ok guys. so, this week on wed i drove to kentucky and back. It was almost an 800 mile round trip. And I was pulling an 8ft u haul trailer with about 2000 lbs in it. I also have a bad cat which is getting changed this week. I've had the bad cat for about a month now. So, when i got back home and went to drive the next day, my oil guage dropped below the 40 mark for a second upon taking off from a light. I checked my oil level and it was low. The oil didn't show on the dip stick. Plus, the info center showed that before i left for kentucky, i had 40% oil life left. When i got back home, i had 37% left. Is it unusual for the I6 to use that much oil? or does the oil life meter lie? And, would having a bad cat change the oil usage?
a lot of oil burned
- Thread starter agon3279
- Start date
tblazerdude
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 321
Double check drain plug, oil filter seal, and oil pan gasket. If those are good; mine burnt through a Quart every 3000 miles with Pennzoil platinum full synthetic. When using Mobil 1 High Mileage it burns about a 1/2 quart every 3000 miles. Have you tried using a high mileage oil yet? One of their biggest advantages is burn-off reduction. I change oil and filter every 6-7k. Another option is the last place/person to change your oil did not add the full 7 quarts.
Wooluf1952
Member
Just my thoughts, but, 800 miles, 2k lbs + the weight of the trailer and a bad cat, could be enough of a work-out to drop 3% on the D.I.C. Did you tow in 3rd? Was the oil full before the trip?
All in all high oil usage wouldn't surprise me, but as tblazerdude stated, check for leaks.
All in all high oil usage wouldn't surprise me, but as tblazerdude stated, check for leaks.
well i didn't check the oil before i left. I know i should have but considering that the owners manual says that an oil change is due every 5k miles i thought it would be ok since i did not even put 5k on the truck since i bought it. and no i did not tow in third gear i left it in drive. most of the time when going through hills it would down shift to get back to 65mph. but most of the time it stayed in over drive at 2k rpm
seanpooh
Member
- Jan 24, 2012
- 461
From all my experience on the OS and this site, I was under the impression that our engines are pretty tight and oil consumption is minimal to none. On the V8 on the other hand, they are known to burn up oil.
Do check for leaks. Right now I have 162K miles and no burning of oil. I drain out the amount of oil I pour in always. Then again, I never towed. If you find no oil on the floor while the vehicle is sitting, then remove the skid plate and take a look see.
Just remember on the DIC, the oil life is very reliable (just as roadie) and it only tells you the quality of the oil, not the amount of oil left. Maybe when you bought the truck, it had low oil to begin with.
Also, I think it's dangerous for any engine to drive when you cannot see the oil on the dip stick. That's more than a quart low (rule of thumb) and the oil pick up isn't picking up any oil.
Do check for leaks. Right now I have 162K miles and no burning of oil. I drain out the amount of oil I pour in always. Then again, I never towed. If you find no oil on the floor while the vehicle is sitting, then remove the skid plate and take a look see.
Just remember on the DIC, the oil life is very reliable (just as roadie) and it only tells you the quality of the oil, not the amount of oil left. Maybe when you bought the truck, it had low oil to begin with.
Also, I think it's dangerous for any engine to drive when you cannot see the oil on the dip stick. That's more than a quart low (rule of thumb) and the oil pick up isn't picking up any oil.
agon3279 said:
Nope. Other way around...oil smoke will cause a bad catalytic converter.
You need to do a compression check. If the compression is okay it's probably the valve seals.
TangoBravo
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 208
With standard dino oil I would use a half qt every 5k. I tow very often and my engine hours are much higher then most because of our freezing temps here. But several years back I became an amsoil dealer and since using amsoil I dont have really any drop in oil level, even after 10-12k worth of engine hours.
Wooluf1952
Member
agon3279 said:
So, you really don't know if the truck used much oil, just that the OLM dropped 3%.
As seanpooh stated, the D.I.C. just tells when you should change oil, not the oil level.
My '03 calls for an oil change when the D.I.C. reads 0% or at least once a year, but I still check it when ever I fill-up. (If I remember.
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