97 4.6L with over 183,000 miles is starting to burn a little oil. Any advice? Thanks for the help!

DixiethundeR

 

how much oil are you burning?

 

Not sure exactly. At every oil change oil is at bottom of dip stick.

 

are you noticing any smoke out the tail pipe?

 

Before you can get concerned - you need to do 2 things.

1. Determine exactly how much is burning - miles per quart. With 183k, I'd expect a quart every 3k or so.
2. Look for leaks.

 

Make sure your pcv system (valve, hoses, elbows) are in good condition.

 

In a thread similar to this I posted, the general consensus seemed to be "Burning" vs "consuming" ... Burning is not normal and means there is a problem with the engine.. Consuming is normally, within lower tolerances as glc mentioned, a normal occurrence of higher mileage engines..
So as glc also said, determine at what rate your losing oil, then pair that with information like any funny smells, leaks, or smoke in exhaust..

 

Personally I think at the bottom of the stick at oil change is a little much. Thats two or more quarts.

My guess is you are leaking some as well.
Honestly I have had good luck with using a quart of Rislone to replace a quart of regular oil at change. It is a very high detergent oil. It can un stick rings, lifters and such. Or you can put in a cup of K1 or diesel fuel. It will do the same thing.

 

Not necessarily. It depends on how many quarts are used at the oil change, and where that appears on the stick. I use the recommended 6 quarts, and it only brings mine about 1/3 of the way up the hatches. When it hits the ADD line, it's used considerably less than 1 quart.

Questions that have to be asked........

Exactly where is the oil on the stick after an oil change in relation to the FULL and ADD lines?
When you say the "bottom of the stick", exactly where is that in relation to the ADD line?
How many miles between oil changes?
What brand, type, and grade of oil are you using?

 

Just keep it full and put another 183k on it.

 

 

It does smoke some under hard acceleration. Have not noticed any leaks. At next oil change I will make a note of where oil is on stick when full, it's never at top of full line with 6 qts. Oil is Valvoline 10w30 maxlife.

 

That is not the correct grade of oil for your engine.

 

The correct grade of oil is 5w20 or 5w30. I use 5w30 with great results and will not touch syn. It is normal for you to use some oil esspacial with that many miles.