Added 4 qts. of oil! Where's it going?

[m5james]

Just consider your car as a 5000lb weedeater

[NJ04e53]

reading this makes me feel somewhat relieved that a 3.0 burns quite a bit of oil. Mine burns about 1 qt every 1000-1200 miles. I don't have any leaks that at least are visible. I thought my CCV was bad, but I brought it in to an indy shop today and was told that my CCV looks fairly new and is the updated cold climate version. I guess the dealer changed that too when they replaced cylinder head a year and half ago. So I just told the mech to do an oil change since I'm due for it anyway.

[jst2878]

Njo4, U mean PCV valve? That's one thing to look at

[1stE53]

Just FYI... I have only burned 3/5th of a quart of oil in a almost 6000 miles. So far so good

[NJ04e53]

No, I meant the oil separator. Apparently this was already changed to the new/updated cold weather version.

Originally Posted by jst2878

Njo4, U mean PCV valve? That's one thing to look at

[mark scheurer]

As another data point, I have over 100k on my 3.0i and change the oil every 10-15,000 miles, and over many years have found it uses about one quart per 7,500 miles, including all the leaks I have had and aggressively taken care of, even though they were minor.

I have replaced the oil separator, main seal, torque converter seal, oil filter housing gasket, and valve cover gasket which were all leaking oil. These are leaky engines when they get more than about 7 years old.

Mostly because of the skid plate, the car doesn't leave oil on the ground when it leaks and I think that a lot of people who are noting high oil usage are probably suffering from some leaks that haven't been addressed. If you're seeing a lot of oil loss, cleaning your motor and taking it to a good independent for a thorough inspection for leaks is a really good idea.

[1stE53]

Originally Posted by mark scheurer

As another data point, I have over 100k on my 3.0i and change the oil every 10-15,000 miles, and over many years have found it uses about one quart per 7,500 miles, including all the leaks I have had and aggressively taken care of, even though they were minor.

I have replaced the oil separator, main seal, torque converter seal, oil filter housing gasket, and valve cover gasket which were all leaking oil. These are leaky engines when they get more than about 7 years old.

Mostly because of the skid plate, the car doesn't leave oil on the ground when it leaks and I think that a lot of people who are noting high oil usage are probably suffering from some leaks that haven't been addressed. If you're seeing a lot of oil loss, cleaning your motor and taking it to a good independent for a thorough inspection for leaks is a really good idea.

Thank you for a bench mark. I now have almost 75k on my 3.0. I have added close to one quart in almost 9k miles. So i'm not feeling so bad. I will change mine at 10k so I can handle one quart in that time.

[4MoJoe]

Mine has not used oil since I got it. However about 2 months ago the check engine oil light started showing up randomly. I had my brakes replaced 6/29 and told them about the oil warning and indy mech said it was 2 quarts low. They refilled and sent me on my way.

On 7/3 I took a trip that ended up being about 950 miles round trip. Got home and a week later went to the mall and parked the car. Came out 30 mins later and started it and immediately got a warning message to turn off engine and check oil. Barely a drop on the dipstick. I was able to find within walking distance 1 quart of oil that matches watch indy uses and limp home. After indy mech looked at it they said it was 4 quarts low!

No leaks, they couldn't find anything significant (although not sure how thorough they were) and want to see what the usage is like from this point forward. I guess I don't understand why it went from not using oil to this huge usage. I will submit that I did pull my boat for that trip and maybe that had something to do with it. My thinking here is that the indy mech doesn't deal with many X5's at all so maybe there isn't the knowledge of issues like Oil Separator or valley pan gaskets if memory serves me right. Do you think it's worth a trip or call to the dealer? I don't want to get stuck with a diagnosis charge if they can't find anything. I do have my extended warranty which would help if it's something.

And of course after having it looked at for the oil problem I get in and the pixels in the MID are now missing and I don't understand why that happened so quickly either. Basically I'm peeved at the X right now and if it wasn't paid for...

[JCL]

Time to start doing accurate logging of how much oil it is using. Keep records, and check the oil level at every refueling.

Oil is either being burned in the combustion chamber, or is leaking.

Start with a sheet of newspaper under the X, and see if any leaks show up.

If it is being burned, you may see some smoke from the tailpipe (when the engine is warm - cold it is likely to be just condensation).

The oil separator is not a likely cause in this weather, as the problems happen when it freezes, but it bears checking.

[4MoJoe]

I should have remembered to check it when gassing up so I'll make that mental note - thanks! There isn't any leaking from the car itself, I park indoors and would see that fairly quickly and none so far. (knock on wood)