adrianjwalsh

Hello. I'm writing today with an unusual case of oil consumption. My 2006 5.4 3V burns about 1 quart of oil every 2400 miles or so. A family member has the same vehicle with the same engine, and it burns about 1 quart every 8 thousand miles of the same synthetic oil. My first guess was piston rings. However, my vehicle seems to have more torque than their's, which leads me to believe that my engine has better compression.

Then, I thought about valve seals. I see a very faint, vapor like discharge from the exhaust on the first start of the day. But it doesn't appear to be of any significance, and it's certainly not blue. My vehicle has an odometer reading of 120,000 miles.

Also, I have verified that no oil is leaking from the car. If I can provide any additional information, please let me know. I think the Ford limit of "1 quart per 1000 miles" is a bunch of hoo-ha.

A video of the exhaust haze is available at:
What do you all think about this? What should I do next? Thanks.

grss429

Its normal for theses 5.4s to burn about a qt per 3k

HacksawMark

Any oily residue in your tailpipe? Use your finger to check.

adrianjwalsh

Thank you both for the replies. There is no noticeable oily residue in the tailpipe. Just dry, black carbon. I didn't know to check for that, so thank you for telling me. I wonder if carbon buildup in the engine could be the cause.

WIF-150

I've also been told it's normal for these engines to use a qt per 1000 miles. I've never had a motor in any vehicle use oil like these. But it's just another perk of the these 5.4 motors to go along with all their other issues I guess

HubFord

I change my oil every 5,000 miles and add about a quart between changes to keep it at the full mark.

My buddies 09 GMC with same mileage as mine gets a quart every 2,000 miles or so.

corey_lax

I'm adding a quart every second oil change.

HacksawMark

screamineagle

Wise guy huh, one in every crowd

bubbabud

You say 120k has it used oil all it's life or just started? might consider going back to conventional oil 5W 30. IMO any engine that requires added oil between changes has a problem and I personally wouldn't own it without fixing it.