Ok here was my dilemma before I replaced the engine, my father and I were both stumped as to where my oil was going. I would put oil in every day up to 2 quarts a day. But the thing is, the engine never leaked at all. not a drop of oil would come out. I don't think it burned it because my exhaust was clear not blue or black. My antifreeze was always green never had any oil in it. But the one thing I did notice, if my truck didn't have time to warm up and i shut it off for the day when I would start it at the end of the day a lot of black soot would blow out the end on the first fire up and then no more. The only way i relized this was when I drove to school, my truck barely warmed up to about 100 degrees, I shut it off for the day in auto shop. At the end of the day I got into my truck fired her up and as I backed out I looked at the wall and saw a spattered bit of black stuff on the wall. That is all i know. After a couple of weeks of buying oil I gave up and started putting in old oil, from oil changes I did. It still drank it up. finally i went a whole week without putting any oil in it at all. It stayed as low as about 1 1/2 quarts in the engine and no more would dissappear. Weird, and I was wondering if you guys knew of anything like this happening before. Thanks


~Ray

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I blew up 2 slant 6's...So they are destructable after all.

Since no one else will say anything, im going to tell you its not Magic...


Usely if i have a problem some people cant figure out call down to your local O Rielly's or auto shop and talk to them...


Peace

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1974 Plymouth Gold Duster

if once that reaches the lower spot won't consume any more oil, I'd say that maybe your dipstick is wrong and you're adding much more oil than it really needs, and the crank is turning it into a mist till is low enough.

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

Don't go this route... you'll probably end up with bad information and an annoyed conterman. If you /do/ want to get information from your local parts store, go in and ask... they'll be much more kind. (And you'll be more likely to get a right answer if the group of countermen can confer among themselves.)

After pulling the engine out, did you tear it down? If it's not leaking, really, the only other choice is burning... Can't think of why it would stop burning oil after it got to a quart and a half though.

Argentina may be on to something with the short or incorrect dipstick idea. Try this.....do an oil and filter change. Do not pre-fill the filter. Dump four quarts into the engine, wait a few minutes to make sure it's all drained down to the pan, then check your oil level. It should be around normal reading on the dipstick. If it's not, then you should start looking at the dipstick instead of the engine.

Roger

Well the dipstick was correct because I did 2 oil changes on it before I just gave up and just kept adding oil...when I took the engine apart nothing looked bad or out of the ordinary ecept that on the pistons there was an unusual amount of carbon build up. It was just a black buildup in the center it was like large pebble like pieces. The largest was about an 1/16th of an inch. But other than that nothing else seemed out of ordinary. All the bearings seemed good and looked like they had plenty of life left in them. The cam wasn't excessively worn. Timing chain and stuff was just normally worn for 185K miles on it.

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I blew up 2 slant 6's...So they are destructable after all.

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

Does anybody else here think that maybe Ray's car has a carb problem that is "washing down" the oil off of the cylinder walls and causing excessive oil consumption? That's my best guess.

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'68 Dodge Dart 4dr Sedan

I was thinking that too. What does your oil smell like?

But the losing 1 1/2 quarts and no more kind of puzzles me. My Duster does the same thing. But that is because of a bad rear main seal.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

It didn't smell bad...a tinge bit burnt but on a 185k miles on an 85 Dodge pickup I would figure it might smell that way. Me and my father rebuilt the carburetor before I even started driving the truck as well because it wasn't working properly when I saved the truck from the junk yard.

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I blew up 2 slant 6's...So they are destructable after all.

It's sure odd that you can lose so much oil and not see evidence of leaks or burning (smoke). Have you checked under the valve cover to see if oil is getting to the top end?

By the way, if you "blew up two slant sixes", as stated in your signature, that would prove they ARE destructible, not indestructible.

Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

A bit of oil was getting up there and there was some oil in the air cleaner and plastic tube.

Thanks for letting me know about the INdestructible

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I blew up 2 slant 6's...So they are destructable after all.

By "plastic tube" I'm guessing you mean the PCV valve in the top of your valve cover that has a large rubber hose attached?

I was just asking about the top end, to make sure the oil passage isn't clogged up. Since you are trying to track down a problem with the oiling system, you might as well check everything.

Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Is the PCV system working properly? Pull the valve out of the valve cover, and see if you have good vacuum at the valve with the engine running. Even with a new valve, the passage in the carb, or the hose could be pluggrd up. This can cause excessive crankcase pressure, and blow oil out, while going down the road.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Ive got that problem with my car, but it is soooo bad I dont need to change my oil it just burns it up. My problem is the valve guide seals are 32 years old and they have become rock hard and shattered. Thus down in the engine goes the oil. If you have the old spark plug tube head, but yours sounds newer, if those seals are hard that be a cause to look at the guide seals on the valves.