2016 gt vanishing oil level

[Blauplow]

Ive done a search and no one has posted results that I could find of people with similar issues of having to constantly add oil. So here is my story

at 2100 miles I did the first oil change and the level was at the bottom of the XXXX on the dipstick

at around 3500 miles I had to add 1qt

5000 miles level was at the bottom of the XXXX again and I did oil change #2 and filled to the top of XXXX, checked with engine cold

now I am at 6600 miles and it is just below the XXXX wit the engine cold. I added one qt and it’s at XXX 75%

I do notice about a 2 XX difference between hot and cold, is this normal? Are you supposed to check hot or cold?

I do have the ford racing catch can and there's barely ever any oil in there.

I feel like this is one of those things the dealer wont be able to trouble shoot, especially since I do my own oil changes.

Does anyone have advice, things to check, things to have the dealer check?
Plugs?
compression?
valves?

I use 5W-20 motorcraft full synthetic and have never seen a drip of oil on the floor nor does it smoke at all

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[GritzNGravy]

That seems a bit excessive for having to add oil, but I could very well see the dealer calling it normal. Ive never had to add any oil between changes, do them every 3-4k miles. Done several times now myself. Currently 2k miles in on my oil change and checked it 2 hours after a good drive today and it was at the very top of the xxxx. My upr catch can get like 1 tbsp of oil every 500 miles.

Ive been having a noise and wasn't completely sure if it was the tranny or the engine, so today for peace of mind i did a compression check and looked at all the plugs. All the plugs looked great, no signs of any oil, gaps were good, no wear. All cylinders were close to 230 psi also. It was a really easy job. I don't like to bring my car to the dealer, so if it were me id check the plugs look for signs of oil burning at the least.

 

[Blauplow]

dealer said it sounded excessive so they want me to bring it in, have them top it off, seal off the oil cap, and bring it in every 1000 miles to record the oil consumption for 3000 miles.

 

[csmaan12]

This may sound stupid but are you measuring how much oil is coming out when you change the oil. I don't know if it's the low viscosity of the oil or something else (used 5W40 in my other car), but it's hard to get a good reading on the dipstick of this car. I check mine cold inside the garage where it's flat and the smooth side of the dipstick will indicate at full while the XXXX side of the dipstick will show half. Dip it again to check then the opposite becomes true, dip a third time then they both show full. You can literally do it all day and get different results.

 

[Blauplow]

This may sound stupid but are you measuring how much oil is coming out when you change the oil. I don't know if it's the low viscosity of the oil or something else (used 5W40 in my other car), but it's hard to get a good reading on the dipstick of this car. I check mine cold inside the garage where it's flat and the smooth side of the dipstick will indicate at full while the XXXX side of the dipstick will show half. Dip it again to check then the opposite becomes true, dip a third time then they both show full. You can literally do it all day and get different results.

I don’t measure the oil coming out. But I’m always able to duplicate my reAding and I document the gradual decrease as miles go up. Also I’ll chalk my dipstick every once and a while to verify I’m getting an absolute true reading.

 

[BluePonyGT]

The best time to check the oil in your car is when it's hot, but sitting for a good 10 minutes or so with the engine off. That's because the oil is hot, and flows faster - less viscous. The next best time is when it's cold sitting there - overnight or whatever. Either way the point is the engine hasn't ran for a while. That's because you want as much oil as possible in the pan when you check it to get an accurate reading.

check it on a flat surface. Pull the dipstick, wipe it down, put it all the way in until the dipstick 'clicks'. Pull it out again and have a look. Since the dipstick tube bends as it goes down toward the pan the easiest way to put the dipstick in is with the XXXX marks facing up. If you leave it like that it's easy to get in/out and should give you the same reading every time.

It should be right at the top of the XXXX section. Period.

So what you're describing doesn't make sense. You did your first oil change at 2100 miles? Was there a reason for that? Adding a quart 1400 miles later seems way off. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything - just trying to help, so here's my theory:

1. You're not checking your oil right, so you decided to do an oil change for some reason @2100 miles b/c it seemed super low to you. I'm guessing you checked it right after you shut the engine off sitting at a gas station or whatever. Or even worse you checked it with the engine running, which tells you nothing.
2. You changed your oil and you used an empty filter after you drained the oil and pulled the old filter. You filled it to the top of the XXX mark and called it good.
3. The next time you checked your oil you thought you were a quart low.

What the oil level is at once you put fresh oil in doesn't mean much until you run the engine for a couple of minutes, shut it off, let it sit for a while (few minutes), then check it again. You should have seen it was WAY down. The oil system pulls oil from the pan, fills the filter, then up to the top end of your engine, but if the filter is initially empty (and it will be when it's new) you'll put a bunch of oil in that thing, so you're actually starving your engine of oil after that first oil change. You probably did the same thing on the 2nd oil change. And I'm wiling to bet you didn't need to do the first oil change in the first place b/c you're not checking it right.

 

[hiccup]

This may sound stupid but are you measuring how much oil is coming out when you change the oil. I don't know if it's the low viscosity of the oil or something else (used 5W40 in my other car), but it's hard to get a good reading on the dipstick of this car. I check mine cold inside the garage where it's flat and the smooth side of the dipstick will indicate at full while the XXXX side of the dipstick will show half. Dip it again to check then the opposite becomes true, dip a third time then they both show full. You can literally do it all day and get different results.

You're not kidding. .I got to where I just add the 8 quarts at the change and just check that it's anywhere on the stick lol.

 

[Blauplow]

The best time to check the oil in your car is when it's hot, but sitting for a good 10 minutes or so with the engine off. That's because the oil is hot, and flows faster - less viscous. The next best time is when it's cold sitting there - overnight or whatever. Either way the point is the engine hasn't ran for a while. That's because you want as much oil as possible in the pan when you check it to get an accurate reading.

check it on a flat surface. Pull the dipstick, wipe it down, put it all the way in until the dipstick 'clicks'. Pull it out again and have a look. Since the dipstick tube bends as it goes down toward the pan the easiest way to put the dipstick in is with the XXXX marks facing up. If you leave it like that it's easy to get in/out and should give you the same reading every time.

It should be right at the top of the XXXX section. Period.

So what you're describing doesn't make sense. You did your first oil change at 2100 miles? Was there a reason for that? Adding a quart 1400 miles later seems way off. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything - just trying to help, so here's my theory:

1. You're not checking your oil right, so you decided to do an oil change for some reason @2100 miles b/c it seemed super low to you. I'm guessing you checked it right after you shut the engine off sitting at a gas station or whatever. Or even worse you checked it with the engine running, which tells you nothing.
2. You changed your oil and you used an empty filter after you drained the oil and pulled the old filter. You filled it to the top of the XXX mark and called it good.
3. The next time you checked your oil you thought you were a quart low.

What the oil level is at once you put fresh oil in doesn't mean much until you run the engine for a couple of minutes, shut it off, let it sit for a while (few minutes), then check it again. You should have seen it was WAY down. The oil system pulls oil from the pan, fills the filter, then up to the top end of your engine, but if the filter is initially empty (and it will be when it's new) you'll put a bunch of oil in that thing, so you're actually starving your engine of oil after that first oil change. You probably did the same thing on the 2nd oil change. And I'm wiling to bet you didn't need to do the first oil change in the first place b/c you're not checking it right.

I changed the oil at 2100 because I bought the car used and it still had its original break in oil in it. When ever I do an oil change it gets filled to the top of the XXXX AFTER allowing it to run briefly filling the filter. And I always check it after the first drive after a change for assurance. I check the oil two ways and always on a flat surface in my garage. 1 Completely cold in the morning and 2 while it’s hot after sitting for 10ish minutes. I guarantee you I know how to check my oil.

 

[csmaan12]

Your not kidding. .I got to where I just add the 8 quarts at the change and just check that it's anywhere on the stick lol.

Same here. Last time I saw my dipstick at showing half on one side and full on the smooth side, I added a bit of oil to get it to show full. Again I reiterate I was parked in a flat garage. When I changed my oil, I ended up draining 8.5 meaning the 8qts were there reading as half full on the stick, and I added 0.5 for nothing basically.

 

[BluePonyGT]

I changed the oil at 2100 because I bought the car used and it still had its original break in oil in it. When ever I do an oil change it gets filled to the top of the XXXX AFTER allowing it to run briefly filling the filter. And I always check it after the first drive after a change for assurance. I check the oil two ways and always on a flat surface in my garage. 1 Completely cold in the morning and 2 while it’s hot after sitting for 10ish minutes. I guarantee you I know how to check my oil.

Cool - since you were asking "hot or cold?" I was wondering...

So my theory is garbage. Not sure what to say then. It has to be going somewhere. If the engine isn't consuming it then it has to be leaking.

 

[Blauplow]

Cool - since you were asking "hot or cold?" I was wondering...

So my theory is garbage. Not sure what to say then. It has to be going somewhere. If the engine isn't consuming it then it has to be leaking.

I was asking hot or cold because I get a significant difference in this car that I’ve never seen in any other based on temp. Maybe because it’s 8qts and will expand that much more? But their are no external leaks. My floor and the undercarriage of the car are spotless.

 

[DickR]

Manual or automatic?

Do you tend to use the lower gears even for steady speeds (if Bay Area traffic allows) and do you use the transmission for "engine braking"? For example if manual what is your typical gear for 50 mph driving? A lot of higher revs driving or engine braking sometimes can cause more oil consumption. My 15 never needed oil between roughly 5000 mile oil changes despite lots of high rev autocrossing but most of the 31K miles I drove it were in 6th gear at 60 - 75 mph.

Do you do a lot of short trip driving? Sometimes a lot of short trip driving can result in more oil consumption per miles driven.

 

[Blauplow]

Manual or automatic?

Do you tend to use the lower gears even for steady speeds (if Bay Area traffic allows) and do you use the transmission for "engine braking"? For example if manual what is your typical gear for 50 mph driving? A lot of higher revs driving or engine braking sometimes can cause more oil consumption. My 15 never needed oil between roughly 5000 mile oil changes despite lots of high rev autocrossing but most of the 31K miles I drove it were in 6th gear at 60 - 75 mph.

Do you do a lot of short trip driving? Sometimes a lot of short trip driving can result in more oil consumption per miles driven.

Its a 6 speed, mostly only short trips as its my grocery getter/gym car. If im at a steady speed ill shift into whatever highest gear possible for the speed. And I always downshift as im slowing down aka engine braking. I drive this car no different than my other last 10+ manual trans sports cars and Ive never had an oil consumption issue.

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