Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Oil Consumption?!?!

I have a 99 CSVT with only 27k miles. I check my oil regularly and noticed that it went down. With only 1k miles to go til the next oil change, I noticed that the dip stick reads a quarter above the MIN when the car is cooled down, and just at the MIN when the car is hot.
I know when I did the oil change last time, I had it filled a quarter below the MAX line. This was the 2nd oil change I have done to the car since I got it and it wasn't eating oil before. But then again, I used a Fram X2 oil filter which is supposed to have 70% more capacity than other brands. And I use regular Valvoline 5w-30, and I haven't found any leaks at all.

Does anyone have anyone know what I should do?...except fill it up and live with it? I really don't think it should be burning oil this early in its life. Anyone else have a newer contique that burns oil?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Dealership service would tell you that losing one quart every 5000 kms is normal. Doesn't seem normal to me, but they think so.

Seems like the duratec is a pretty clean running engine. I'm at almost 100K miles and burning/loosing less than 1/2 Qt. between 3K mile changes. When you fill your oil, start the car, turn it off, check the level, and fill to max line. If you're using an extra capacity filter, it should say how much extra oil it holds and how much extra you need to add on fillups. My SE takes 5.8 Qts, but I think the SVT takes a bit more due to the oil cooler.

I notices the same thing on my 95 2.5L. I also noticed that it seemed to be right after an oil change(Fram filter), but I also found some of my oil on the outside bottom of the pan. This time I bought a Ford filter, filler her up to the max line and I was under my car last night, and I don't think I'm leaking anymore. The engines do run very clean, I don't think your burning it. Could it be those Fram filters?

My engine uses no noticeable oil between oil changes.

Yes blame EVERYTHING on the FRAM filters. They suck badly. One of the worst on the market...

Fram's "X2" Filters say they hold 50-70% more dirt than other brands (which is BS) NOT MORE OIL!!! See above about Fram's lack of quality, filtering ability and reliability. Ask them what it gives up to hold more dirt - filtering ability (which it ranks last in already) or flow rating (which it ranks near last) FRAM sucks badly! 'nuff said...

I would recommend using the stock FL-820S or the K&N filter (if you enjoy high rpm driving as the stock filter is not tested for high flow rates)

I recommend using 6qts (vs 5.8 listed) in the SVT. 5.5qts is standard fill for the non-SVT.

Speaking from experience, (former '98.5 and current '99), both used ~1/2 litre between regular changes (Mobil 1 and Motorcraft 820S) @ ~3500 km. At first I was a bit concerned so I did some of my own research. As it turns out, it seems that "higher performance" engines are built to be "looser" (i.e. more clearance between the rings and cylinder bore) to improve performance. Still not totally convinced, I talked to a professional engine builder and he concurred that this is true. Apparently, if the engine is built too "tight", it's performance suffers (although it is less likely to use oil). Regardless, the nature of any internal combustion engine includes SOME oil consumption.

If you don't believe this, check out some of the BMW websites particularly devoted to the M5. Many owners were reporting what they also considered to be excessive oil consumption.

Maybe Terry Haines can shed more light on this subject.

Hope this helps.

Actually the dealer personnel are only quoting Ford's (and most other auto makers) standards. Ford's warranty and policy manual states that oil consumption of up to 900 miles to a quart of oil is a normal situation and Ford will not pay for oil consumption repairs unless heavier oil consumption is tested and documented.

An oil consumption test is started with a fresh oil change with a new filter. Oil must be added and documented by the dealer with the miles logged.

That said, I agree that this standard is antiquated. Many of today's engines use no measurable oil between changes. Mine doesn't and most customer do not expect to need to add oil between changes.

Most high performance engines from the factory are no longer built to looser specs so this idea is also antiquated. Most all of todays engine specifications are so precise that they are no longer expressed in thousands of an inch, but rather in tenths of thousands of an inch.

Yeah, I HOPE its that damn Fram filter. I am going to change the oil tomorrow and I will go back to Pure One.

Damn, but now I feel bad because I work at Pep Blows and I would sometimes recommend a Fram oil filter. Oh well...what are you gonna do...you know?

Thanks for the help

Hey Rob,

I highly rcommend NOT using the FRAM filter! Many tests have proven that they restrict oil flow due to the filter material and their design and materials are aweful.

You made the right call!

I use the Morotcraft filter (recommended by an article I read thru the CEG a while back) and am very happy with it. At fill up I put in 6 quarts of 5w30...

Have a good one

My Contour manual says 5.8 quarts but the last time Goodyear did the oil change I told them 5.8 and it looked like it was a little beyond the max line when the car sat several hours in the garage. I just got the car back from another oil change and I told them 5.6 quarts because I don't want to overfill it. I checked tonight several hours after I drove it and it looks about 1/4 quart over the line. I'm taking it back in the morning and telling them to redo the oil change. Its a 2000 CSVT. Is it normal for 5.8 to be over the max line after the car sits for awhile?