Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting I'm losing oil on my SVT contour

I'm losing little over a quart of oil every 3k miles. I know i'm not leaking so it must be blow by.
Currently I have 95k miles on the odo. Is that normal for these car??? Everything else seems good.

check your spark plug tube seals. All you have to do is pull a plug wire and see if there is oil in the plug well.

Not really normal.

Get a new PCV valve, OEM is prefferable. Then test the PCV system. You can make a PCV oil seperator to help.

Check for excessive blowby by plugging the back PCV fresh air hose (both ends) and the front hose intake side. See if blowby comes out of the front valve cover.

Check compression.

If necessary pull the valve covers and check/replace the oil seals on the valves.

Are you sure you are not leaking? Even some? Check valve cover gaskets, especially in the back where its not as obvious and on the sides of the engine. Also make sure you have a good drain plug washer, which (as I learned) needs to be replaced every oil change.

Every oil change??? I do my own oil changes and I haven't replaced mine in over 7 years and 114,000 miles and I don't notice any leak.

Thats a first Ive heard.

I change my own oil, as well, and I have never replaced mine. I don't leak any oil as well.. 98 SVT


Ray

I've never changed mine, either. Doesn't leak a drop. And I've had similar seals on other cars; never changed them either.

My experience has that if you're *very* careful with the seal, clean the mating surface, and *never* over-torque the drain plug, the seal will last the life of the car. But it only takes one episode of abuse to trash it. Think of this as yet another reason to always change your own oil; quickie lube places are notoriously tough on drain plugs.

For what it's worth, I've been very pleased with my '95 in regards to oil. I've never had to add oil between changes, which I generally do at 4.5K miles, using Mobil 1. The oil level is normally still wicking in the top-level mark hole on the dip stick when I change it. Granted, the car only has 65K miles; I hope the situation doesn't change.