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Oil Catch Can Results - Please comment on my oil usage

UnhandledException

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I have installed the UPR oil catch can and after exactly 131 miles, I got about 3 oz of oil out of it. For those 131 miles, I did about 5-6 8200 rpm runs on 2nd and 3rd and rest of it was combined highway driving as well as city driving at high rpm.

Some data points about my oil usage:

- Recently got back from a 2300 mile road trip where during the entire 2300 miles, I had to add only 1/2 qt of oil. During this trip, I was on 6th 95% of the time mainly because I was afraid of braking the car in the middle of nowhere with my wife and daughter in the car PLUS i wanted to have a challenge about gas mileage. Well, car did great and I got 21.8 mpg that entire time averaged.

- Before or after the road trip, I usually add about half a quart per 500-600 miles. Sometimes less sometimes more. I drive the car usually at high rpm, I keep it in its power band even in traffic (around 3200-3700 rpm, and barely 6th on highway). I shift around 5500-6500 rpm vey often and get close to redline once a day at least.

I am just concerned about all the oil that came from the catch can. 3 oz in 130 miles means about 10 oz in 500 miles, thats almost half a quart. Is my engine leaking and will have a long term reliability issue?

If I were to track this car and track it hard, I think I would have to stop and check for oil level?:(
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firestarter2

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I had about half that(1.5 to 2 ounces) after id guess 600 miles with 2.5 Hrs of track time. So that seems like quite a lot to me.

Are you sure you are not over filling the car?
 
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Stoked

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This is how much I collected (and what the oil looked like) in mine after 3000 miles of installation. That included a long distance drive (1800 miles), a high speed run through the mountains and roughly 10 autocross runs.

My oil was changed just after the install of the cans and looked to be just under the full line when I took the can off to empty it.

This is an 8 oz coffee cup, I didn't measure this exactly but I estimate this to be about 1.5-2 oz
oil 1.jpg
oil 2.jpg
 

Hack

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My understanding is that you should never be adding partial quarts to the car. You should only add oil if it's below the bottom mark on the dipstick and then add a full quart to bring it up between the marks.

I think our cars will use oil if they are over-filled, and trying to keep the oil level at the top mark constitutes over-filling for many GT350s.
 
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UnhandledException

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I changed my oil 50 miles before I installed the catch can and I added 10 qt full and it was right at full mark. I didnt add any oil after that and installed catch can.

However, during my 2300 mile trip (this is before the catch can or oil change), I added half a qt before I was leaving for home (so the second leg), it was right above the low mark maybe 1-2mm and I didnt want to add full qt because I was afraid of overfilling.

Are you saying waiting for the oil to go BELOW the low mark is safe for the engine? Also by definition that means once you add 1 qt, it will always still be below the max mark never right at max mark.
 

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firestarter2

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I changed my oil 50 miles before I installed the catch can and I added 10 qt full and it was right at full mark. I didnt add any oil after that and installed catch can.

However, during my 2300 mile trip (this is before the catch can or oil change), I added half a qt before I was leaving for home (so the second leg), it was right above the low mark maybe 1-2mm and I didnt want to add full qt because I was afraid of overfilling.

Are you saying waiting for the oil to go BELOW the low mark is safe for the engine? Also by definition that means once you add 1 qt, it will always still be below the max mark never right at max mark.
How are you measuring? is it always the same place? Is the ground level?

No you should be above the low mark
 
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UnhandledException

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EDIT: I just realized its actually 1.5 oz not 3.0, the bottle I used is smaller than i thought. I m guessing its still a lot for 131 miles
 
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UnhandledException

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How are you measuring? is it always the same place? Is the ground level?

No you should be above the low mark
I measure it on my 4 post lift which is dead level on all sides.

If you are above the low mark and add 1 qt, that will mean you will overfill. It takes exactly 1 qt to go from min to max mark.
 

DocWalt

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Are you measuring warm (run car, park it and wait 15 minutes) or cold? I noticed a HUGE difference when measuring it cold, to the point I was worried about oil usage. I warmed the car up and checked again and it was right at the full line still.

My point being, if you're checking it cold you're likely massively overfilled and the oil you're seeing in the catch can is the result.
 

GT_Dave

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Are you saying waiting for the oil to go BELOW the low mark is safe for the engine?
These 5.2 engines can go down 3 to 4 quarts and you won't see any negative effects, loss of oil pressure or temperature increases. You still have more oil in the system than most other engines on the road. The 10 quart capacity was designed primarily to support extreme conditions and track use. The oil pan was designed to control the oil turbulence and keep it in the pan. Also, for normal street driving there is no reason to shift beyond 3500 RPM in 1st thru 4th gear, that would help significantly with the oil consumption issues. If your cruising around at 3500 - 4000 RPM and winding out constantly, oil consumption will be high.
 

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My understanding is that you should never be adding partial quarts to the car. You should only add oil if it's below the bottom mark on the dipstick and then add a full quart to bring it up between the marks.

I think our cars will use oil if they are over-filled, and trying to keep the oil level at the top mark constitutes over-filling for many GT350s.
Not sure why this would be true. I'm in the 1/2 quart club as the oil level gets close to but not at the lower mark for a couple of reasons. First, oil consumption is variable depending on how you drive so as it gets close I'm a little uneasy taking a chance on it getting too far below and I don't want to overfill. Although there may well be a margin of safety as someone suggested, there are more than a few engine failures that seem to go along with low oil levels. Two, it can be a pita to check the oil level given the dip stick location and amount of ambient light so I'd rather just do a partial fill if I'm unsure I'll get to it when it's close. Three, there must be a reason the oil comes in screw top quarts.:) BTW I'm using a quart every 3k because I haven't figure out how to keep this car in the lower rpm range.
 

Trackaholic

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I've been documenting my oil changes and catch can fill on this thread:
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45304

Page four is where the oil stuff starts.

In general, I loose a quart every 1800 miles or so. I don't see nearly that much in the catch can (although I do catch a large amount), and I don't see any drips under the car, so the engine must be burning some. Exhaust pipes have a little soot, but I never see (or smell) oil smoke in the exhaust.

Three ounces doesn't seem too bad to me.

-T
 

chitlins37

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My understanding is that you should never be adding partial quarts to the car. You should only add oil if it's below the bottom mark on the dipstick and then add a full quart to bring it up between the marks.

I think our cars will use oil if they are over-filled, and trying to keep the oil level at the top mark constitutes over-filling for many GT350s.

+1....Have agreed with Hack's sentiment here for some time on this topic as my oil level (cold) has consistently been very slightly above the bottom hole since I first checked it at 900mi. I am now at 2500mi. But I do not cruise around at high RPMs just for kicks either...I dont care what the redline is that is not a great idea. When I get after it it is with purpose and sure 6-8k RPM is in play, when I'm cruising I shift when the engine asks between 3-4k RPM.

As for checking the level being a pain there was a nice thread about this with several tips to make it easier. The one I have taken to was an 'old school' method of simply pulling the stick when the engine is cold and laying flat on a paper towel. Then move the stick above or below the original position and check where the oil line is against where the holes are....works like a charm.
 

Hack

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Not sure why this would be true. I'm in the 1/2 quart club as the oil level gets close to but not at the lower mark for a couple of reasons. First, oil consumption is variable depending on how you drive so as it gets close I'm a little uneasy taking a chance on it getting too far below and I don't want to overfill. Although there may well be a margin of safety as someone suggested, there are more than a few engine failures that seem to go along with low oil levels. Two, it can be a pita to check the oil level given the dip stick location and amount of ambient light so I'd rather just do a partial fill if I'm unsure I'll get to it when it's close. Three, there must be a reason the oil comes in screw top quarts.:) BTW I'm using a quart every 3k because I haven't figure out how to keep this car in the lower rpm range.
I formed my opinion based on my experience with my car. When I first purchased the car I was nervous if the oil level dropped below full, and I added some oil once or maybe twice to try to keep it at that top level. Then I later just kept monitoring the level and I've found my oil level likes to be pretty much in the middle between the two marks on the dip stick. My car doesn't seem to use any oil except if it's filled above that point.
 
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UnhandledException

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EDIT: I dont know why the pictures are sideways even though I rotated them

Engine has 12100 miles.

Update - I have now checked my catch can 2 times, once after 250 miles, another after 340 miles. The first time I got 3 oz and the second time I got 3.5 oz. I also had to add 1 qt each time which is a lot more than I usually used to add. I usually used to add about 1/2 qt every 500-600 miles. Now I added 1 qt after 340 miles. And added 1 qt after 500 miles. I am adding pictures of the both times. The bottle I am using is blackstone labs sample bottle which holds exactly 3.5 oz when full as per their website.

I am now getting quite concerned:

- Is this normal? What should I do about it?
- Is my oil usage going up because I have a catch can (i.e. the oil that was going back to the engine is not going back to the engine and I am collecting it now and I have to add more oil)?
- What is the explanation behind the oil usage, is it simply bad quality of engine building/components, is it a leak?

Changing the engine is not an option, I am not going to get a no VIN crate engine not to mention have my car torn apart. I am either going to sell the car if I am convinced it is doomed and never come back to GT350 OR I am going to continue driving the shit out of it. I am averaging 1200 miles/month on this car just FYI. I dont hold back, I dont keep it in the garage.

I would like to add that I do an oil change every 3000 miles (plus the 1200 mile break in change), and every time I take a sample and send it to blackstone and the reports have been exceptional. The last 2 times I actually got 0 lead, none. And TBN comes extremely well so does all other components. Not a single component is outside of range. Although I dont know if this is because I keep adding oil all the time diluting the oil I have in the oil pan. Blackstone says the samples they get from my car is probably at the top 1% compared to other GT350 samples. They also say based on the TBN, I can run the oil 2 - 2.5 times longer although I dont do that.
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