Engine Oil Leaks
If no engine oil leaks are present from the engine or its sealed drive units, then these two issues are the only causes of increased oil usage, then you can take a sigh of relief. The remainder of the issues all have to do with all other cases stemming from mechanical problems.
First, verify for any external oil leak source: oil lines, drain plug for the crankcase, the gasket of the oil pan, gaskets of the valve cover, gasket for oil pump, gasket for fuel pump, cover for timing case and seal of camshaft bearing. Mechanics shouldn’t neglect any potential sources of oil leaks because even a tiny one can lead to gobbling up a lot of oil!
You should pay attention to oil spots underneath a vehicle to prevent excessive oil usage. For instance, one drop of oil every 20 feet is roughly equivalent to one quart lost every 100 miles.
On average, a fuel tank for a car or truck can keep your vehicle running for 4-6 hours or 400-600 highway miles. One drop of oil every 20 feet you drive, your engine could lose 1 quart of oil for every 100 miles – add that up, and you could be losing up to 4 quarts after one or two fuel tanks!
That’s why even the tiniest of leaks can deplete your oil sump reserves fairly quickly – most cars and trucks only have a capacity of 4-8 quarts!
Oil consumption can be increased due to “dirty oil” and “overfilling” of the crankcase.
The two most common reasons for increased oil consumption
Overfilling… too much oil in the crankcase
Incorrectly inserting the oil dipstick may give a lower reading than expected. Adding more oil can make this reading look normal, but it will result in the oil level being too high. If this happens, it can lead to too much oil being thrown onto the cylinder walls, and some of it can end up in the combustion chamber in pressure-lubricated and splash-lubricated engines.
Dirty oil
Changing the oil at the advised times or not correctly maintaining the oil filter will prevent it from becoming so dirty that it blocks the piston rings and pistons’ oil passages, leading to increased oil consumption. This contaminated oil will also accelerate the wearing of the bearings, cylinders, pistons and piston rings, as each of these parts has its explanations as to why. Generally speaking, dirtier oil is consumed faster than cleaner oil.
AMSOIL synthetic oil keeps internal engines clean and allows piston rings to seal against the cylinder liners demonstrating less oil consumption and keeping cylinder liners looking like new.
All of our engine oils provide long-lasting wear protection.
Engines don’t fail because they are too clean.
