antwaan

OK I went to leave today and it was down half a quart of oil which is weird because I've barely ever had to add oil, and the last time I took it out, I checked and it was full. I added oil and reved it to about 2500 and let it drop and when it got to about 1300 the car vibrated a bit(never happened) like i was going over a couple of those things on the side of the highway. After I let it run for a few mins I noticed this smell coming from it that was like some type of hot burning smell. the exhaust smelled funny and there was a significant amount of a water trail from the tailpipes when i gave it gas. its got just at 100k on the motor all stock. Its my dd and I've never had any motor issues but I'm afraid something is wrong and I dont want to drive it. Everything seems to be connected and all the fluids are up. I haven't drivin it hard at all recently, just a few trips on the weekends(I'm in college). Please help me if you have any idea. thanks

cliffyk

I think mostly you are having a bit of a paranoia attack.

How many miles (and months) since you last changed the oil, how often (miles/months) do you generally change to oil, how many miles/month do you normally drive?

Also, letting machines sit is never a good thing--if you only get to drive it on weekends make sure that drive is at least 40 to 60 miles including some runs on the highway (and not taking your time at the on-ramps).

antwaan

cliffy- i changed the oil 2 months/1,000 miles ago. the last time I dove it it was an hour and half drive mixed with hills, speed up slow down, in town driving, and high way driving.

antwaan

Well, i just topped the oil off and let it idle to make sure it was good. checked and no leaks. took it about 3 miles down the road and when i got back the exhaust smelled bad and it was already down at least 1/4 quart. laid underneath it while it was on and while it was cooling and no signs of leaks.

cliffyk

Ford says in the shop manual that 1qt in 1000 miles is normal--this is mostly because of the ****-thin oil recommendation, it may lubricate OK but it does get burned up faster on higher mileage engines.

I run 10W-30 synthetic here in Florida and at 77k miles it is still not using any noticable amount in 2500-3000 miles--my change interval. When I do see that it's using 1/2 qt per 1000 miles I will probably fill it up with 20W-50 Valvoline MaxLife.

I know I will get flamed for such heretical remarks, please be aware I do not get into pissing matches over oil selection--particularly with those who do not know squat about SAE oil classifications, and seem to feel that 5W-20 is the perfect selection for all of the continental US, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands...

cliffyk

This (down 1/4 qt after filling and running a bit) doesn't mean anything, you need to let the engine sit for at least 10 minutes for the oil to drian back down into the pan--here's the shop manual procedure for checking oil consumption.

Also, if you were burning 1/4 qt in 3 miles the neighbors would think the mosquito fogging truck had just gone through, there would be a cloud that would take 3 hours to dissipate...

antwaan

Yeah but the fact that its used about a quart in 3 hours of driving and i can smell something wrong isn't normal. thanks for that link btw

cliffyk

You said 3 miles in the previous post--whatever, freakout all you want...

antwaan

I forgot to mention last weekend before I drove it, it was all the way full.

antwaan

Is it possible it could be leaking while driving, just not at idle? I checked the tail pipes and bumper and no sign of oil. I know it should be burning some, just not go from full to down so much from a weekend of driving.