Oil burning question

My 2021 has 22000 miles on it. I do all my own oil changes and have only used Mobil 1 or Castrol Edge Titanium, both are full synthetic oil. I checked my oil this evening after moving it around in the driveway to rotate my tires and noticed that the oil level was in between the two marks on the dipstick. I let it sit for 10 mins before I checked it the last time tonight. I believe that is 1.5 quarts between those marks. So after 5100 miles of driving I've lost .75 quarts of oil. There are no leaks as I visually inspected everything. Am I missing something here or is it burning some oil? I do drive it aggressively as I have dual exhaust and it sure sounds sweet when I gas on it. LOL.

I'm changing my oil tomorrow and am going to check it again in the morning to see if it needed to sit longer to get an accurate reading.

 

Fwiw, they do lose a bit more than you might think through the pcv. However, not more than maybe a tenth of a quart between 15k if that. I haul balls in mine and here is a picture of my pcv JLT catch can after a 2k.

 

I have towed a lot too on this last 5K miles.

 

I was loaded pretty heavy on that last 2k run also.

 

Quick note on this. I read an article that mentioned that an engine produces XX amount lbs of moisture. So what you're seeing in the catch can is largely moisture vapor/oil.

 

No, it is almost 100% oil. Moisture exits the exhaust. Look at the photo. If you wish to pay shipping I will send it your way for you to analyze further.

 

I bought my 2018 used with 120,000 miles on the clock. I bought it only because I needed a truck to pull my 6000 pound travel trailer, and that's about all it does. When I bought it the level was pretty much exactly between the low and top lines. The dealer said he'd changed it, so I assumed that was probably eight quarts for the fill. I changed my RAV4 a couple of months ago and had 13 ounces left over out of a 5-quart jug, so I just dumped that in the truck. I now have 3700 miles on the truck myself, and probably 90% of those miles have been pulling the trailer. It's still halfway between the upper and lower mark.

I have therefore concluded that my truck has used 13 ounces of oil in 3700 miles.

I haven't seen you post today with your findings, but I suspect 10 minutes wasn't long enough. I'm just curious to know how it looked this morning.

 

I let it sit overnight and it looks to be 1/4 of a quart low. I'm not 100% sure when I changed it last time that it was on the top dot or not. I could have swore it was, but maybe it wasn't. I'm really anal about my truck and always make sure shit is 100% right. I'll take a picture of it today when I change it to make sure for future reference cause I can't remember jack shit.

 

Just checked my oil at 15k yesterday. Too low? Was last changed at 10k.

 

Most auto manufacturers say 1 quart/thousand miles is "acceptible" oil use.

Kinda a lot to me but that is so they get out of warranty repairs. Luck all.

 

How long did you let it sit before checking it?

 

I too "haul balls" That skinny pedal sounds so good

 

Too bad it's governed without a custom tune, damn tire limitations!

 

I did the procedure in the manual. Start up for 5 mins and check.

 

Its my understanding that if its between the two dimples on that dipstick you're good to go.

 

Is that what the manual says?

 

No. Warm up engine. Turn off. Wait 5 minutes. Check.

 

I've had other cars and motorcycles that say the same procedure. It makes me wonder why, but if you do it that way consistently I'd say you should get consistent results.

I know I can change whatever I'm working on then start it to check for leaks, kill it and wait a few minutes and it's usually a bit lower than it will be after sitting for an hour or so. I wondered if JEHTUNDRA wasn't comparing the level after moving it to the level before moving it. I'd expect that to change.

 

Oil expands more than yoiu might think. Make sure engine is at operating temperarue, shut off wait 5 minutes and check. Then do same think in 5k miles. Since you didnt check with engine hot the first time you may be off on where the level was originally at.

 

U sure was not 1qt per 10k if not we are all doomed

 

Never understood warming up the engine. Makes more sense the longer the vehicle sits, more oil comes to rest in the pan for a more accurate reading instead of running the motor and oil sloshing everywhere. Obviously waiting 10 min after doing so instead of 5 min, more oil will drain back into the pan.....

 

Shoot, if it ain't smoking, running hot, or leaking, and gets changed on schedule, I don't even bother checking! Where the hell is it gonna go???? Just watch your parking places as you leave, all will be alright.

 

That's true. I'm watching mine for now because I did just buy it and I want to be sure. But the range is so large it's not worth the effort of worrying about whether to check it hot or cold. I have always changed the oil in a new vehicle and put in what the specs called for. Then I check it cold, and that becomes my cold level. So far, my last few vehicles have had the level cold on the top line on the stick or in the sight glass.

 

the level in the pan when cold and sitting overnight isn't as important as the level in the pan when the engine is hot and running. that is why you check with oil hot and draining for 5 minutes, its simulates what the level is when the engine is running.

 

I am not sure what the wild card could be. I just checked my 18 after about 1500 miles of driving since my last oil change and it doesn't look like it's lost a drop. FWIW my Toyota dealer uses Mobile 1 full synthetic.

 

My F150 and Ram 1500 didn't burn any oil at all over 100,000 combined miles. Tons of other problems but no burning oil. Watching the Tundra oil level very closely.

I may have a tiny amount burning over 5-6k miles. About a ~2mm drop on the dipstick. Could be measuring error or parking a bit off kilter.

 

I would in no way worry about a 2mm drop with 5k plus of driving, especially with zero weight oil.

 

You think the fact that there is a drop, even small, is a concern that it could get worse over the years? I was a bit shocked to see this given the domestics were solid in this department. I mean they literally never dropped at all - I had the oil level cemented in memory, checked it frequently, and those trucks mostly got 10k change intervals full synthetic whatever weight was called for. Ford 5.0 and Ram 5.7

Tundra has around 8k on it, 1st oil change was around 1-2k. Just out of habit I like to quickly change the oil into the oil I'll use long term.