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Expert
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Location: Valley Forge, Pa. | I'm curious. My 1960 stock 318 goes through a quart around every 1000-1500 miles. It doesn't leak and doesn't smoke on start up or driving as far as I can tell and people that have followed me don't see any. I rebuilt the motor around 50,000 ago and it has been using oil at that rate ever sence. It burned oil before the rebuild because it had a broken oil ring. My compression seems low but all cylinders are with-in 5 lbs of each other, and the car runs nice, so I am OK with that[120-125]. I'm not concerned about it, just wondering if the 318 polys use oil like this? I run 10W-30 in the cold and 10W-40 synthetics in the summer.
Karl. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/070/Page03.htm
http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/162/Page01.htm
http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/141/page03.htm
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2011/02/how-piston-rings-affect-hor...
http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm
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Expert
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Location: Arizona | I don't think there's anything wrong with that amount of oil consumption. We'd all like to have a quart every 4000 but sometimes the tolerances are not quite that tight. It might not even be the rings, it could be valve stems letting a bit of oil thru. If it's been like it for 50K think of it as an automatic upper cylinder lube that's been working well. How do the plugs look, all the same and not one or two dark with too much oil? |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 13045
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | The consumption isn't too high Karl, I wonder why you change the oil for cold weather, are you actually driving your car during the winter? As you probably know, some guys runs on synthetic oil and claims that they are satisfied with that. I'm old school, so I run straigt SAE 30 oil and since I use the car only from spring to autumn, I never change the oil to winter condition. Multigrade oil is actually not needed for cars that never runs in cold conditions.
The engine in my car has most probably never been opened or repaired yet - the consumption of oil is actually in the same range as yours, but since I run straight 30 oil which is thicker, my consumption is actually higher than yours in comparison. Thinner viscosity tends to give slightly higher consumption, at least in my experience. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 8947
Location: WHEELING,WV.>>>HOME OF WWVA | when ya get to 3-500 mi. per quart worry . i had newer , totally sealed up motors use a quart every 1000--------------------------------------later |
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Expert
Posts: 2312
Location: Arizona | I bought a 76 Blazer with 350 ci engine, two years old, with 24K on it. It ran perfectly but used a quart every 400 - 500 miles. No leaks, no smoke ever, no oil fouled plugs. It remained like that till I sold it, still running great, at 124,000 miles. |
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Location: Indiana |
we don't need to go back to '76, i recall just roughly 5 years ago that Audi, BMW, and Subaru were all involved in a class action lawsuit because their brand new engines burnt a quart of oil every 750 to 1000 miles...
the Audi and BMW engines were turbos, the Subaru was not...
don't recall what happened with Audi and BMW, but Subaru is still under legal proceedings through even the 2015 models...
ever since 2004, Toyota Camry owners manual says specifically right in the manual that the car burns over a quart every 600 miles...
a neighbor has a 2010 Chevy Equinox and he has to add a quart every 1500 to 2000 miles, took it in several times, they keep telling him it's "supposed to" burn that much oil...
edit: hmm, i have to wonder, i wonder at what "re-add" rate would one really never have to change the oil, rather just the oil filter, since 25%+ of the oil in the pan is "brand new oil"...
Edited by FwdLk56 2015-10-14 7:48 AM
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Expert
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Location: Valley Forge, Pa. | I drive my car every chance I get. If its not raining or snowing, I'm out there. As long as there's no salt. I average 8000-10,000 miles a year. That's more than I put on my other cars together. Pa. has emmisions testing and you get a windshield sticker if it passes. IF your car is older than 1987[I think?] or gets driven less than 5000 miles a year, you are exampt. My other cars never need to get tested.
Its been going through oil like this sence I rebuilt it and wasn't really concerned, just curious.
As far as changing oil viscosity, I found the oil pressure stayed higher in my 67 GTO when I changed to heavier oil when it gets hot. Eventually, I switched to full synthetics. Full synthetics don't seem to thin out as much when it gets hot. Guess I have been using heavier oil in the summer sence my first $50 1957 Chevy when I was 16. Well, maybe not that car. It was a TRUE oil user. A $1 a gallon of PEP BOYS "recycled" with no marked viscosity would get me less that a 1000 miles but me and everyone that followed me, knew where that oil was going. NEVER any mosquitoes in my neighborhood.
As far as the plugs go, I just pulled them because my car was running rougher and rougher daily, to the point I was worried it might just die somewheres. I had just done a full tune up before I towed my boat to Canada so I didn't understand the poor running. I figured it was the carb but I recheck the electrical tune-up parts first. Pulled the plugs and they all look great. So I figured the valves, plugs, and wires were probably not the problem. The cap and rotor looked good but I can't see the points and always pull the distributor to check them. They looked a little worn but it all looked OK. I oiled the distributor while it was out and spun it. Then when I put the rotor on, I looked and the points and they were almost closed on the high point of the lobe[?]. I thought that I must have looked wrong the first time and figured I reset them. Looked again and the were well open. I thought the shaft bushings were shot but the shaft is tight. Something happend to the breaker plate and it was shifting. Never saw that before and will have to tear it down to see what happened. I keep a spare distributor and tossed it in and now she runs as good as she ever has.
Thanks again,
Karl. |
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Expert 5K+
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Location: northern germany | wizard - 2015-10-13 1:57 AM
As you probably know, some guys runs on synthetic oil and claims that they are satisfied with that. I'm old school, so I run straigt SAE 30 oil
i'm "old school" too, thats why i want to preserve my never opened 383s as long as possible and thats why i'm using synthetic oil which cuts wear (prolongs engine life) as proven again and again. as for running straight 30 oil, even the 1960 fsm recommends multi viscosity oils. and btw, synthetic oils are a 40s development and introduced in the 60s (for cars that have been running mineral oil) "old school" enough? 
not to start another "oil war", but here are the advantages (copied from wikipedia) of synthetic oils over mineral oils again. if you decide your car is not worth the few extra dollars for an oil change, well its your car.
The technical advantages of synthetic motor oils include:
Better low- and high-temperature viscosity performance at service temperature extremes[citation needed]
Better (higher) Viscosity Index (VI)[citation needed]
Better chemical and shear stability [5]
Decreased evaporative loss[citation needed]
Resistance to oxidation, thermal breakdown, and oil sludge problems[citation needed]
Extended drain intervals, with the environmental benefit of less used oil waste generated[citation needed]
Improved fuel economy in certain engine configurations[citation needed]
Better lubrication during extreme cold weather starts[citation needed]
Possibly a longer engine life[citation needed]
Superior protection against "ash" and other deposit formation in engine hot spots (in particular in turbochargers and superchargers) for less oil burnoff and reduced chances of damaging oil passageway clogging.[citation needed]
Increased horsepower and torque due to less initial drag on engine[citation needed]
Improved fuel efficiency - from 1.8% to up to 5% has been documented in fleet tests[unreliable source?]
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of synthetic motor oils include:
Substantially more expensive (per volume) than mineral oils.
Potential decomposition problems in certain chemical environments (predominantly in industrial use.)
Edited by 1960fury 2015-10-14 9:38 AM
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Location: Indiana | udoittwo - 2015-10-14 9:18 AM
I drive my car every chance I get.
My other cars never need to get tested.
Same here!
You may wish to ask your insurance company about a LOW MILES DISCOUNT for the 'newer' cars.
My insurance company offers a "multi-car" discount - but they also 'assume' a certain number of miles.
My insurance company assumes a certain number of miles per year - 20 *thousand* was what my insurance company 'assumed'.
ADD a car and get the "multi-car" discount, they 'assume' that you drive TWICE AS MUCH (or that a spouse is driving) - so they were 'assuming' that *EVERY* car I insure is racking 20 *thousand* miles per year.
I had to threaten to go with a company advertised on TV before they finally coughed up that a LOW MILES DISCOUNT is a *bigger* discount than the "multi-car" discount.
I do have to provide odometer readings every year, but my 'newer' car insurance was cut in *HALF* when I demonstrated that it gets *LESS THAN* 4,000 miles per year - because all of my driving is divided among six vehicles.
Why in Hades they were 'assuming' that I was driving 120,000 (6 x 20,00) miles per year is WAY beyond me!
But the neighbors are the same way, "How can you afford all of that gas?"... "Um, I don't drive MORE just because I have more cars than you!"...
But I digress - *ASK FOR THE LOW MILES DISCOUNT*  |
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Expert
Posts: 1348
Location: Valley Forge, Pa. | The first time I ran full synthetics was in my 67 GTO probably 25 years ago. It was a very sensitive motor. I had driven it at least 50,000 miles before I used synthetic oil, so I knew well how my car ran and felt. With full synthetics, it definately ran cooler but it felt like it ran better too. Maybe it ran better because it ran cooler but I will swear it did run better. I have never seen anything that has suggested that synthetics will harm my motor in any way and most times I only have read of it being better for my motor, so I have no reason to switch back. As far as debating the issue, why? If you are happy with the results of your oil, then that should be that. As I read and look at your beautiful cars, my guess is that a good percentage of these cars may not get as many miles on them in their lifetime as mine does in a year or two.
Oh well, HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Karl. |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 13045
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | That's right, to each his own I drive 3000 to 4000 miles every year and I don't follow any traffic rythm, I set it I think that Sid uses his car a lot too and I know that he's enjoying active driving as well - so here we see two sides of the coin, straight and synthetic oil in two cars that are used and driven in very active driving. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9900
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Old thread but I thought I would chime in with today's "findings" with my 56 Dodge D500 315 double rocker ("hemi"):
Running Lucas Hot Rod and Classic 20W50. 1100 miles since about March 24 of this year. Just got down to the "FILL" level on the dipstick.
I still (but very rarely) get a bit of smoking on start-up (for less than 20 seconds). Never any sign of smoking in the rear view mirror while in motion.
I guess I am happy (enough) with that level of oil consumption.
(I do have a small rear seal leak that I might get around to fixing. Maybe)
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Extreme Veteran
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| Yep old thread but here my 2 cents. I use Valvoline 10-30 conventional in all my vehicles, except 1 it gets 20-40. No straight 30 here cause in the summer it can hit 30 degrees. My '56 smokes a tiny tad at cold start after a week or 2 sitting. Stops after 5-10 seconds or so as the choke is warming up. My daily driver for the past almost 14 years I add less than half a quart a year maybe. I still use a lead additive for the gas in my '56. We don't have smog here either. I did put Quaker State heavy duty, synthetic, in my ramcharger. I think it basically killed the engine. Compression slowly evaporated, rods started singing and clanking and oil pressure went well it did move the needle. |
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oil usage?
