Oil consumption got worse. Not sure what to do. Should I sell the car?

[MrCincinnati]

Hmm maybe catch cans are not a good idea for this car.

They're recommended if you track it by Ford..

that said - I'm thinking I might keep mine off except when I head to the track and see what happens to street consumption.

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[Minn19]

They're recommended if you track it by Ford..

that said - I'm thinking I might keep mine off except when I head to the track and see what happens to street consumption.

I've had them on the entire time and I'd be surprised if that has anything to do with it. The passenger side catches a little bit over 1-2 thousand miles and the drivers side gets nothing.

This has been the case on both of my GT350s whether tracking them or not. I still think it is a good idea to keep that crap out of your engine for DD. It does add up over time.

 

[Deca]

same here - tiny bit in passenger can, nothing in driverside can after a year and 7000miles..a lot of oil consumption though..

 

[GT Pony]

Can catch cans add a Venturi effect causing an increase in flow and oil consumption?

No ... because the flow through the dirty side of the PCV into the intake manifold is the same or less with a catch-can.

 

[GT Pony]

1 quart / 500mi consumption level is acceptable per the owner's manual.

That's crazy ... guess Ford was really CYAing themselves assuming everyone is going to be at redline 90% of the time.

 

[mustang1]

That sounds like its only checking for oil contamination, not level. As such it would NOT tell you that you need to add more. Which is why the manual tells you to check it.

true, but the computer is using average engine load, RPM, time and maybe some other stuff to calculate oil life.

If the computer thinks the car is "Extreme", then it may display the oil life 50% at 1500 miles.

 

[GT Pony]

Also, at the time I didn't have oil/air separators on the car. If anything I would think an oil/air separator would reduce oil consumption by restricting the flow of crankcase vapors to some degree, but who knows?

A catch-can shouldn't restrict the vapor flow much from the engine to the intake manifold. If it didn't the catch-can wouldn't catch much, but as seen by many members they catch quite a bit of oil.

 

[GT Pony]

true, but the computer is using average engine load, RPM, time and maybe some other stuff to calculate oil life.

If the computer thinks the car is "Extreme", then it may display the oil life 50% at 1500 miles.

It also uses time. If you let your car sit in the garage, the OLM will go down 2% per week. You could literally change the oil, reset the OLM to 100% and let the car sit a year, and the OLM will tick down 2% per week.

 

[Hack]

It also uses time. If you let your car sit in the garage, the OLM will go down 2% per week. You could literally change the oil, reset the OLM to 100% and let the car sit a year, and the OLM will tick down 2% per week.

As it should. You want to change oil regularly, especially if the car sits a lot. They like to run.

 

[mustang1]

It also uses time. If you let your car sit in the garage, the OLM will go down 2% per week. You could literally change the oil, reset the OLM to 100% and let the car sit a year, and the OLM will tick down 2% per week.

so at 2% per week, for a car that sits, or someone driving "normal", they should get to 52 weeks or 10,000 miles, which ever comes first

at 13 weeks or 2500 miles ~ 75% oil life remaining

oil life decreasing faster than that might be in the zone of Severe / Extreme, where Ford says the car can use oil.

 

[v-man]

I have been following this thread it seems like oil consumption varies greatly and has many contributing factors my car is to new to tell. I think however if these engines are truly costumed built???? I would think human error from engine to engine or from who ever supplies the parts for these limited run engine is most likely the place to start looking I am not good enough with computer figure the combination of who built our engines and if there is any correlation between that and oil consumption

 

[gtaindetail]

My car consumed virtually no oil in daily driving which consisted of a lot of slow (<25 mph) stop-and-go on the highway and basically no red-line pulls because there's literally nowhere to do it where I live except pulling out onto the main road.

On track when I was in the high rev range all the time. I'd see roughly Ford's expected usage, 1/2 to 3/4th quart for a full track day. I've never owned a Ferrari or any other exotic, but if I'm not mistaken, they burn oil in performance situations too.

I think too many people are buying an exotic engine and expecting it to have the same maintenance parameters a the 4-cylinder in a Camry.

Sorry, but thems the breaks. Pay to play and all that. I suspect the reason why most people here don't want a GT or ZL1 is because they're not "special" or "exotic" engines. Not that I think that matters especially or agree, just throwing that out there.

This is exactly my experience as well.

 

[MrCincinnati]

"You can drive high performance vehicles in such a way that may lead to higher oil consumption (this includes extended time at high engine speeds, high loads, engine braking, hard cornering maneuvers, and track use). Under these conditions, oil consumption of approximately 1 quart per 500 miles (1 liter per 800 km) is possible. As a result, you need to check the engine oil level at every refueling and adjust to maintain proper levels to avoid engine damage.


In theory, you could use the Oil Change computer to determine if you are driving at "high engine speeds, and "high loads". From the owners manual:

When to expect the OIL CHANGE REQUIRED message
Interval Vehicle use and example

Normal 7,000–10,000 mi

Extreme 3,000–5,000 mi
(4,800–7,999 km) Maximum load or track use
Extreme hot or cold operation


If the computer doesn't think you need to change the oil for 10,000 miles, yet the car is dropping a quart every 500 miles, that would seem odd.

So I have 5117mi on this oil change, computer has me at 32% oil life. That puts me tracking toward 7525mi projected oil life per the computer. I've used 3 quarts in 5117mi. With most of those coming in the last 2500mi. or so.

 

[mustang1]

according to the Owner's Manual, 7525 mi projected oil life is categorized as normal zone:
Normal 7,000–10,000 miles

normal oil consumption for regular (automatic transmission) cars is probably 5000 miles / quart

if you get on the gas enough to use more than that, then the oil life monitor should reflect that.

low tension rings and engine braking are additional variables to consider. Engine braking may not get factored into oil life monitor.

 

[GT Pony]

As it should. You want to change oil regularly, especially if the car sits a lot. They like to run.

IMO, I think it's a bit obsessive on the time factor. Ford just did it that way because they recommend changing the oil every year regardless of mileage, but in most cases oil is still plenty good after a year if the car is driven long enough to always get the oil to full operating temperature for some time. A UOA confirms oil can last way longer than 1 year if the car is used correctly.

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