How much oil should you burn

[ASA400EX]

I change my oil every 5000 miles and I seem to burn about 2 qts between oil changes. Does this sound OK or am I starting to have problems? My truck has about 170K. I really only drive it every once in a while to Home Depot and when on vacation with our heavy ass trailer 13K.

Is this something I need to be worried about?

Thanks

[bobsquatch]

That depends on if it is a new thing. If it didn't burn through the oil before and it does now... trouble brewing. If it has always used that amount don't sweat it. My recently stolen truck did not use oil. My geo metro does not use oil unless I regularly exceed 75mph then it starts to consume. Are you driving differently somehow?

[ASA400EX]

I have only had the truck for about 10K miles. It has been this way since I purchased it. The truck runs great. Your old truck and mine are basically the same. And you say yours didn't burn any oil. Is burning oil a diesel thing?

[bobsquatch]

I changed my oil religiously at 3000 miles and never added between changes. I can not recall ever being lower at change time. These things have a large range of 2 qts so technically you are not adding oil between changes either. Did you notice if it consumes more toward the end of the period or is it uniform throughout the cycle. If it burns at the end the oil is breaking down and needs to be changed more frequently. Some engines are never broke in properly so the rings dont seat well and they burn a little oil. Doesnt sound to bad to me. And no its not a diesel thing. Not all diesels consume motor oil.

[jeepnut1]

I'll echo Bob. It's not an issue unless it's a new thing, only having a 10k history on the truck is hard, like Bob said if it never broke in properly it may burn some oil. We're a two diesel family my wifes Excursion gets the oil changed every 5k and doesn't burn a drop between changes (150K on the engine) Mine gets changed every 4k and I'm down about a quart between changes( 215k on the engine).

Two quarts between changes doesn't sound too bad to me either.

[jeepnut1]

You will burn more when towing especially on the hills, at least thats been my experience with ours.

[VR6Nutt]

I run my oil (Rotella T6 5W40) between 7-10k and only add 1-2 qts in that time frame. If it has always been that way, I wouldn't sweat it.

[bobsquatch]

You run 5w 40 or 15w 40???

[VR6Nutt]

you run 5w 40 or 15w 40???

5W-40 Rotella Synthetic:

[bobsquatch]

Wow, why so thin?

[VR6Nutt]

Wow, why so thin?

Its a true synthetic.

Some info here:

Shell Rotella T synthetic 5w-40 - Bob Is The Oil Guy

Shell Rotella T6 Synthetic 5w40 summer - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

New Rotella - Bob Is The Oil Guy

I started with the 15/40 dino stuff in the white bottle when I bought my X in 08. After lots of reading on various forums, I decided to try the synthetics and haven't looked back since. Kinda like how I swapped the old green coolant for Texaco ELC. Bout the only thing I haven't done is send it off to Blackstone labs for analysis (Blackstone Labs)