Oil....where is it going?
 

I have a 96F150, with a 302. I bought it with 79k on it. It is in pristine condition. I now have 82k on it, and it is using oil, qestions is, where is it going? the tailpipe is still so clean you can eat off it. dry as a bone underneath engine. It has what I believe to be, noisy valvetrain, but from what I hear this is normal with the 302. I don't drive it hard, and I want to get a lot of miles out of her. Anybody else's eat oil?
It has used a quart, about every 2k miles.
Thanks guys,
Rich

1 quart per 2,000 miles isn't that bad. Oil will sometimes volatize and a little will burn off and get drawn through valve guides and cause this. You may try switching to a full synthetic since it will resist volatizing better than a conventional oil. Superdave, another member here, had this happen to him on a couple of Aerostar vans. Once he switched, it stopped losing oil and he went well past 100,000 miles on each van. That may well cure your problems.

Only had 1 302 with 160k miles that did it, rebuilt it and it eliminated the consumption. I know alot of people who use Pennzoil, after awile, and it started burning almost immediately. None of my other 302's use any oil now.

What kinda oil you use? What weight?

I am using Penzoil 10w30, and a motorcraft filter. I heard that switching to synthetic, will loosen all the sludge in the motor now, and it will clog the oil pump.

I agree that 1 quart every 2,000 miles is not that bad and it is probably the valve guides.
A valve job would probably solve the problem.

The screen area on your oil pump is usually pretty big (altough the mesh is pretty fine) - it would take a lot of loose sludge to clog that. The oil filter should trap most the loose sluge, if any.

A switch to synthetic may or may not solve the oil consumption problem, but it would be interesting to find out.

[This message has been edited by dirt bike dave (edited 03-05-2000).]

You're not going to hurt anything by switching to synthetic, Rich. Also be aware Ford has issued a TSB recommending the use of 5W-30 oil in all of their engines, regardless of year of manufacture.

Would switching to 5w-30 after running 10w-30 its entire life hurt the engine? Specifically 88k and 140k?

No. I picked up a pamphlet from Citgo awhile back that addressed that. At operating temperature, 5W-30 and 10W-30 will behave alike, but in colder temperatures, specifically start up, 5W-30 is thinner and flows throughout your engine much quicker than 10W-30 will.

Good Deal...Thanks for the info!

Does anyone have the buletin about the 5w30 thing. I know with the 351 5w30 is recommended.

Found this at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Service Bulletin Number: 99816
Bulletin Sequence Number: 642
Date of Bulletin: 9905
NHTSA Item Number: SB606420
Make: FORD TRUCK
Model: F150
Year: 1995
Component: ENGINE
Summary: FORD MOTOR COMPANY NOW RECOMMENDS SAE 5W-30 VISCOSITY GRADE FOR SERVICING ANY FORD GASOLINE-POWERED VEHICLE REGARDLESS OF MODEL YEAR. *TT

BTW - in my experience, pushrod engines w/ high miles are much more likely to burn oil than overhead cam engines. I think the rocker arms in the pushrod engines put a side ways force on the valves which wears the valve guides more than an OHC. Anyone else have the same experience?

I also have a 302, 94'. I use 10w30 and am using a quart/1000 miles. I also have what I believe is a pinging. There is no signs of burnt oil in the exhaust. I am going to try the 5w30, and see if this helps, if not I will try the synthetic. If possible let me know what you experience with the 5w30 or the synthetic.
Thanks,
Pacat1

5W30 is thinnner oil, wouldn't that make an older engine more noisier? I was thinking of running 10w40 for the summer. Who knows, I may be buying a moped with the way this gas BULLSH** is going!!

Negative. 5W-30 is thinner at START UP when it's cold (it's what you need to get flowing throughout your engine). When it reaches operating temperatures it acts just like 10W-30 (both 30 weight oils). If you use 10W-40 it will decrease your fuel economy slightly since it's thicker at operating temperature.