My car burns oil really bad - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

agon3279 · 04-01-2010, 18:29

Hello everyone. I just did an oil change today and man, is my car really smoking. It has smoked before but never like this. I decided to go with filly synthetic oil since I do have a lot of miles on it. Well, needless to say, the burning got worse. Before, i would have to let it sit idling for about 3 to 4 minutes before I hit the gas and smoke would come out. Now it only takes 2 minutes before it really smokes. Was changing over to synthetic a good move? Or is it something else I should be worried about?

**Bert** · 04-01-2010, 18:57

What year is it?

agon3279 · 04-01-2010, 19:33

it is a 1992 lincoln tc but has the same motor as the crown vic and g-marq

BigMerc96 · 04-01-2010, 19:59

the -96 4.6 V8 had problems with valve seals going bad prematurely, it sounds like that is likely the problem w/ yours. It's probably coincidence that you notice it more after changing to a synthetic, or maybe synthetic burns differently (more smoke) than regular oil.

**Bert** · 04-01-2010, 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigMerc96

the -96 4.6 V8 had problems with valve seals going bad prematurely, it sounds like that is likely the problem w/ yours. It's probably coincidence that you notice it more after changing to a synthetic, or maybe synthetic burns differently (more smoke) than regular oil.

X2 Valve seals. Replace them and you can go many miles more.

**jwko** · 04-01-2010, 20:44

X3 on valve seals. I would go back to conventional oil also. A lot of people complain of their higher mileage engines developing oil leaks after switching to synthetic. I've heard it actually cause the seals to shrink for a short time.

evanm33 · 04-08-2010, 11:57

A mechanic advised me not to use full synthetic oil in older engines. I used synthetic in my '98 cv and it definitely burned more oil. Since then i switched back to regular 5w30 and its better now but still worse then before the synthetic. Engine had about 175000km then.

KStromberg · 04-08-2010, 18:43

Personally, I had a 91 Town Car with the same issue and indeed it is valve seals. I switched from 5W30 conventional to 10W30 synthetic Mobil 1 and my oil consumption went down HUGE. Almost half of what it was. I attribute that more so to the change in weight rather than going from conventional to synthetic.

In my opinion, if you are seeing increased oil consumption, I would go with a heavier weight oil but still run 5W30 in the winter. Going to a heavier weight like 10W30 will fill those gaps in the engine that have grown larger from age. You WILL notice less consumption. I did.

**jwko** · 04-08-2010, 18:49

Either way, 5/30 and 10/30 are both 30wt when engine is at normal operating temp.

KStromberg · 04-08-2010, 18:59

Ok, maybe it's the viscosity then. OOPS Anyways, when I went to 10W30, not only did my oil consumption go way down, but it got rid of the valve chatter too.