Oil consumption headache

I also experienced high oil usage (around 1qt every 800-1k miles). Engine gave in just under 7k miles now its sitting at ford dealer waiting for them to figure out what they are going to do.

Good post. its a little early on this car to summize but here is some data from my car for anyone interested. Bought new 2017 Avalance Gray Standard 350. Bought in Scottsdale AZ at sticker (CA dealers all wanted ADM's) Jan 2018. Checked oil before the "speed modulated" 6 hour drive home. Level was at HALF way between the holes on the dipstick. Checked when home in San Diego. No change.

Have since drove the car (careful break-in procedure) for 1150 miles and did a dealer(trusted) oil change. Again, dealer put in 10 Quarts, and oil shows HALF way up the stick. Interestingly, on this particular car, it seems at 10 quarts, its 1/2 to 5/8 between the holes. just an FYI. No problem for me.

Yesterday, car now has 1900 miles, dipstick showed below the bottom hole, put a quart in. Now its about 5/8 (slightly more than half way up the stick). Checks out I guess, and Im going to assume its full. I'll keep an eye on it. BTW, I dont track the car but do drive it spiritedly at times. Usually dont go above 6G on the tack. LOVE the car.

For the few of us that have issues, thanks for chiming in. I'll be dropping my car tomorrow and I'll report back on what they say.

I have a spreadsheet with oil change/oil consumption data. Did my first oil change at 2200 miles, at that time I was down maybe 1/2 qt. After oil change, level was middle between holes. At 4500 miles the level went below the lower hole, added 1/2 qt and in the middle again. Installed a JLT passenger side catch can at 5100 miles. At 5230 miles, checked oil "life remaining" and it was at 59%. At 5260 miles it was just below the lower hole again so added another 1/2 qt. Probably do another oil change at 7200 miles.

Agent337 said:

Love my GT350, handles like a dream and the sound never gets old.

Unfortunately I'm one of the few that's experiencing abnormal oil consumption rates. It's been 2,059 miles since my oil change 3 months ago, and I've added 5 quarts of oil since then. (a quart at a time to maintain the level between the holes, Motorcraft 5w-50).

That's 411 miles per quart on average, but consumption has gotten worse, having to add 2 quarts for the last 681 miles (340.5 miles/quart).

Bringing it to Ford in two days to have it checked out. It's a 2017, built in May 2017 FWIW

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So an update on my oil consumption. Brought it in to my local Ford dealer and they did an oil change and marked the dipstick levels for an oil consumption test. Brought it back 546.6 miles later, 2 quarts low. That's 273.3 miles per quart, at that rate I would be adding 1 quart every time I fill up the gas tank. Car is back at the dealer and they are inspecting the spark plugs and preforming a compression and leak down test. Hopefully I'll know the results within a few days.

Two years 20,000 mi. Burns no oil between changes.

It appears to me that these engines generally have a longer break-in period and true oil consumption rates can br determined around 20k miles. Obviously some have engines that wear in sooner but rates definitely seem to come down to their lowest as you approach and surpass 20k. I bought my car used with 21k already on the odo as a 2017 purchased by the original owner 7/2016.

Honestly that was one of the reasons I bought it, I figured that much mileage so quickly typically means the engine must be good.

I doubt there are many with over 20k miles that are consuming excessive amounts of oil.

Agent337 said:

So an update on my oil consumption. Brought it in to my local Ford dealer and they did an oil change and marked the dipstick levels for an oil consumption test. Brought it back 546.6 miles later, 2 quarts low. That's 273.3 miles per quart, at that rate I would be adding 1 quart every time I fill up the gas tank. Car is back at the dealer and they are inspecting the spark plugs and preforming a compression and leak down test. Hopefully I'll know the results within a few days.

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Sorry to hear your bad experience. Unfortunately it’s just a ford and we get what we paid for.its not a real sport car.

Hope you get rid of your car ASAP or they replace your car.

N9TMARE said:

Sorry to hear your bad experience. Unfortunately it’s just a ford and we get what we paid for.its not a real sport car.

Hope you get rid of your car ASAP or they replace your car.

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While it is a Ford, the motor alone far surpasses this platform for the cuttting edge technology used in the motor alone. I too have gripes about the oil consumption, more so when the car had less then 10,000 miles. Now, after 16,000 miles, I have noticed a trend of less oil usage, compared to before. Now, it seems reasonable, a little more than a 1/2 quart about 1200-1500 miles, compared to previous 1 quart every 500 miles. I was preparing to do the oil consumption test, but after the rate of oil usage went down, decided against it.

BTW, 1st year C5 Z06’s had similar problems, and was proven to be a Napier ring causing excessive blow by, hence everyone’s exhaust oil coated and excessive oil usage too and a recall to replace them rings, which were made by Mahle of Germany. I like to think of the Vodoo engine as equivalent to an SR71, it sure is leaky until warmed up. The fact that Ford issued a TSB related to oil comumsption and piston slap, makes me want to believe that Ford will do the right thing for anyone who truly does suffer a lot of burning oil issues.

Of course, everyone’s frustration levels are different, and so the level of oil usage, which means inadvertently that sometimes you have to take drastic courses of action with Ford to fix any problems.

Hope we all are able to overcome these problems, either after prolonged break-in, where the oil usage decreases, or a genuine Ford fix.

N9TMARE said:

Sorry to hear your bad experience. Unfortunately it’s just a ford and we get what we paid for.its not a real sport car.

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GT350 isn't a "real" sports car but a BMW or Mercedes is? Lol

N9TMARE said:

Sorry to hear your bad experience. Unfortunately it’s just a ford and we get what we paid for.its not a real sport car.

Hope you get rid of your car ASAP or they replace your car.

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Please do elaborate. In what universe is a car, regardless of origin, that has all of the attributes that the GT350 has not a sports car?

I started out with my car on the track after 1,lol miles. Play hard,158 mph top speed so far at Pacific Faces at. Sure do like this car.

Oh yes, Utube 6/24/18 Pacific Raceway Randy.

GTthree50 said:

Please do elaborate. In what universe is a car, regardless of origin, that has all of the attributes that the GT350 has not a sports car?

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It's the universe of "I don't have one, therefore it's not a real sports car"

28k and burning oil, or consumption is about the only issue I don't have. But for me its all about the driving style, and warm up cycles.



1. If you take it up in the rpms, under light load, and crackle pop. your likely blowing a little oil by.
2. If you drive when cold it will consume some until all the forged bits are warm.
3. If you take a lot of short trips, see above.



Unless you have a defect its really that easy for me. I keep 2 quarts in the trunk, rarely if ever go through one in 3k now. oil is changed every 3k like old faithful.



Switched to Amsoil, behavior is largely the same.