I have accepted this from day one but I don't know if it is normal or not. Is there a consensus on this?

Greg

 

My 2001 does the same thing. I have checked for leaks and I park in a garage every night. I have just accepted it and add a quart b/w changes.

 

same deal here, never seen a leak either.

 

Same here 97 5.4, 146 Thousand miles. Really started noticing it around 100K.

5.4's in our work vans do it also.

 

It's pretty normal for alot of engines (not just the 5.4 or Fords) to use some oil between oil changes.

Mine uses somewhere between 1/2 and 1qt between 3k mile changes.

 

Mine uses about a quart to every 3k and that is using synthetic.
I know Ford says for their engines that if they use a quart in as little as 1k miles is normal. And Ford says they do not burn oil, but rather use the oil.

Sled...

 

My 01 5.4L with 60K (uses) a quart every 3000. Always has.

Previous 4.6 used maybe a half pint every 3000.

Almost all of my GM's cars and trucks never used any oil even with high mileage. But everybody know fords use gas and oil.

Hard to beat the General in mileage horsepower and longevity.

 

Me too, 1 Qt each change, no smoke, runs great. but since almost new its done that

 

I have a 98 Exppy with 69000 and it uses about 1 quart every 3000 also. I heard something about the over head cam engines using oil. I also have a 97 Mustang GT and it does about the same with oil every 3000. No leaks with either vehicle. 5.4 in the Exppy. I know it is a stupid excuse but its the only one I've heard!

 

My 2000 5.4 uses a qt. in about 2500 miles. I switched to Mobil 1 at about 10k. Didn't make any difference. Didn't expect it to. My truck has 83k on it and I bought it new.
My theory is that Ford is probably using low tension rings for higher efficiency.
My last truck, a 94 with a 5.0 burned no oil. Actaully it burned a little until about 35k and the rings finished seating. After that I could run it 5k with synthetic and it would still be full. I traded it with 94k on it. Should have put another 100k on it.
A lot if GM engines do the same. The Cadillac Northstar engines use oil.

 

Northstar is not a "GM" engine, the car and powertrain are GM, but Northstar builds the engines.

 

My 2004 FX4 doesn't burn any yet, but probably will as time goes by.

My 2000 4.2L burned about 1/2 a quart every 3,000 miles, but only after I got about 45,000 miles on the odometer, it didn't burn any before then.

My 1990 Geo Storm GSI burned about 1 quart for every 1,000 miles, which is the accepted extreme of normal. I almost thought it was a 2 cycle motor that needed to consume oil to work

 

1 qt in 3k miles is pretty good IMO..... What, a QT of Mobil 1 costs $4.50..... BFD.... I like the fact that I add a fresh QT of M1 at 3k miles and then go another 3k miles and change the oil...... As long as it's not 1 qt every 1k miles, you are doing fine.....

If the Chevy's don't use any oil between changes, and that's what you want to drive, well, why did you get a Ford???

Remember the old Ford 390's?? They use so much oil (leaks mostly), that there was one point when my Dad did not even need to change the oil in his 1971 F250!! He just kept adding a qt every two weeks and that was his oil change schedule.... Oh, he would change the filter every now and then....... He eventually swapped out that engine for a "new" one and he still owns that truck to this day and it still leaks.....