Oil consumption

[brfdrums]

I bought my car on Black Friday. I know they did a service before I purchased it.
I checked my oil today and noticed it was low. Being that it uses 10 qts I’m not sure how low. My question is, being that the dealer used 5w 20 I should add that…? Does the manufacture matter? Also, is this normal for the lighter weight oil?
after reading through some posts here I’m going to switch to a 5w 30. I’m now getting used to the car and starting to drive a little more spiritedly so I guess that would be causing the usage?

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[sk47]

Hello; Sorta sounds like you did not check the oil level last November. If so, then you do not have a reference from which to estimate the amount of oil used.
Another question is what you mean by low oil. Was the dipstick showing below the bottom mark?

If it does turn out your engine is using/losing too much oil the first thing I do is change the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve. A fairly cheap and easy thing to do. Has helped with oil consumption.
good luck

 

[KeyLime]

I don't have an answer about oil consumption. However, you can mix oil brands and weights.

 

[ORRadtech]

I bought my car on Black Friday. I know they did a service before I purchased it.
I checked my oil today and noticed it was low. Being that it uses 10 qts I’m not sure how low. My question is, being that the dealer used 5w 20 I should add that…? Does the manufacture matter? Also, is this normal for the lighter weight oil?
after reading through some posts here I’m going to switch to a 5w 30. I’m now getting used to the car and starting to drive a little more spiritedly so I guess that would be causing the usage?

You don't even know if you have "usage" just that it's low. You didn't check it after the service so you don't have a baseline to measure from. And really it's only low if it's below the bottom mark. Since you haven't said where it's at we don't know it's low.
Mixing manufacturers, and weights even, doesn't matter much.
As to what weight oil to use, unless you have made major modifications like a blower, or are in some extreme conditions, just use the weight that is printed on the oil cap. Ford knows how the car is going to be driven and has accounted for spirited driving...

 

[Zrussian13]

How low was it?

 

[brfdrums]

@sk47 @ORRadtech ,
you are right, I did not check the oil when I bough the car. One of those things I didn't feel I needed to, it came from a luxury car dealer...But lessons learned.
The oil is at the low dot. In my experience of owning cars that would be low, being that it seems you have to "relearn" all that on a mustang, I am learning.
It does have a catch can as well, I have emptied it once(maybe 1/8-1/4 at the bottom) and I'm sure the dealer didn't empty that when servicing. I will be checking it again, it didn't seem to want to come off when I was checking my oil.

All the info I got here is greatly appreciated! it helped me out today. I know you can get a lot of "opinions" on these forums, so I take in all of it and make an educated decision.

I do plan on keeping the car N/A but will try to get all the performance I can. So far I'm loving it! And the best is I'm now getting comfortable with how it performs and really enjoying it! And I'll say it...manual is the way to go!!

Thanks everyone.

 

[Pony2015]

Regarding the oil mixing question, there are theoretical reasons why you might not want to mix brands of oils as detailed at this LINK.

However, to my knowledge, no study has been done to demonstrate that any of the linked factors have a meaningful impact - although very curious to know if other forum members are aware of hard data (ie, environmental factors like outside temp, driving style, #cold starts etc. would all need to be controlled). And several engines for each condition would need to be tested as there will be some variability in engine build quality/tolerances.

So until I see hard data, I mix and match between brands and viscosities (but not too crazy, say 5w-20 and 5w-30 full synthetic, generally starting with manufacturer recommendation, and topping off with something close -whatever is handy with no attention to brand). However, I don't mix conventional with full synthetic.

Keep in mind that a Coyote engine retains 1 - 2 quarts of oil every change, so unless you have used the same shop AND ensure that they don't change oil brands over the life of your vehicle, you have already (or will have) mixed oils brands.

 

[Offshoregames]

Bottom mark , add a quart. Carry on.

 

[sk47]

I mix and match between brands and viscosities (but not too crazy, say 5w-20 and 5w-30 full synthetic, generally starting with manufacturer recommendation, and topping off with something close -whatever is handy with no attention to brand).

Hello; While far from a controlled experiment and also not with a Ford Coyote I have been doing the same with my 2001 car and 2004 pickup. I have used different brands over the decades. I stick to name brands but will buy what is on sale or is the best deal. At some point I switched from conventional oil to semi-synthetic to full synthetic in both vehicles.
Back when I drove a lot more miles per year I would sometimes switch to 10-w-30 for an oil change in the spring and back to 5-w-30 before winter. My owners manuals allow for 10-w-30 as long as the temperature is not too cold. Both my current vehicles call for 5-w -30. Both are still running fine. The 2001 Sentra with the SE-R four cylinder will use around half a quart in 3000 to 4000 miles. The pickup's oil use hardly registers a difference in a year or 3000 miles.

Neither vehicle has the sophisticated cam phasers as a Coyote does, so those sorts of parts are worth consideration. Clean properly weighted oil may be more critical for a Coyote than for my vehicles. The truck is an LS type pushrod V8. The car has a double overhead cam four cylinder. So Nissan & Chevy apples to Ford oranges in terms of comparison. Hopefully not too far off topic for the OP.

 

[First Stang]

As an aside can, anyone confirm that one quart is what it takes to move the level from the bottom mark to the top?
This would help in future topoffs.

 

[sk47]

As an aside can, anyone confirm that one quart is what it takes to move the level from the bottom mark to the top?
This would help in future topoffs.

Hello; Interesting question and there is something which affected Coyote engines in ford F-150 pickups. I was shopping for an f-150 a few years ago and ran across reports of excessive oil consumption with the Coyote V8's. Found a TSB about the subject. I tried to get more information from Ford dealers and ford corporate to no avail.
A theory went round suggesting the plasma process of lining the cylinder walls was the main culprit. The lining being very hard so the rings took a very long time to seal. They also figured that during deceleration with the throttle body's rotating throttle plate closed a strong vacuum was being created. This vacuum along with poorly sealed rings allowed for oil to be sucked past the rings.
Two "fixes" were implemented. One was to reprogram the thorttle body motor so it did not fully close during deceleration. Such created much less vacuum and was intended to reduce oil consumption.
The other thing was to replace the stock dipstick with one which read two quarts between full and low instead of the traditional one quart.

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/vdirsnet/TSB/EU/

 

[brfdrums]

Thank you everyone for the input! This plus other research has helped me greatly. I have also checked and rechecked my oil since posting(with the new knowledge) and noticed depending on where the car is parked may have a say in what is on the stick. If in the garage it seems oil is good...driveway seems I'm low. Being that it isn't a daily driver and the oil is still clean probably didn't help as well...the bottom of the stick(at the bottom hole) is heavier and between the holes and above is lighter, which may have had me thinking I was low.
My oil pressure gauge seems to read ok as well(I'm still learning that though...if I was low would the pressure run high or low? at idle).

I'm still learning the car. Between reading the manual and reading threads here I have been able to figure some stuff out...Again, thanks for all the info! @Pony2015 That video link was great! Thanks

 

[sk47]

noticed depending on where the car is parked may have a say in what is on the stick. If in the garage it seems oil is good...driveway seems I'm low. Being that it isn't a daily driver and the oil is still clean probably didn't help as well...the bottom of the stick(at the bottom hole) is heavier and between the holes and above is lighter, which may have had me thinking I was low.

Hello; A suggestion. I like to check oil level before a startup after a vehicle has been sitting overnight. I am lucky in having level parking spots at my home. Appears you do not have a level spot at home.
Another way to get a sense of the oil might be to find a level parking lot and go shopping for a while at a place close to your home. After 15 to 20 minutes most of the oil should have drained into the pan. The more time the better but 15 minutes ought to be enough. Check the oil level and note the level on the dipstick. Then drive home and park the car in the normal place.
Next morning check the dipstick and note where the oil mark is. If it is some different than the mall parking spot make a mental note.

 

[brfdrums]

Hello; A suggestion. I like to check oil level before a startup after a vehicle has been sitting overnight. I am lucky in having level parking spots at my home. Appears you do not have a level spot at home.
Another way to get a sense of the oil might be to find a level parking lot and go shopping for a while at a place close to your home. After 15 to 20 minutes most of the oil should have drained into the pan. The more time the better but 15 minutes ought to be enough. Check the oil level and note the level on the dipstick. Then drive home and park the car in the normal place.
Next morning check the dipstick and note where the oil mark is. If it is some different than the mall parking spot make a mental note.

I do have a level spot in my garage. My driveway isn't, which is where I first checked and made this post. I decided to check it in my garage after I made this to do a comparison...and see if that may have been the issue. The driveway doesn't seem to be that out of flat how I had the car parked but evidently it is.
Im going to keep monitoring. Im close to the mileage I want to do an oil change anyway so after that I'll have a good starting point.

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