I think my engine is on it's way out

[mysta_sandman]

I just cracked 19k miles on my 2017 GT350 and I'm beginning to think I'm burning oil like crazy.

I usually go 3k miles between oil changes. Sure, I could wait. But I'm rough on my car regularly (racing, etc). In the past, I've had to add a qt between changes which I assumed was normal given how I drive it.

The past two (oil changes), I've had valvetrain tick to where it sounded like a spun bearing and I've had to add between 2-4qts of oil.

I've also blown apart one cat about 6k miles ago and I'm worried that if I'm burning oil, I'm gonna clog them up and they'll fail again on me. Exhaust tips are caked in soot as well.

I'm still within my power train warranty period and my buddy works for Ford as a mechanic. I'm thinking of doing a compression and leak down test but I'm really hoping that this is just due to driving style.

Idc about the block being numbers matching. I bought the car to keep. I guess I'm venting a bit: Sorry.

So for the guys that have gone through it, how much trouble was it to have a new engine approved if deemed to be consuming too much oil?

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[wingnutt]

depends…gotta get an oil consumption test done by your dealer first.

the problem is, Ford deems anything over 500 miles PER QUART as “normal” in a Ford Performance vehicle.

so if you aren’t burning more than that, you may be outa luck.

that being said…some have had really good dealers and gotten the engine swapped at 1,000 per quart.

 

[mysta_sandman]

depends…gotta get an oil consumption test done by your dealer first.

the problem is, Ford deems anything over 500 miles PER QUART as “normal” in a Ford Performance vehicle.

so if you aren’t burning more than that, you may be outa luck.

that being said…some have had really good dealers and gotten the engine swapped at 1,000 per quart.

Unless my math is wonky, 1 qt per 500mi should be 5k for all 10qts and a warranted oil change.

I typically add 1-2 qts before 3k miles (when I typically change oil) but I just had to add 3 qts to top up at 2k miles since my last oil change.

It's an increase for what's normal for me and I drive the car the same way

 

[wingnutt]

Agreed…bring it in to Ford.

they will do an oil change for you, fill it with exactly 9 quarts, let it idle for 10 minutes and cool for 10 minutes.

then the tech will pull the stick and mark it with either a paint pen or scribe it.

then he will add the last quart, let it idle for 10 minutes and cool for 10 more.

pulls the stick again and marks the 10 quart level…they may or may not zip tie your dipstick down so you can’t monkey with the level.

they will then pat you on the back and tell you to come back in 500-3000 miles depending on how much they believe you

let us know what happens, and I will add it to the process…this is all stuff I got from a friemd of mine that works at Ford, and tried to talk me OUT of buying a 350 last year.

he failed

 

[mysta_sandman]

Agreed…bring it in to Ford.

they will do an oil change for you, fill it with exactly 9 quarts, let it idle for 10 minutes and cool for 10 minutes.

then the tech will pull the stick and mark it with either a paint pen or scribe it.

then he will add the last quart, let it idle for 10 minutes and cool for 10 more.

pulls the stick again and marks the 10 quart level…they may or may not zip tie your dipstick down so you can’t monkey with the level.

they will then pat you on the back and tell you to come back in 500-3000 miles depending on how much they believe you

I'll just cut the zip tie and write bad with a backwards 'B' on the dip stick.

Seriously though. I'm not looking to get the engine replaced if it's not necessary. I just noticed an increase in additional qts and it was concerning.

I should be alright though. I'm buddy's with the shop foreman and head mechanic. Hopefully it goes well

 

[stanglife]

They will have a bore scope as well - ask them to check the cylinder walls. If you have above average or even moderate oil consumption and there is evidence of cylinder scoring marks, they should be able to do something for you.

 

[mysta_sandman]

They will have a bore scope as well - ask them to check the cylinder walls. If you have above average or even moderate oil consumption and there is evidence of cylinder scoring marks, they should be able to do something for you.

Yeah I'm not expecting anything crazy. I just want some reassurance that's me pushing the car hard vs the engine shitting out.

This is also part of the reason why I wanted to do a built short block. Just added reassurance. Granted it's a race engine and it could crap out whenever.

 

[stanglife]

Hopefully not. I've heard before that oil consumption seems to go down over time as everything beds in. If it;s going up, I'd just double check every angle. ;) Good luck.

 

[mysta_sandman]

Hopefully not. I've heard before that oil consumption seems to go down over time as everything beds in. If it;s going up, I'd just double check every angle. ;) Good luck.

I'm texting my buddy now and we're gonna start the tests Monday morning. They're booked out until October but he's gonna sneak me in for an oil change so we can get the process started.

I guess I have to go back ever 1000 miles to reassess

 

[mindo389]

Just wondering if your tech will open up the filter and inspect it. I know that sometimes metal particles can be seen in the oil, but this is just another step in the inspection process.

 

[mysta_sandman]

Just wondering if your tech will open up the filter and inspect it. I know that sometimes metal particles can be seen in the oil, but this is just another step in the inspection process.

He definitely will. He's the head mechanic there and I've hung around the shop a lot. All goods guys there.

I went there for my last oil change as I was slammed with OT and didn't have time to do it.

And right at 2k miles I'm adding 4qts since my visit.

 

[Socalrugger]

Hate to say it but im probably in the same camp as you however I don’t have any soot on the pipes but I do have the tick and put about 0.5-1 qt of oil in every 500 miles or so but I’ve noticed this tends to have a correlation to how aggressive I drive it and engine braking in particular so I’ve let off a bit on that for now. Just got an oil change yesterday so going to see how long I go without putting any oil in.

 

[mysta_sandman]

Hate to say it but im probably in the same camp as you however I don’t have any soot on the pipes but I do have the tick and put about 0.5-1 qt of oil in every 500 miles or so but I’ve noticed this tends to have a correlation to how aggressive I drive it and engine braking in particular so I’ve let off a bit on that for now. Just got an oil change yesterday so going to see how long I go without putting any oil in.

I don't want to say you're not or you are.

I drive the car like I stole it every time I'm in it. So I take it with a grain of salt that I'll use more oil and to monitor closely.

It's one to have to add an extra qt every 500-1000mi. I can't make it a full 3k between oil changes without adding 4 plus now.

To summarize, I hope you have a long life with your motor and are not facing these issues.

 

[mysta_sandman]

For a noisy valvetrain, it really sounds like shit here.

I let the car warm up to idling temps to check the oil. I'm still a full qt shy and now it sounds a spun bearing.

Monday can't come soon enough for my test.

 

[Andy13186]

I burn alot of oil sometimes near 1 qt per 1k miles I drive my car hard every time I drive it too. Car has been loving it though, I have some blackstone analysis here the newest one is with 750+ rwhp (cats deleted when the whipple was intalled). You could get some oil analysis , but its good that you are keeping your oil level optimal. I am convinced that like 90% of motors that fail are just low on oil because people dont check their oil often enough.



Also I use ceratec, ive used it for 40k miles and it quieted my motor down a ton. I add atleast 1 bottle every oil change.

Your motor sounds a ton better than mine used to, obviously a different motor but yours sounds great to me. Here is what my coyote sounded like before ceratec :

My tapping did come back eventually so I add ceratec every change now.

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