Basically what I mean is when is a motor most likely to use oil? While idiling, while accelarting hard, accelarting hard to red line, while downshifting to slow down, etc...

I check my oil every few weeks and top it off each time but in between 3000 mile changes I lose about a quart and half total. I just finished installing a catch can tonight to see if that is where it is going. BTW, I've been using Mobil 5w30 since my first oil change at 3000 miles and I have 19,000 now.

I down shift all the time to slow down. I've driven every standard I've owned this way. There is one hill I go down everyday that is very steep. I usually approach it fairly fast (@60mph) because the road before it is fun to drive fast. As I approach the hill I start downshifting to slow down. 5th to 4th, 4th to 3rd, and finally 3rd to 2nd before I reach the bottom and apply the brakes to stop at the light.

Don't get me wrong, I do drive the car fairly hard. I don't hit redline on every shift but I also don't shift at 2500 rpms all the time either. I drive it the way a sports car should be driven but I don't bounce it off the rev limiter all the time either.

I am going to try driving the way I normally do for a few days and then try driving without down shifting to slow down for a few days. I will check how much oil I catch each way to see if there a noticeable difference. I could also try shifting at different rpms to see if I notice a difference as well.

Anyway, I was curious if anyone knew what type of driving habits cause the most oil lost.

 

depends, it can be all of those situations. If the piston rings are gone it will get blowby and burn oil at higher RPM's more. If your valve stem seals are gone you will burn more oil at lower RPM's... totally depends on what is the cause of the oil burning. (or so is my non motor building expertise knowledge of it)

 

Anyone else have any input?

 

I called nissan and they told me your driving style makes a difference in how much oil is burned. The disturbing thing is, they told me that it was normal for a 350 to burn 1 qt. in 2 weeks of driving (WTF!)

 

I know that the '01 Corvettes Z06s had a major oil consumption problem. Chevy figured out that the engines burn the most oil in low load, high rpm conditions. That condition/driving style is common with sportscar owners. I wouldn't be surprised if its the same for the Zs.

 

haha when they are 06's!!

 

That is what I was thinking. When downloading to slow down you can hit high rpms with no load.

My questions where does the oil go? Does it get by the rings because there is no load on them? Does it get by the valves? Where does it go????

I installed the catch can and it is catching oil but I don't think it'll be catching the quart over 1300 miles I've been losing.

 

If I were to guess I'd say it's high rpm's low or no load as when slowing down for a stop. The engine is basically slowing down under a vacume, I believe it's being sucked thru the valve stem seals and out the exuaust. Just another reason the exausts look so black. Maybe we can get everybody to report exhaust tip color with oil consumption ammounts. I'm on my second engine, this built engine burns the same ammount as the last stock engine did.

 

bump for more input on this question. I have an 03 max 6mt and I got my engine replaced too for oil burning and the new one still seems to drink a bit...very little but still something nevertheless. I hardly shift over 3000k...beats me

Im looking to upgrade to a Z next spring and I have been doing LOTS of research here..search option ftw!