Oil Consumption Update

[TheLion]

This is an FYI for anyone who wonders about oil consumption and what is and is not normal. I am now at 9,200 miles on the original factory fill for 5W-30 motor craft oil.

I have run the car hard frequently and have been tuned since about 2,500 miles. I regularly do WOT pulls in 1-3 gears (got some great back roads on my way to work that are nice an open). So literally I am pushing the car 5 days a week, at least for short bouts and I have no problem going WOT in 3-4 getting onto highways either (which I also do regularly).

I've also gone out many times for 1-2 hours at a time just driving around and exploring new back roads, which are vast here, being hard on the throttle whenever I can (cause its just so much fun!). Several times even with passengers (425+ lbs of human cargo between myself and my passenger).

I have now added only 14 oz (about 1/2 quart of oil) over the entire 9,200 miles. Almost all of the oil can be accounted for in the catch can, having emptied 3-4 oz on several occasions. Interestingly the bigger majority of that consumption was in the first 3k-5k miles. I recall Livernois saying these hardened steel piston rings take around 3k-5k to fully seat. Sure, you can got WOT after just 1k, but there's still some seating and wear in that will occur slowly after the first 1k.

I just checked the dip stick tonight (after about another 30 min of hard driving) and it is about 1mm below the top max fill hole. Or alternatively it's right in between the top of the hatch and the top hole. So consumption is at almost exactly 14 oz since the engine is still full.

Oil consumption on this ecoboost 2.3L even in its modified state and pushing over 360 wtq / 317 whp is lower than any vehicle I've ever owned (mostly GM's and Ford's of various models).

Every car is a bit different, even of the same model, but those are my results under some pretty hard use and on plain old 5W-30 Motorcraft. I would expect oil consumption to be markedly lower once my Amsoil Signature 5W-30 goes in some time near the end of November. Hope this helps provide a reference for anyone with a new car or wondering what is an is not normal.

I have a May 2016 build. Mods are in my sig.

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[tittermary]

This is an FYI for anyone who wonders about oil consumption and what is and is not normal. I am now at 9,200 miles on the original factory fill for 5W-30 motor craft oil.

I have run the car hard frequently and have been tuned since about 2,500 miles. I regularly do WOT pulls in 1-3 gears (got some great back roads on my way to work that are nice an open). So literally I am pushing the car 5 days a week, at least for short bouts and I have no problem going WOT in 3-4 getting onto highways either (which I also do regularly).

I've also gone out many times for 1-2 hours at a time just driving around and exploring new back roads, which are vast here, being hard on the throttle whenever I can (cause its just so much fun!). Several times even with passengers (425+ lbs of human cargo between myself and my passenger).

I have now added only 14 oz (about 1/2 quart of oil) over the entire 9,200 miles. Almost all of the oil can be accounted for in the catch can, having emptied 3-4 oz on several occasions. Interestingly the bigger majority of that consumption was in the first 3k-5k miles. I recall Livernois saying these hardened steel piston rings take around 3k-5k to fully seat. Sure, you can got WOT after just 1k, but there's still some seating and wear in that will occur slowly after the first 1k.

I just checked the dip stick tonight (after about another 30 min of hard driving) and it is about 1mm below the top max fill hole. Or alternatively it's right in between the top of the hatch and the top hole. So consumption is at almost exactly 14 oz since the engine is still full.

Oil consumption on this ecoboost 2.3L even in its modified state and pushing over 360 wtq / 317 whp is lower than any vehicle I've ever owned (mostly GM's and Ford's of various models).

Every car is a bit different, even of the same model, but those are my results under some pretty hard use and on plain old 5W-30 Motorcraft. I would expect oil consumption to be markedly lower once my Amsoil Signature 5W-30 goes in some time near the end of November. Hope this helps provide a reference for anyone with a new car or wondering what is an is not normal.

I have a May 2016 build. Mods are in my sig.

so your saying you went 9200 miles on the original factory fill? on a turbo car?? post up your oil lab reports id like to see them

 

[Juben]

so your saying you went 9200 miles on the original factory fill? on a turbo car?? post up your oil lab reports id like to see them

That's exactly what I was thinking. I'd say the TBN is gone gone. Lol Send a sample to Blackstone and pay the extra for the TBN. I'd be surprised if the oil had anything left.

 

[Wblv17]

Damn I changed mine at 1,000, 4,000, 6,000, 9,000 and 12,000 last week.

I don't burn a drop.

 

[Keiferson22]

Cliff's notes:

Put 9.2k miles on car. Oil consumption appeared to be about 14oz over that period. 3-4 oz were accounted for in the catch can. That is all...

 

[TheLion]

Just changed it last night at 9400 miles. I used AMSOIL Signature Series 5W-30 and their filter. BTW, I also wanted to give an update on the RR14S plugs. They are a no go. I did not have any failures, however the car has a very rough and erratic idle, timing is all over the place on Torque. It also hesistates some times at low throttle on starts.

And I can say this, the car is actually much quiter now as well. With the Brisk plugs each power stroke was VERY pronounced and more intense (aka the car had a much more pronounced burble, think Harley motor cycles). It wasn't knock (pining), but the car just didn't feel right, especially when idling and it felt very gritty under power, especially at 4k rpm.

So while I was waiting for oil to drain, I put back in the OE plugs like Livernois suggested and viola, car idles smooth and sounds "normal", aka like a late model sedan again.

I also examined the brisk plugs and the ceramic looked quite yellowed, the electrodes appeared warn and one even appeared like the electrode and insulator was slightly warped.

I will be running the OE plugs and then I'll give the Denso's (1 step colder) a try once the OE's are due for a change. The Brisk plugs just do not work well for my particular application. It may be in part due to the fact that Livernois tuned with the stock plugs and how they behaved. I do know they had issues with Brisk plugs cracking insulators "inexplicably" back in the early 2000's, so they abandoned them and never went back (they suggested the Denso's as well as an upgraded plug). T+ also seems to like the Desnos, which are physically, a 1:1 match up where both Brisk options were not, the RR14YS were deeper projection while the RR14S were far more recessed than OE (maybe why it idles rough, not igniting the fuel / air mixture consistently).

Even more interesting, just on my trip to work I reset the trip and my average was 25.5 instead of low 24's I was getting with the brisk...I was not expecting that.

Regarding oil, I would agree that there's likely little to no TBN left. However consumption was low and blow by and boil off in my car seems to be "ideal". Typically as the oil breaks down consumption also goes up due to higher boil off from increased friction and acidity (aka the oil structure breaks down).

TBN wouldn't be my biggest concern with modern gaskets, it would be NOAC rating and Viscosity. Significant changes in viscosity (typically oil thins as it degrades) affect it's ability to lubricate the bottom end, especially under load.

But Ford states in their user manual, 10k, 1 year or the oil light. I changed before any of those. My oil life indicator was at about 9% based on operating temps etc. Remember I'm also running upgraded radiator and 160F thermostat, IC. My oil temps never even came close to the top of the green on the digital "analog" oil temp gauge even under heavy use on 90F+ days due to the added cooling.

I would say the catch can had about 2-3 oz in it after emptying it last night. So total consumption over 9400 miles was right about 1/2 quart total on a semi-synthetic blend in a 330 whp 2.3L TDI engine pushing a 3562lb car (plus driver), that's impressive if you ask me!

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