Using oil...any ideas?

[masho95]

srfdude:

masho95:
FWIW normal oil consumption after the first 10,000 miles of a car's life, is considered to be AT LEAST 900 miles per quart.

masho where did you get this number? Ford (and other mans.) may tell you this, but I don't accept that as normal. Of course seals get tired after awhile, and rings will sludge/crud up. But its not "normal" as far as I am concerned; you can do something about it.
Mike

Factory service manual.

 

[DavidT]

Rick, I am getting ready to start my 2nd treatment of AutoRX. (So far, I drove 500 miles with one bottle. Then changed the oil and filter. I have now drove 1000 miles, so I am about to pour the 2nd bottle in)
My observations:
Still leaks oil and still burns it (I go through a quart about every 500 miles---> I've got you all beat laughing )
Looking through the oil fill cap hole... I still see the pretty brown tarnish color doh
Best of all, I am now noticing much more smoke out my exhaust when I tromp on it... blackish, blueish, maybe even whiteish shrug Sometimes it looks like a smokescreen when I look out the rear view mirror. hehe, the Prelude that ate my lunch the other day also swallowed my nasty exhaust fumes.... that is until he blew by me

 

[shojuan]

DavidT:
Rick, I am getting ready to start my 2nd treatment of AutoRX. (So far, I drove 500 miles with one bottle. Then changed the oil and filter. I have now drove 1000 miles, so I am about to pour the 2nd bottle in)
My observations:
Still leaks oil and still burns it (I go through a quart about every 500 miles---> I've got you all beat laughing )
Looking through the oil fill cap hole... I still see the pretty brown tarnish color doh
Best of all, I am now noticing much more smoke out my exhaust when I tromp on it... blackish, blueish, maybe even whiteish shrug Sometimes it looks like a smokescreen when I look out the rear view mirror. hehe, the Prelude that ate my lunch the other day also swallowed my nasty exhaust fumes.... that is until he blew by me

Hmmmmmm. That doesn't sound good. Well I'll at least get to take a look at my bottom end after the first treatment to see if things look nice and squeaky clean. The real test of the Auto-RX's mettle is going to be the truck. If it can cut the oil consumption in that beast in half then I'll be happy. I don't have a problem adding oil to that car. It just that it burns so damn much, 1 quart every 200 miles, that detonation is a problem, even with premium fuel. And don't get me started about what a bitch it is to drive without making it ping when I put 87 in it. Actually, the oil consumption on the truck has improved. But if I can cut it in half from where it's at now then detonation should no longer be a problem (yeah, it's had a complete and thorough tuneup. Lol, gets better gas mileage now than it ever has in its miserable existence). And if detonation problems go away then I can put off getting a new engine or rebuilding this one till another day. Screw that. I want to put money into the SHO. And buy new parts that will make the car better than it is. The truck's fine as long as the engine keeps moving the beast from point A to point B.

 

[srfdude]

Though Ford may try to weasel with the 900 mi. number, we all know the SHO engine is a lot better than that. If it went through that much oil when nearly new, then you could say its the nature of the beast. But after 100K to 200K hard miles, its time for a little maintenance, guys. I am on the last stages of an A-Rx treatment on 3 cars. By the way the 500 mi. number on the web site is wrong according to the manufacturer; it should be 750 for the first stage. At any rate looking down into the valve covers, where oil doesn't flow/splash much, there isn't much difference. But on the cams and areas of much flow, its clean. And my dipsticks are all like new. Oil consumption of all cars is down, 2 more than the 3rd. So I'd give the stuff high marks. But if your seals are shot, nothing in a can is going to fix that.
Mike

 

[93EmeraldMTX]

mine has gone through none in 2,500 mi so far.

 

[HopefulSHO]

Keep in mind one of the filters that Bob tested was in fact Motorcraft's own (and is the stock size for the SHO) FL400S.
It was said in that thread to take the tests w/ a grain of salt, as the setup they were using was still being upgraded.
Don't bash a whole message board for one thread..Lots of good info on oils and such there too.

 

[masho95]

srfdude:
Though Ford may try to weasel with the 900 mi. number, we all know the SHO engine is a lot better than that.

I agree I know that the SHO should be able to run longer than that without using that much oil. I think Ford is using that number as a minimum number that the car could be running without the car having a significant problem. My SHO personally runs 3000mi losing only 1 qt. and anything less than that I would be unhappy with.

 

[SHOZ123]

My '93 was using a lot of oil, 600 miles to the quart. I used three bottles of Auto-RX and the usage dropped to 1200 miles a quart. Now it is creeping up again and I am at the 1000 mile per quart level. If you want Auto-RX to cure what ails your SHO you will have to use it as a maintenance item. Or use one of the special oils that are made for high mileage engines.

On the oil filter thread at BOBISTHEOILGUY it starts off saying that the results aren't scientific as they do not have a set procedure and the proper equipment, yet. I do feel that any filter that filers to a very fine level like the Mobil One will not do well at high flow rates.

 

[billyshoe]

you guys that use no oil between changes are either ******* or liars. if you tip in the accelerator far enough for long enough, the car will use some oil.

 

[yamahaSHO]

billyshoe:
you guys that use no oil between changes are either ******* or liars. if you tip in the accelerator far enough for long enough, the car will use some oil.

I am what I eat!

Why don't you tell us how you really feal.

I get on my car every now and again, but seeing how I don't want to work on my car all the time, I take care of it.

 

[ATXSHO]

What kind of reply was that? Why can a SHO 'NOT' burn oil? I'm just wondering because my 93 w/128k burns no oil during the 3k it's in there. It hardly sees WOT too, maybe 10 times during the 3k and only short distances. Once in a while it has a race or two, but that's it. My SHO is healthy and has it's maintnence unlike some. However I have another SHO that burns 2 quarts every 1k miles and it sees redline just about all day and every day. It also has just the cam seal leak too that's going to be fixed.

For the thread starter, you probaly have a leak that occurs only when the engine is running and has pressure built up. If it's that minor, when the engine is off and has no oil pressure it'll be pretty sealed off and won't show any signs of a leak on the floor as it will not leak. Hope that makes sense.

 

[shojuan]

SHOZ123:
I do feel that any filter that filers to a very fine level like the Mobil One will not do well at high flow rates.

The ability of an oil filter to flow a certain volume of oil without going into bypass is a function of the restrictiveness of the media (Yeah, Mobil 1 uses the finest filtering, and likely the most restrictive media of all common full flow filter brands) AND the size of the actual filter. The M1-301 filter is HUGE The manufacturers have the flow specs. I believe Buford published them in his writeup on shoclub.com. I really have to disagree with you on the oversize version, the M1-301 not being able to flow all the required oil at any given RPM range these engines operate at. The number 12gpm comes to mind and I believe the M1-301 flows it. I think it's the best filter to use on a street SHO. For a track SHO I would go with the K&N oversize for that little extra flow. You're gonna be using brand new oil at the track (maybe even Redline racing oil! ) anyways so the finer filtering ability of the M1-301 isn't really needed for those track days.

Now if I were running a submicron bypass filter system in addition to the full flow, I would probably go with a K&N oversized for the full flow filter. If for nothing else then just to get the nifty nut on the end.

 

[masho95]

ATXSHO:
What kind of reply was that? Why can a SHO 'NOT' burn oil? I'm just wondering because my 93 w/128k burns no oil during the 3k it's in there.

All cars burn some oil, it's just a fact. Obviously in your case it's not as significant as a quart per 3000 miles, but it's still burning oil.

 

[bigpappy]

I'm going to make a feeble attempt to address both issues expressed in this topic.
1. ) The issue of burning oil.

My 94 ATX SHO typically doesn't burn any oil -- at least not that I notice when I check it each fill up. There have however been occasions where I have burned a quart and a half in ten days. In my case, it all depends on how hard I push the car. (WOT)

Solution - Get some degreaser, and get underneath your car with a rag and the degreaser. Clean off your oil pan, transmission pan, and wipe everything down. Don't go crazy with the degreaser, just a little does the trick. You're not trying to clean it, just trying to eliminate /discover where the oil is disappearing to. If you haven't checked your plugs, perhaps there's some in your plug wells. (I can't imagine more than a total of 2 ounces in all of them, but ya never know. There's a bunch of places where oil can seep from one place to another. Good luck finding it.

Now if it's pretty warm where you live, and you are constantly pushing your ride, you are going to burn some oil. I would suggest switching to a synthetic to see if your consumption decreases. The synthetics are reputed to be more resilient against heat and "viscosity breakdown".


Issue 2-- What kind of oil and filter to use:

In my opinion, I'd say it would depend on the way you drive your car, and what you want your end result to be. From what I've read, Castrol is the better oil for reducing carmelization.

According to Consumer Reports, unless you're racing, it really makes no difference what filter you use. After all, you're going to change it every 3000.

The idea behind a filter is to attempt to keep your engine oil free of impurities. Using a filter with "better flow" is doubtlessly going to allow for larger pores. Nothing significant, mind you. But, still, a larger pore may allow for a larger particle to get through.

I "SHO" off against other cars from time to time. I've used Fram, and the Motorcraft and even some other brand whose name escapes me. I never noticed any difference in my SHO-power.

Let me reiterate; just my opinion! In the long run, the major detail is to just be sure you have oil of some kind in there at all times. Some car owners expect to drive their SHO's until they or the car die. In these cases, Castrol for organic, Mobil-1 for synthetic. (Or Amsoil)

Otherwise, does it make a difference? You decide!

 

[mygreensho]

filc03:
I'm 3rd owner on this car & the man who I bought it from who owned it the longest said all maintenance was always kept up, so I assume a 60k was done at...60k. I plan on having that done this summer or fall. btw, anyone know a good mechanic to have do this w/in semi-reasonable distance of western Ohio?

hey i am from greenville..and my friends has a friend who drives a sho and most of his friends drive a sho..he does really good work on the side, he lives in tipp city...u can email me at [email protected] if u are interested any more