ford's specs.

-Joe

 

i have a 97 4.6 125k.not a drop of oil burned between changes. maybye you have really worn rings. all depends how previous owner treated her

 

Thats what I have been told. The truck runs great, decent mileage, and ok power, I was just suprised I guess that it burns oil. From my experience with 4.6's is there about bulittproof. I had a friend drive it the other day and put the accelerator to the floor at 30-60 and I was behind him and I didnt notice any smoke or smells. When I originally bought it from the PO he said it uses a little bit of oil and he said it does it when it starts up. I noticed this for a while when I bought it now I dont notice it any more

 

My truck uses a similar amount of oil and has for the last 150,000 miles with 0 ill effects. The truck currently has 305,000 miles on it. I've added well over 100 quarts of oil between oil changes. The converters are still original as are 2 of the O2 sensors. There is occasionally a puff of oil at start up, and I can smell a little oil in the exhaust if it idles more than 5-10 minutes. It still passes all emission testing and gets close to 20 mpg on the highway. It's just not worth putting money into a truck that is likely worth less than $5000 for something that really isn't an issue IMO and experiance.

 

wow! 305,000 ?? if that thing dies next week you got your moneys worth.those 4.6 are bulletproof