"Normal" oil usage

[UAmach1]

I just partly wanted to break this out of the other thread to not dirty up the OP's repair thread.

I get that Ford in the manual states that higher than usual oil consumption is normal on "high performance" engines, but I'm starting to feel liek its even still higher than it should be for most people.

Other 100HP per litre cars dont burn this much oil. None of the 4V 4.6's did even if they are using FI. Many peopel I know with both stock and modified VW are not using as much oil as many here, and same goes for Z06, GT500, ZL1, ZR1, ect. It really feels like the GT350 is burning oil faster than any other car I can think of.

I know that some people seem to rarely need to top off, but I feel like anything over 1qt per 7500 miles today no matter the engine just isn't acceptable. There is also a LOT of variance of what is "normal" among the owners here. Some fine 1qt per 5000 as okay, other have almost nothing they need to add between changes.

It makes it really hard to find out what is "normal" when it seems like some burn and others done, and other burn a LOT.

Should we maybe start an oil replacement poll to find out what "average" is at least?

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[Hack]

Other 100HP per litre cars dont burn this much oil. None of the 4V 4.6's did even if they are using FI. Many peopel I know with both stock and modified VW are not using as much oil as many here, and same goes for Z06, GT500, ZL1, ZR1, ect. It really feels like the GT350 is burning oil faster than any other car I can think of.

I know that some people seem to rarely need to top off, but I feel like anything over 1qt per 7500 miles today no matter the engine just isn't acceptable. There is also a LOT of variance of what is "normal" among the owners here. Some fine 1qt per 5000 as okay, other have almost nothing they need to add between changes.

It makes it really hard to find out what is "normal" when it seems like some burn and others done, and other burn a LOT.

Should we maybe start an oil replacement poll to find out what "average" is at least?

The 4.6 4V wasn't anywhere near 100 hp/liter. It was more of a truck engine/boat anchor and not made to breathe like the Voodoo. The outgoing Mustang V6 made more power than 99.9% of 4.6 engines.

My opinion is that it's going to be impossible to find "average" based on an online thread or poll.

If you think 1 quart per 7500 miles is unacceptable, you might want to stay away from a used GT350. Mine doesn't ever need extra oil between changes, but a number of people on here seem to have a different experience.

 

[UAmach1]

The 4.6 4V wasn't anywhere near 100 hp/liter. It was more of a truck engine and not made to breathe like the Voodoo.

My opinion is that it's going to be impossible to find "average" based on an online thread or poll.

If you think 1 quart per 7500 miles is unacceptable, you might want to stay away from a used GT350. Mine doesn't ever need extra oil between changes, but a number of people on here seem to have a different experience.

My point was the 4.6 4v was billed as a "high performance" engine, more so when it had a SC strapped to it, or you had a set of FR heads/cams.

And that "different" experience was the whole point of the post if you finished reading it. With so many people having totally different experiences how do you know what should be normal usage vs what you should be taking it in to get looked at for? I mean, my friends dad has a late 90's Ferrari and he doesn't burn oil like some here seem to.

You may not find a true average but you can still look for a trend.

 

[TRAC WPN]

With different driving styles, conditions, I think it will be impossible to figure out average. It's not enough to say I drive easy or I drive hard. There might be a sweet spot for burning most oil, who knows. I am ok with adding in a bit of oil with how hard I drive. Observation is key. If every time I checked I was running low I would be concerned. I have noticed a couple mm down on the dip stick, but never been close to low. No concerns here.

 

[Houston Kid]

1 quart per 7,500 miles unacceptable. Don't judge my car then. Mine is at the bottom hash marks about every 750 miles. I am not great at math but 1 quart every 750 miles is what I come up with doing that math. 1 quart puts it dead even with the top hash marks.

 

[UAmach1]

With different driving styles, conditions, I think it will be impossible to figure out average. It's not enough to say I drive easy or I drive hard. There might be a sweet spot for burning most oil, who knows. I am ok with adding in a bit of oil with how hard I drive. Observation is key. If every time I checked I was running low I would be concerned. I have noticed a couple mm down on the dip stick, but never been close to low. No concerns here.

OH I agree there are a lot of variables, but it just sticks out to me that the GT350 seems to have more oil burning issues than any engine I've read of that didn't have something wrong with it, or was raced a lot. It seems most people here do daily/spirited driving and have oil burning higher than what I'd expect from a modern engine.

 

[GT_Dave]

Not sure a poll would provide enough clean data to even make an assumption, there are a lot of variables that would affect the results. Like how many miles per year driven, the seasons and area of the country the car is driven, daily and track use, and generally how hard the car is driven. Even the ability for each owner to properly read the dipstick is a variable.
It is what it is, I'm very happy with my GT350, I'm in the 1 quart per 6000 mile bracket.

 

[UAmach1]

Not sure a poll would provide enough clean data to even make an assumption, there are a lot of variables that would affect the results. Like how many miles per year driven, the seasons and area the car is driven, daily and track use, and generally how the car is driven. Even the ability for each owner to properly read the dipstick is a variable.
It is what it is, I'm very happy with my GT350, I'm in the 1 quart per 6000 mile bracket.

1 every 6k I'd be fine with. That's 1 every oil change. But if say most people are 1 every 5 or 6K and a few people are finding 1 every 1500-2K then to me I'd have to wonder if those 1500-2K drivers either drive really hard, or have an oil burning issue.

If I knew I DON'T drive hard and am in that range when most aren't I might take it to Ford just to ask them to see if there is an issue. If they find nothing, then fine, least i have it documented that it was brought up in case something happens later. If they do find something then great I caught an issue early.

 

[BoomBoy]

Mine doesn't burn oil at all.

 

[Zitrosounds]

Meh....

 

[Houston Kid]

I drive mine like I am racing every time I get in it. It is driven hard. I run it up to 8K every chance I get. I mash the gas and shift fast and quick all of the time. I rev to about 3500K and launch from every red light or stop sign. Just enough so the tires don't spin. It is so much damn fun. My car is in no way only driven to church on Sundays by grandma. However, it is maintained and very well cared for just driven like Ford says the car can be driven. It is a weekend driver and I drive it.

That was not a typo earlier. I burn 1 quart per 750 miles. Not 1 per 7500.

 

[Hack]

My point was the 4.6 4v was billed as a "high performance" engine, more so when it had a SC strapped to it, or you had a set of FR heads/cams.

And that "different" experience was the whole point of the post if you finished reading it. With so many people having totally different experiences how do you know what should be normal usage vs what you should be taking it in to get looked at for? I mean, my friends dad has a late 90's Ferrari and he doesn't burn oil like some here seem to.

You may not find a true average but you can still look for a trend.

I agree that Ford billed the 4.6 as high performance, just like they billed the tech pack GT350s as the most track capable Mustang ever. And the 4.6 definitely could be made to perform great - but most of them weren't anything impressive at all.

I blame thinner and lower tension oil rings for the GT350 burning more oil than other vehicles (and more than a 90s Ferrari). Also, many people drive the GT350 at high RPM and low load, which doesn't help the rings seal. When I'm in a low load situation, I keep the rpms below 4k almost always. It's possible that's why my car doesn't burn oil (I'm easy on the engine). I've only been to a real road course once since I've had the car. I drove it hard then, but for a short time due to the infamous limp mode. That could be another reason my Voodoo doesn't burn oil. I don't know.

Part of the point I was trying to make is that people who have a similar experience as me (no oil burning) are less likely to post here.

 

[TheDeadCow]

I just partly wanted to break this out of the other thread to not dirty up the OP's repair thread.

I get that Ford in the manual states that higher than usual oil consumption is normal on "high performance" engines, but I'm starting to feel liek its even still higher than it should be for most people.

Other 100HP per litre cars dont burn this much oil. None of the 4V 4.6's did even if they are using FI. Many peopel I know with both stock and modified VW are not using as much oil as many here, and same goes for Z06, GT500, ZL1, ZR1, ect. It really feels like the GT350 is burning oil faster than any other car I can think of.

I know that some people seem to rarely need to top off, but I feel like anything over 1qt per 7500 miles today no matter the engine just isn't acceptable. There is also a LOT of variance of what is "normal" among the owners here. Some fine 1qt per 5000 as okay, other have almost nothing they need to add between changes.

It makes it really hard to find out what is "normal" when it seems like some burn and others done, and other burn a LOT.

Should we maybe start an oil replacement poll to find out what "average" is at least?

Why do you feel this amount of oil consumption is unacceptable?
What basis did you use to determine the range of acceptability?
What amount of oil consumption do you believe to be acceptable and why?

These are all questions that are already answered and contained within your manual. If you don't like/want to follow the recommendations from the manufacturer that's fine, but why try to create a spec? Ford already did that for you.

 

[UAmach1]

Why do you feel this amount of oil consumption is unacceptable?
What basis did you use to determine the range of acceptability?
What amount of oil consumption do you believe to be acceptable and why?

These are all questions that are already answered and contained within your manual. If you don't like/want to follow the recommendations from the manufacturer that's fine, but why try to create a spec? Ford already did that for you.

Because blatantly to me it feels like a case of "we couldn't figure out to to reliably make it not burn a lot of oil, or even make it similar from one engine to the next, but if we put it in the manual we have an excuse." The wide range of what people are burning seems to also make this seem like it's the case. VW gives the warning in their manual too, and they don't burn as much as some of the GT350's I see here.

Please. Name other high performance cars where people are constantly posting over oil burning issues, 2yrs into the car being out. If you look on Vette forums what some of them will say is a "take it to get looked at" is borderline normal here. It may be normal for the GT350, but others are having almost 0 oil burn and other are having a lot. Yes there is fluctuation depending on how you drive and where, but there is a HUGE variance. From little to none every 7500, to 1 every 750 is a MASSIVE range. I would drive my Mach1 like I stole it every day and only change the oil every 12 months(5k miles), and I'd MAYBE burn 1/4-1/2 a QT. This is while driving only 12 miles a day to work and back, red lining daily and I STILL has better usage than even a gently driven GT350.

At what refill interval should a person worry about burning to much oil, with how wide the range is. Thats my point. At what point is it NOT normal.

 

[machsmith]

I don't put but 1,000 miles on my car between oil changes. I've never needed to add any between them, and never noticed a loss in oil, only some in the catch can. I drive it hard in town, never tracked it. At every light or corner where there isn't any danger on nailing it, I nail it. lots of 8000 pulls.

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