Is 2 quarts of oil being used in 3,000 miles bad?,assuming it occurred over a 3
month period. I don’t think this happened in say 100 or 200 miles. The car has 172700 miles on it and a history of puffing at start up after a lengthy road trip. The using oil is fairly a fairly new
phenomenon and short of any thing traumatic
I plan to keep monitoring the situation.
My only other concern is that the engine has been operating a couple of quarts shy
of proper. It starts fine and is quiet no knocks or valve rattles etc. operating temps are good and no check engine light.
I know it will and should use some oil but is considered excessive? Any thoughts are appreciated ,Thanks.
I don’t think your oil consumption is excessive, particularly in light of the mileage on the car. My brother bought a used 1977 Cadillac and from the time he bought it in 1983, it used a quart every 1000 miles. He put 150,000 miles on the car beyond the mileage that was already there.
My first car used a quart of oil every 105-200 miles. I only paid $75 for the car and it made the 350 mile trip from my home to graduate school. I would have loved to owned a car that used a quart only every 1500 miles. Just be certain to check the oil level on a regular basis.
At over 170k on the odometer, oil consumption is sure to increase.
While a consumption rate of 1,500 miles per qt might seem excessive to you and to me, believe it or not, this rate would fall within the “normal” consumption rate for a new car according to many car manufacturers. In fact, for a new Audi, this would likely be considered to be a very slow rate of oil consumption.
I would just advise that you monitor the oil level via the dipstick every few days. If I am reading your post correctly, you have allowed the engine to operate “a couple of qts shy” on some occasions. That is not good, as that means that you have been allowing ~3 qts of oil to do the job of ~5 qts of oil. That kind of torture will lead to a cascading series of events that will increase the oil consumption even more.
NEVER allow the oil level to fall more than 1 qt below the “full” level on the dipstick. Personally, I will not allow any car of mine to fall more than 1/2 qt below the full mark.
Most manufacturers would consider a quart every 1,500 miles acceptable even for a brand new engine. For an engine with 172,700 miles I think you’re doing great. Just be sure to keep monitoring it sufficient to keep the level above the MIN mark. Do not let it again get “a couple quarts shy”.
Since you’ve had no low pressure light and yo have no symptoms, your engine is fine. Until the oil level in the crankcase gets below the pump pickup tube, the pump continues to lubricate the engine, although if it runs two quarts low for a long time it can get clumpy, so don’t let it gette there again.
Happy motoring.
Forty years ago, I rented a U-Haul truck to move 110 miles. I was trying to save money, so the U-Haul dealer rented me a truck that was meant for local service. He told me to check the oil when I bought gas. After I moved my furniture and was filling up the gas tank to return home, I checked the oil It was 2 quarts low. I put in two quarts and when I drove back to my starting point and returned the truck to U-Haul, the attendant checked the oil and again it wss two quarts low. Now that is oil consumption. The U-Haul dealer just shrugged his shoulders and reimbursed me for the oil. I do remember looking in the rear view mirrors and realizing that I was leaving a nice plume of blue smoke.