| Author | Message | ||
     d1 owner Unregistered guest |
I have a 97 D1, 120k miles. What is the "acceptable" amount of oil consumption? Is it 1 qt. per 1000 miles? Is that in line with industry standards for other vehicle manufacturers? Does using synthetic oils reduce consumption. What about products like Lucas Oil Stabilizer? Thanks | ||
| Perrone Ford (Perroneford) New Member Username: Perroneford Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2003 |
I have two rovers. One has 110k the other over 150k. Neither one uses 1/2 quart in 3000 miles. If I were losing a quart per thousand, I'd be worried as hell. -P | ||
| Mark Albrecht (Markalbrecht) Advanced member Username: Markalbrecht Post Number: 50 Registered: 11-2002 |
Last time I had a truck that lost 1 qt./1000 mi. it was a Jeep with a blown head gasket and a nasty habit of puking oil up into the air box. | ||
| Jim C. Unregistered guest |
It depends, I leak a bit, and I burn a bit. I would consider under a quart every 3000 miles to be ok. If its burning it, it may be more serious then simply leaking though. I guess it really depends on how often you want to put oil in it. | ||
| Normorsch2 Unregistered guest |
In my experience, using Amsoil synthetic actally increased oil consumption. This stuff (and maybe other synthetics as well) is TOO slick for an antiquated Rover V8 -- it just blows past the rings and forms deposits in the combustion chamber that cause pinging. I was losing a quart every 250 to 500 miles (with no leaks). I switched to Valvoline dino VR-1 racing oil which immediately stopped the oil loss and improved the performance. The other problem with Amsoil motor oil is that it's too slick to provide adequate "lift" to Rover hydraulic lifters, which caused a fluttering effect and a loss of power when I stepped on the gas hard. On the other hand, Amsoil motor oil works great in my turbo-charged Saab, and I use Amsoil gear oil in my Rover transfer case, swivel balls & diffs. ---Norm | ||
| Perrone Ford (Perroneford) Member Username: Perroneford Post Number: 12 Registered: 02-2003 |
Sounds to me like a poorly maintained motor. I've got amsoil in a truck with 150k miles and it has no problems with burning oil. The other truck has 110k and is running Mobil 1 and burns no appreciable amount of oil either. I don't think the issue with your truck is the Amsoil... | ||
| Normorsch2 Unregistered guest |
Hmmmm... Well, Perrone, we've beaten this dead horse before many a time: I don't think poor maintenance is the issue -- the motor has about 25k on it now and I change the oil and filter every 2500 miles or so. In addition, I followed the manufacturer's break in procedure to the letter. As long as I don't use Amsoil, it runs like a bat out of hell, doesn't smoke, knock, use oil, flutter, get carbon build up, etc. -- no compression or oil pressure issues of any note. It may just be that 4.6s don't like Amsoil -- or just mine in particular. Or maybe I drive my truck harder than most people. All I can say is that ever since I stopped using Amsoil and switched to Valvoline dino racing oil as recommended by the manufacturer (RPi) all the above problems disappeared -- IMMEDIATELY (except for the pinging, which stopped after I had the fuel system cleaned out). On the other hand, I used Castrol Syntech 5w-50 in my old 3.9 "B" which developed a nasty clacking sound that could never be fixed... Are you sure you don't have a problem with your two trucks? I mean, due to the fact that you're having no ill effects from using a product as bad as Amsoil obviously is in Rover motors??? There's got to be a reason... (LOL) ---Norm | ||
| Perrone Ford (Perroneford) Member Username: Perroneford Post Number: 15 Registered: 02-2003 |
Hahhahah.... Cute... Maybe you had a weak ring seal in one hole or something. It seems strange that you'd see this big a difference with that crappy Amsoil. As for the Syntech, well, I wouldn't use it. -P | ||
| Ron Brown (Ron) Advanced member Username: Ron Post Number: 59 Registered: 04-2001 |
Its like listening to two voodoo preists. You know its all bunk but somehow you still cringe when they stick the needle into the doll thats supposed to be you. Seriously though there is a BIG difference between synthetic and dino. The difference between the 5w-30 Mobil 1 in Alyssa's disco, the 5w-50 synthetic in my disco, the 20w-50 castrol in my series II, and the 50w valvoline racing oil I have for my series I is amazing. Ron | ||
| Perrone Ford (Perroneford) Member Username: Perroneford Post Number: 21 Registered: 02-2003 |
How are they different Ron? | ||
| d1 owner Unregistered guest |
The synthetic/dino debate rages on I see. Nevertheless, I thought industry standard was to consume about 1 qt/1000 miles, especially with a lot of highway driving? Perhaps I am measuring the oil level incorrectly. My limited understanding is that oil level is not always indicative of the amount of oil -- there may be moisture/fuel mixed in which gives a false reading. That is why highway driving appears to burn more oil -- it burns off this moisture/fuel mixture. So those of you driving around in suburbia may appear to lose no oil, but when you drive on the highway for extended periods, your oil level goes down. Besides that, I thought the best time to check the dipstick was when the engine was warm, i.e., about 10 minutes after shutting it off to allow enough time for the oil to drip down to the pan. Does checking the dipstick on a cold engine matter? Where should the level be -- closer to the top notch, bottom notch, or in the middle? | ||
| J E Robison Service Co (Robisonservice) New Member Username: Robisonservice Post Number: 10 Registered: 10-2002 |
Responding to Normorsch2 post about buring Amsoil but not dino oil - - - The reason this happens is that you did not get a proper piston ring seal on engine break in. Perhaps the cylinders weren't honed right; perhaps it was driven wrong; who knows? When we see this complaint improper piston ring to liner break in is the cause. Now, to respond to the original poster here: At 120k miles if you are not leaking the oil you are probably burning most of it by the piston rings, some through the valve guides. IN my experience Rovers do not usually burn a lot of oil through the guides. A truck that burns oil through worn valve guides will often puff smoke on hot restarts after sitting 30 minutes. My guess is this truck also had bad piston ring sealing from the get-go. The piston ring seal was very common on early Land Rovers. We don't see it as much now but it's still there. We rebuild Rover engines all the time so we see more stuff like this than most. www.robisonservice.com | ||
| Jeff Bieler (Mrbieler) Member Username: Mrbieler Post Number: 180 Registered: 02-2002 |
Even my little IIA doesn't go through oil that fast. MAYBE 1/2 a quart in 3k miles and most of that is through a damned leak in the oil pan I can't get to go away. My IIA is called Puddles for a good reason....  Even before the new head, consumption was not near 1 quart per 1k miles, even with long high RPM road trips thrown in. The Disco (a '97 with admittedly only 60k miles) does seep oil from various parts of the engine, but nothing reaches the driveway and loss has never been significant enough to require top off between changes. Both run on Castrol 20W50 & K&N Oil filters. Switching to a K&N oil filter on the Disco did eliminate valve clacking at start up. Jeff | ||
| Norm Orschnorschki (Norm) New Member Username: Norm Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2003 |
J.E. -- I don't know what I could have done to foul up the piston rings during break-in. I followed RPi's instructions to the letter: Used Castrol GTX 10w-30 during break-in period. Changed oil and filter at 250 miles, then again at 1000 miles then every 3000 thereafter. Did not exceed 2500 rpm for first 500 miles. Did not exceed 3000 rpm during first 500 - 1000 miles. Increased max. rpm by 500 every 100 miles thereafter (I don't think I've ever revved this thing past 4500 rpm). In order to get a 12/12 warranty from British Car Co. (RPi's west coast distributor) I had to have this motor installed by a LR dealer, which I did. The only thing I can think of is that they over-revved the motor or didn't follow the priming procedure when they first started it up (although I made them aware of thse procedures before they started it the first time, they may well have screwed it all up anyway, bastards!!!). If they screwed up the piston ring seal, would it be apparent from a compression test? Anyway, I don't see any point in overhauling a virtually new motor that otherwise runs like a bat out of hell on dino oil. The other issue, according to RPi, is that some synthetic oils are too slick to provide enough lift for the hydraulic lifters. That might have explained the "fluttering" I was getting above 3500 rpm with Amsoil, that I don't get with dino. ---Norm | ||
| J E Robison Service Co (Robisonservice) New Member Username: Robisonservice Post Number: 11 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi Norm, I have had a number of engines over the years with this problem. I've had them go back to the factory where the engineers identify the culprit as improper ring seating, and I have personally seen the motors stop using oil the second time around. So I belive that's true. But as to what you did "wrong", frankly, we may never know. I've been told the motors need to be broken in with constantly varying RPMS but of course most folks just drive their new cars however they like, and most are fine so who knows? In any case, such oil consumption will not harm your vehicle and if I were you I'd just live with it. To address your point about the RPI comment on "lift for the lifters": What happens is this: some synthetics are so thin the lifters don't hold under load and they collapse, thereby causing noise. Good lifters should not do this. If you have that problem, use a thicker oil. It's not a synthetic issue, it's a viscosity issue. For example, 15-50 Mobil 1 should work fine. | ||
| Norm Orschnorschki (Norm) New Member Username: Norm Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2003 |
JE -- Well, I had the most problem with oil consumption and "flutter" with Amsoil 20w-50 Racing oil, somewhat less of a problem with the "regular" Amsoil 10w-40, and no problem at all with dino Valvoline 20w-50 VR1 racing oil or Castrol GTX 10w-30, so, I guess I'll stick with the dino @ 2500 mile change intervals. No sense in tearing down a perfectly good engine for the novelty of using Amsoil. If you believe Amsoil's propaganda, their Racing oil is supposed to be the slickest of all the synthetics. Works great in my turbocharged Saab. ---Norm |
