What is considered to be "normal" oil consumption in a 2000 XK8 with 60,000 miles? Mine's using about a quart in 800-1,000 miles. No leaks that I've been able to find, just a mystery blue cloud when starting up after it's been sitting awhile. My first guess would have been bad intake valve seals, but I've not been able to duplicate the cloud while driving (even after winding it out locked in 1st gear and letting it back down).

It's amazing how your expectations change with regard to oil consumption the newer the car you own. I have a 2007 Ford Freestyle with over 100,000 miles that still doesn't use a quart between 3000-4000 mile oil change intervals.

 

Hi Max. You might find find this amusing. It's a spread sheet I designed a few years ago when I also had a disappearing oil act going on.

It gives you the actual average age of the oil in your crankcase based upon your consumption rate and crankcase size. I set the variables for a 7.5 qt crankcase and one quart per 900 miles. (You can put in any other values you want). You can see on the graph below, that your oil, after driving 13,000 actual miles, is only 5,000 old, and that it will never, ever be 6,000 miles old.

I figured that if I was putting in new oil at a fast enough rate, I might never need to actually "change" the oil - just change the filter once in a while. What a crazy idea -

Enjoy!

 

My 97 with 92K mi uses almost nothing in 3000 mi, but leaks a couple of oz. from the rear main seal. Check that the part load breather is not clogged. Also check inside the air inlet pipe for oil.
The puff of smoke at startup is a possible valve guide seal problem and it will not occur when driving.

 

My '99 has 152k on the clock and no oil consumption. Even at 80mph for 5 hours on long drives.

 

02 XKR with 50k, I changed oil 3,500 miles ago and will be changing it in the next weeks getting ready to put up for winter. I checked it tonight and I'm barely down 1 hash mark so probably 1/2 cup over 3500 miles. (btw I'd also pulled valve covers in between to replace sparkplug seals and might has lost a few oz there as well. I was talking with a guy who'd just gotten a Audi A7, he said he had to add a qt a month! Some engines are designed to use oil (northstar).

 

Not so crazy. My 1990 Supra used oil at about half that rate and misted it out the
bottom of the engine bay. The only rust on the vehicle was along the top of one
wheel arch when sold in 2010.

 

Max,

A quart every 1k miles is probably high, but I see you have owned 2 Alfas, a Lancia and a Ferrari. Compared to those Italian oil gulpers, you should be happy. My '73 GTV used a quart every 3k miles AFTER I rebuilt the engine. Before the rebuild, Mobil made weekly deliveries straight to my house.

At 117k the '01 blue cat uses about 1/2 cup every 1k miles or so.

 

I've owned several Alfa's also and my last was an '87 Spider I owned since it was 3 years old. If I used Mobil 1 it only stayed in 650-750 miles and even regular oil lasted less than 1000 miles/quart. In almost 80k miles that never changed at all. The oil consumption stayed exactly the same all along. I've only put about 1000 miles on my XK8 so far and the oil hasn't budged from the top tick on the stick as yet.


Dave

 

Thanks to all for responding. After I posted, I did some searches on the forum and found one that mentioned sludge clogging up the scavenger holes in the oil rings on the pistons. When I bought the car, I thought it had been well maintained, but found out that the interior of the engine had a lot sludge. After a few flushes, it looked a lot better, but the oil rings may still be clogged. I'm going to keep changing the oil at short intervals to see if the situation improves.

 

In that case, try using TC-W3 as a fuel additive at 1:640 or 1:500 concentration. TC-W3 is a full synthetic two stroke marine oil with high detergency. TC-W3 is a specification, not a specific brand. Two brands I have used are Castrol and Valvoline.

It has a number of benefits. But, the one of interest to you is that it cleans up and frees up oil rings.

There are a few discussions on JF, and many more at bobistheoilguy.

Just search TC-W3.

 

As a boater, I'm familiar with TC-W3 two-stroke oil, but wasn't aware that it was a synthetic, or that it might help with my stuck rings. I wonder if that's the same rationale behind Marvel Mystery Oil. Many thanks for the tip; there's no down side to trying it, so it's off to (shudder) West Marine I go (unless I get lucky at Pep Boys).

 

Try a can of "engine restore" or a quart of "rislone" I also have a 2000XK8 conv. w/56000 mi. and with the use of Rislone it uses no oil.

 

FWIW I have never had to top up the oil on my 2001 XKR with 73,000 miles on the clock between annual changes - never drops anything I can see on the dipstick.

I had a 1959 650cc AJS twin a while back that used the "constant loss" oil system - at least it was always clean (SAE 30 I seem to remember) - happy days

 

I had used MMO in one oil change (8 oz.). My gas mileage went up noticably, but alas, my oil consumption went up quite a bit too. I tried the Restore sometime later. It did in fact reduce the oil comsumption, but less than 10,000 miles later I spun a couple of main bearings and trashed the engine (130,000 miles old). I can't positively say that the Restore caused or added to the bearing failure, but the engine was running smooth as silk up to that point. Actually, it was still running smooth as silk even WITH the spun bearings (the mechanic was totally mystified), however, I hope none of you ever hear the sounds it making THEN! (cringe). So Kitty got a "new" 50,000 mile engine.

 

I'm usually pretty reluctant to try any of the "snake oil" additives on the market, with MMO probably representing the least risk (at least I hope so). As was previously noted, I'm no stranger to Italian oil burners, but the aesthetic of that beautiful Ferrari V-12, and the sound it made at around 7,000 rpm pretty much made the oil consumption moot. Thanks to everyone who offered their experience with this engine, and its tendency to use little of no oil. I've only had this car since June, and did a $ 3,500 preemptive strike soon after purchase that took care of the tensioners, both chains, water pump, thermostat housing, rebuilt transmission valve body, and assorted hoses and other bits and pieces.

Is it worth it; you're damned right it is!

 

It is. They are often mentioned in the same threads.

You dont' need West Marine. You can probably find it at Walmart. If not, definitely Napa.

In addition to Castrol, Valvoline .. Shell also makes one.

 

ok. So how much would you add?

 

^^^^^^ +1

my ‘02 XKR with 155,000 + miles,has zero oil consumption as measured via the dipstick. I don’t see how that is possible, but am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Am using Mobil 1 0w-40.


Z.

PS. it’s my daily driver, so am averaging about 22,000 miles a year

 

0W-30 Amsoil Signature Series used about half a quart every 3000 miles. Lots of hill climbing. 0W-40 Amsoil Signature Series same results as the 0W-30.

Mobil 1 0W-40 no consumption regardless of driving conditions. Observed for two crankcase fills. Castrol Edge 0W-40 European formula same results. This oil tests similarly to Amsoil and is the least expensive of them all.

It seems that my consumption might be more related to the viscosity. My car also does not have an oil cooler, and the oil has become hot enough on long runs to show reduced pressure at the higher revs.

The only additive that i recommend to people is the AT-205 Re-Seal once a car has over 90 K on it or sits a lot in storage or leaks. Note that you must drive the car after adding this to the oil or it could damage some interior engine paint. It has fixed many seal leaks for me, especially engines that sat for a while causing seals to dry out.

Operating temperature determines the oil viscosity needed. Please do not try to fix leaks or "consumption" with higher viscosity. Your bearings will thank you.

 

2006 XK8 with 120,600 miles running Castrol GTX 5W-30 conventional oil ever since we purchased the vehicle in early February 2012 at 36,000 miles. No oil consumption at all between oil & filter changes every 6,000 miles....