For those interested in oil consumption issues
06-17-2007, 05:46 PM
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For those interested in oil consumption issues
The short version:
Every vehicle I've ever owned has used about a quart of oil per 1k miles. This includes 8 motorcycles and probablythe same number of cars...some purchased new. For years, I thought I just had bad luck in getting oil burners, but have recently begun to believe otherwise. I'm gaining increasing information pointing to the fact that my high oil consumption is due to my driving style. This oil change, I've been try a new technique in driving my 5speed, that seems to be having a dramatic effect on decreasing my oil consumption. In normal driving, Iused tofavor higher rpms over anything resembling lugging the engine. What that means is if I wastooling around town, I would typically always select a gear that would allow me to keep the revs around 2500. I generally shifted at or just below 3k rpms, usinglight throttle. In short, I spent a lot of time in higher rpm, light throttle situations. Also, I think my decel habits, driving in this way, may have played a huge part in my oil consumption.
At any rate, as I've mentioned, I've always burned exactly a quart per 1k miles. For the past 500 miles, however, I have employed this new driving style. I short shift all the time now, in normal driving (unless I need power). I shift around 2200 rpms, if I don't need to accelerate quickly. But what seems to be having the most effect is that I now opt to cruise at 1800 versus 2400 rpms in light throttle conditions. This causes me to have to use slightly bigger throttle openings at lower rpms, flaring the piston rings harder against the cylinder walls, and lowering manifold pressure. Finally, during deceleration, my rpms are always lower, since I'm in a higher gear than usual, relative to vehicle speed. These changes in my driving style have made it so that,checking my oil 500 miles after my last change, I have used practically no oil; whereas I would have normally used a half quart. Lately, I have been doing some reading on oil consumption and ring flutter. One article I've read was this one, concerning Vettes--real interesting to anyone having oil consumption in spite of great cylinder compression in a strong running engine. I'm thinking this information may be applicable to other engines using low tension rings...like 5.0s. Anyone, please share any thoughts you might have on the subject. Thanks.
http://www.idavette.net/hib/02ls6/page5.htm
Every vehicle I've ever owned has used about a quart of oil per 1k miles. This includes 8 motorcycles and probablythe same number of cars...some purchased new. For years, I thought I just had bad luck in getting oil burners, but have recently begun to believe otherwise. I'm gaining increasing information pointing to the fact that my high oil consumption is due to my driving style. This oil change, I've been try a new technique in driving my 5speed, that seems to be having a dramatic effect on decreasing my oil consumption. In normal driving, Iused tofavor higher rpms over anything resembling lugging the engine. What that means is if I wastooling around town, I would typically always select a gear that would allow me to keep the revs around 2500. I generally shifted at or just below 3k rpms, usinglight throttle. In short, I spent a lot of time in higher rpm, light throttle situations. Also, I think my decel habits, driving in this way, may have played a huge part in my oil consumption.
At any rate, as I've mentioned, I've always burned exactly a quart per 1k miles. For the past 500 miles, however, I have employed this new driving style. I short shift all the time now, in normal driving (unless I need power). I shift around 2200 rpms, if I don't need to accelerate quickly. But what seems to be having the most effect is that I now opt to cruise at 1800 versus 2400 rpms in light throttle conditions. This causes me to have to use slightly bigger throttle openings at lower rpms, flaring the piston rings harder against the cylinder walls, and lowering manifold pressure. Finally, during deceleration, my rpms are always lower, since I'm in a higher gear than usual, relative to vehicle speed. These changes in my driving style have made it so that,checking my oil 500 miles after my last change, I have used practically no oil; whereas I would have normally used a half quart. Lately, I have been doing some reading on oil consumption and ring flutter. One article I've read was this one, concerning Vettes--real interesting to anyone having oil consumption in spite of great cylinder compression in a strong running engine. I'm thinking this information may be applicable to other engines using low tension rings...like 5.0s. Anyone, please share any thoughts you might have on the subject. Thanks.
http://www.idavette.net/hib/02ls6/page5.htm
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