Average Marauder oil consumption?

[junehhan]

Hey guys, I was just curious how much oil your engines are consuming, and what oil you are running. Earlier today when I checked my engine oil, I found it to be about 1/3 of a quart low, with me having 2100 miles on the odometer. The last time I checked until now, was when I had 1500 miles on the odometer at which it was still full. I went ahead and topped off the factory fill with Mobil 1 0w40 since I happened to have half a quart in my trunk. I was actually surprised to see the oil level had dropped just a tad as every single Ford i've owned in my life has never needed to be topped off between oil changes............

[Amsoil_Dealer]

June,

At 2100 miles it is too early to tell anything. That could be oil slipping past the rings as they are bedding in.....

Having said that, the 4.6 2 valve engine is a known oil consumer. I bought my car with 44,000 on it an it conumed one qt in 1500 miles of the Motorcraft oil at that point. It has now settled down to one quart of Amsoil 5W30 per 5000 miles. I am told one qt per 1500 to 2000 miles is normal on the 4.6 two valve engine.

Don

[junehhan]

I used to have a 2000 Crown Vic with the handling and performance package, and while I don't own it anymore, it's still in the family as my father purchased it from me a while ago. It never drank a measurable amount of oil, and even with 5000 mile oil change intervals, the oil level never drops below the full mark even when I check it right before I take it in for an oil change. In that vehicle, I make sure to use Amsoil Series 2000 0w30 along with an Amsoil SDF11 filter. I also used to have a 2001 Cobra which used this same motor, and in the 8000 miles I had it, the oil level never dropped below the full mark ever. Unfortunately, it had a transmission problem that Ford was unable to fix which is why they offered to buy it back. They said the part needed to make the repair was on a very long backorder..............

[joflewbyu2]

0w-40 is way too thick. Start with the thinnest recommended oil, 5w-20 Ford synthetic blend or better. Don't mix oil brands together. If you want to use mobil 1, I would use the oil weight mobil came out for the Ford & Hondas that ask for 5w-20_____MOBIL 1 0-20. In time if the engine burns oil go to mobil 1 0-30, then 5w-30, then 10w-30, etc. I have 14,000 miles and the engine hasn't burned any oil between the changes at 2500, 5000, 7500, 10000 and just changed at 13000 miles. will change at 17k, 21k, 25k then every 5k. BTW, I am using the K&N oil filter.

[junehhan]

Thanks for the advice. The only reason why I used Mobil 1 0w40, is that I still had half a quart left over from my Land Rover days(Land Rover Freelanders require Mobil 1 0w40, while Disco's require 10w40). I figured since it was less than 1/3 of a quart required to top off, it wouldn't hurt.........

I'm definately going to have the oil changed at 2500 miles, and will definately have it done with Motorcraft semi-synthetic 5w20 just till the next oil change just to make sure everything is broken in, and bedded before I finally switch to a full synthetic. My 01 Cobra never consumed a measureable amount of oil in between changes, which is why I was a bit surprised to find myself 1/3 of a quart low in 2100 miles.

[RF Overlord]

june:

Adding 1/3 of a quart for top-up purposes won't hurt anything, although, as jo said, I wouldn't use the 0W-40 for a full oil change.

I don't recall my motor using any appreciable oil between changes when it was at that mileage, but 1/3 quart would definitely be considered normal under any circumstances. My last 3 changes were at 4,000 mile intervals and I used less than ½ a quart in each, but yours is still breaking in. Now that I have my UOA back from Blackstone, I feel confident I can use the full 5,000 mile interval until the warranty runs out, then increment it from there.

[junehhan]

That's definately good to know. If you went through about half a quart in between 4000 mile oil change intervals, then that sounds pretty good and makes me feel better about using 1/3 of a quart during my initial 2100 miles. I remember when I had my Honda S2000 and it used a full quart of oil in it's first 900 miles!!! Of course high oil consumption is actually normal in that motor.........

I'm at 2400 miles right now(drove a LOT over the weekend), I will probably have the oil changed late this week, or on Saturday using an Amsoil filter and Motorcraft 5w20 semi-synthetic. I'm very tempted to use either Mobil 1 0w20, or Amsoil 0w30, but you only get one chance to break an engine in, and I want to make sure it's done right.

[RF Overlord]

june:

Your plan sounds like a winner...although I'm curious about your choice of an AMSOIL filter. My understanding is that they are very high quality, but also kinda expensive to use for "normal" OCIs...I thought they were designed more for AMSOIL's famous 25,000 mile extended drain interval (with a filter change at 12,500). Maybe Don (Amsoil_Dealer) could step in here?

[1 BAD 03 MM]

I started using Amsoil 0W30 in my 1993 Crown Vic. Oil consumption went from 1 Qt. every 1000 miles, to 1 Qt every 2500-3000 miles. Sounds strange given it's a thinner oil. I think it is due to this oils low NOAK volatility (8.6%) I think.

I switched to Amsoil 0W30 in my Marauder at 1200 miles. A little sooner than I wanted, but my wife was driving cross country from Seattle, Wa. to Pensacola, Fla. (I told her to vary the RPM's and drive differing speeds as much as possible.) A short little trip.

I don't think break in is as critical in newer engines as it used to be, mostly just to seat the rings, since the cams are steel, and there are no lifters to wear to the cam.

Even since adding my Amsoil DR By-Pass system I have had no oil consumption - ZERO. My 0.02

[junehhan]

The Amsoil full flow filter for the Marauder is the SDF11 part number, which I believe costs $9-10 or somewhere in between. That's actually a very good price considering a Mobil 1 filter for the Marauder will run about $10-11 at Autozone. What I like about the Amsoil filter, is that it's an incredibly high quality filter which mananges to maintain incredible filtering efficiency, while still minimizing it's restriction to oil flow. It's also a higher capacity filter and can hold more contaminents, while also holding a little extra oil. The Motorcraft filter is a very high quality filter too, but I prefer the Amsoil one because of it's ability to hold more contaminents..........

[Amsoil_Dealer]

Originally posted by RF Overlord
june:

Maybe Don (Amsoil_Dealer) could step in here?

What June Said.....The Amsoil full flow filter is right in there (price wise) with Pure One and Mobil-1. They lsit f0or $10.45. I sell them for $9.00. They are cheaper than a K&N and I bet they are just as good if not better. Yes it is designed to be able to go 12,500 miles and it can be constured as overkill. But no more overkill than many people who chnage their synthetic oil at 3000 miles.

Don