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

[mustang1]

Just checked the oil again, now its showing normal. I m going crazy here. How is this possible? I checked at applebee's parking lot (20 min after shutting down) while eating dinner. I drove around and came back home 30 min ago, checked now and there is literally 1 qt of difference between then and now. Yes the ground was level before anyone asks.

Gremlins! :shocked:

Did you record the MPG for the 150 miles ?

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[UnhandledException]

Well I ll be damned. I checked again and the oil level is exactly where it was last night. Mid mark between MIN and MAX.

I dont understand this....

- Last night I had to add 1 qt and it was in MID mark
- I checked throughout the day. At 75 miles, it was showing FULL. So it went UP half qt.
- I checked at 164 miles, and it was showing below MIN mark meaning 1 qt low
- I checked at 200 miles, and now its showing MID mark again

How is this possible? I always wait 15-20 minutes or more. I always check when car is level. I always wipe the dipstick first time. I also always insert the dipstick upside down so that the min/max side is facing down and I insert it the other way to confirm.

There has to be an explanation.

For those of you who keep going on and on about taking it to the dealership. I will never do that because as soon as it goes in, its a can of worms. Its in the system, documented. And if they say the car needs a new engine, I cant just tell them I dont want it because I want to sell it. I'd much rather get out of the car before that process starts. I have seen how engine swaps take place. The car will never be the same. Just the fact that the engines dont even have VIN plates is a good enough reason for this.

If you are in the market for a GT350, would you ever buy one which had an engine swap? I know I wouldnt. Car is cheap as it is at 50-55k in used car market. I wouldnt even give it a thought. As a seller, I have to make my sale attractive and I will always have to carry that engine swap baggage with me. Makes sense? Its a huge liability.

That being said, I dont want to sell the car. Simply because it sounds amazing. It goes like freight train. Makes heads turns like its veyron and my 7 year old just loves it and her heart will be broken. So dont think for a second I am looking for excuses here. But in the end, logic has to prevail.

 

[Wriggly]

Well I ll be damned. I checked again and the oil level is exactly where it was last night. Mid mark between MIN and MAX.

I dont understand this....

- Last night I had to add 1 qt and it was in MID mark
- I checked throughout the day. At 75 miles, it was showing FULL. So it went UP half qt.
- I checked at 164 miles, and it was showing below MIN mark meaning 1 qt low
- I checked at 200 miles, and now its showing MID mark again

How is this possible? I always wait 15-20 minutes or more. I always check when car is level. I always wipe the dipstick first time. I also always insert the dipstick upside down so that the min/max side is facing down and I insert it the other way to confirm.

There has to be an explanation.

For those of you who keep going on and on about taking it to the dealership. I will never do that because as soon as it goes in, its a can of worms. Its in the system, documented. And if they say the car needs a new engine, I cant just tell them I dont want it because I want to sell it. I'd much rather get out of the car before that process starts. I have seen how engine swaps take place. The car will never be the same. Just the fact that the engines dont even have VIN plates is a good enough reason for this.

If you are in the market for a GT350, would you ever buy one which had an engine swap? I know I wouldnt. Car is cheap as it is at 50-55k in used car market. I wouldnt even give it a thought. As a seller, I have to make my sale attractive and I will always have to carry that engine swap baggage with me. Makes sense? Its a huge liability.

That being said, I dont want to sell the car. Simply because it sounds amazing. It goes like freight train. Makes heads turns like its veyron and my 7 year old just loves it and her heart will be broken. So dont think for a second I am looking for excuses here. But in the end, logic has to prevail.

Not hard to understand your position. If I were in your shoes, the first place I would start is with an oil change and send a sample out for analysis. See what 1000 miles does on fresh oil and then wait for your analysis before committing to selling. I can't help but wonder if your dipstick is getting hung up on flash or something that causes it to bend up and away from the oil
Giving you inconsistent readings.

 

[GT Pony]

Just checked the oil again, now its showing normal. I m going crazy here. How is this possible?

From your various posts about how you check the oil, you are not really doing in the same exact manner each time. You think the car is "level", but it really isn't if you are checking it in various parking lots, etc.

Here's the sure fire way to monitor an oil level: Always check it in the same exact parking spot (ie, always in the garage) and when the oil is cold (ie, before starting it for the day's drive) and put the dipstick in the same exact way every time.

I've checked oil like that for decades and it's a sure fire way to see how the oil consumption is occurring.

 

[Colleton]

Just checked the oil again, now its showing normal. I m going crazy here. How is this possible? I checked at applebee's parking lot (20 min after shutting down) while eating dinner. I drove around and came back home 30 min ago, checked now and there is literally 1 qt of difference between then and now. Yes the ground was level before anyone asks.

The harsh but seemingly obvious explanation is that you're doing it wrong somehow. This has been my supposition throughout most of this thread as you're reporting crazy loss rates and now inconsistent measurements.

You should take it to the dealership. I wonder if you've overfilled the oil and if that could be part of the problem.

 

[UnhandledException]

The harsh but seemingly obvious explanation is that you're doing it wrong somehow. This has been my supposition throughout most of this thread as you're reporting crazy loss rates and now inconsistent measurements.

You should take it to the dealership. I wonder if you've overfilled the oil and if that could be part of the problem.

I never added oil anywhere but in my garage. Up until today, I didnt even check the oil level anywhere but in my garage. In fact, for a large portion of my oil journal, I checked the dipstick while the car was on my 4 post lift - precisely because my lift is perfectly level in each direction.

Also, I dont think a minor slope would account for 2.5 quarts of oil difference. I understand what happened today which is a difference of 1/2 qt can be attributed to levelness of the parking lots I checked the level.

I sincerely believe all along the catch can caused this and it wasnt really that catch can itself or the hoses but the high flow PCV fitting that caused way too much vacuum to take place. I believe today's incorrect reading could be number of factors so lets not go there.

All in all, in summary, I drove for 200 miles today. Lots of 1-2-3 gear redline pulls, lots of engine braking on 3-4 gears, and it seems like oil level did not move a mm between last night and today.

Yesterday after removing the catch can but leaving the high flow pcv fitting in place, what happened is probably that huge blow by kept going back to the engine instead of being filtered by catch can causing the smoke (there was absolutely no smoke today) as well as the loud hissing noise.

I will drive for another 300 miles and report back. If I m right, the car should only need 1/2 qt after the full 500 miles which has been the norm for my particular car since the day I first drove it.

 

[GT Pony]

I sincerely believe all along the catch can caused this and it wasnt really that catch can itself or the hoses but the high flow PCV fitting that caused way too much vacuum to take place.

So which catch-can brand is this again? And where did this "high flow PCV fitting" come from - do you really mean a check valve? You have a catch-can on both valve covers or just the passenger side? There's seems to be something weird about your setup.

 

[UnhandledException]

So which catch-can brand is this again? And where did this "high flow PCV fitting" come from - do you really mean a check valve? You have a catch-can on both valve covers or just the passenger side? There's seems to be something weird about your setup.

This is UPR catch can.

This catch can comes with 3 optional addons

- CSS
- Check valve
- High flow PCV fitting

I believe you guys are confusing these (or I am not explaining them properly).

The CSS is what is attached to the driver side valve cover. Its a hose with a golf ball size cover on it.

The PCV fitting is nothing but a fitting. Its the metal version of the light blue fitting thats on the passenger side valve cover. This is where the passenger side (the actual catch can hose) hose connects to.

The check valve is in the hose that goes from catch can to the intake manifold. It wasnt installed backwards and if it were, I m guessing catch can wouldnt even collect any oil in the first place?

I have been saying for several pages now that this metal piece that is supposedly "high flow" is indeed flowing too much causing this issue. The stock blue plastic piece has what looks like a filter and a metal ball inside, I m sure those things have some function but besides their function they are very resrictive. The UPR piece is nothing but a metal pipe, through and through. So it will create probably several times more vacuum.

I hope I explained it well.

When I got the UPR package, I had the UPR customer rep on the phone walk me through the process. He had told me to remove the blue plastic fitting with a pair of pliers and put this metal piece back in there by screwing it. So i havent made this up myself.

 

[mustang1]

So which catch-can brand is this again? And where did this "high flow PCV fitting" come from - do you really mean a check valve? You have a catch-can on both valve covers or just the passenger side? There's seems to be something weird about your setup.

UPR website allows you to select optional billet Pro Series Check Valve, and a Hi Flow PCV.

The website also offers a kit for 5.0 GT /w FI, with the exact same Check-Valve and Hi Flow PCV. That seems a bit strange to me.

 

[UnhandledException]

Because you guys made me paranoid, I was actually going through all my DIY pictures and did find that the check valve was installed in the right direction with the arrows pointing the right way. So its not that and plus if I actually did install it backwards, the catch can would be bone dry.

EDIT: also just blew on the hose and yes check valve was installed the right direction.

 

[mustang1]

I don't think you are supposed to have either the check valve or the aftermarket hi flow PCV. You get to engine braking, and that "hi flow" PCV might be pulling a lot of valve train oil mist / vapor into the intake manifold.

 

[UnhandledException]

I don't think you are supposed to have either the check valve or the aftermarket hi flow PCV. You get to engine braking, and that "hi flow" PCV might be pulling a lot of valve train oil mist / vapor into the intake manifold.

Its possible. I dont understand how check valve would hurt but I definitely believe the high flow valve could.

This is the general problem with aftermarket components. Lack of instructions, lack of proper engineering and by proper I mean not having a mechanical/aerospace engineer full time sitting and modeling/testing these components like engineers in manufacturers do, and so on and so forth. Not my first time I spent top dollar on these made in usa hand made pieces only to have these kinds of issues.

 

[GT Pony]

The PCV fitting is nothing but a fitting. Its the metal version of the light blue fitting thats on the passenger side valve cover. This is where the passenger side (the actual catch can hose) hose connects to.

I have been saying for several pages now that this metal piece that is supposedly "high flow" is indeed flowing too much causing this issue. The stock blue plastic piece has what looks like a filter and a metal ball inside, I m sure those things have some function but besides their function they are very resrictive. The UPR piece is nothing but a metal pipe, through and through. So it will create probably several times more vacuum.

I would think just like the stock system, the PCV valve built into the UPR hose between the passenger side valve cover and the intake manifold is what determines the flow rate of vapors into the intake manifold.

The "stock blue plastic piece has what looks like a filter and a metal ball inside" sounds like the stock spring loaded PCV valve that is typically in the passenger side valve cover.

If you didn't reinstall the stock PVC valve for your test, then you didn't have any valve at all in the system.

 

[GT Pony]

UPR website allows you to select optional billet Pro Series Check Valve, and a Hi Flow PCV.

The website also offers a kit for 5.0 GT /w FI, with the exact same Check-Valve and Hi Flow PCV. That seems a bit strange to me.

The check valve on the driver's side hose (the "clean air" hose) prevents crankcase vapors from back flowing through that hose when there is elevated crankcase pressure under boost conditions. I would think that check valve could also be used on on-FI applications, as it should still flow fresh air into the driver's side valve cover when there is vacuum source on the passenger side PCV valve cover hose.

 

[UnhandledException]

I would think just like the stock system, the PCV valve built into the UPR hose between the passenger side valve cover and the intake manifold is what determines the flow rate of vapors into the intake manifold.

The "stock blue plastic piece has what looks like a filter and a metal ball inside" sounds like the stock spring loaded PCV valve that is typically in the passenger side valve cover.

If you didn't reinstall the stock PVC valve for your test, then you didn't have any valve at all in the system.

There is no pcv valve built anywhere in the UPR system. The high flow fitting is optional. If there were a secondary pcv valve like you said, then the system would be too restrictive if a buyer didnt opt for the high flow fitting.

Anyways, it doesnt matter. That thing is not going back into my car ever. I will ask for a refund.

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