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Oil consumption on older car

2K views 5 replies 0 participants last post by  john41 
G
#1 ·
My 1995 850 2.5SE (10v) has now done 210,000 miles (335,000km).
In addition to the regular garage serving at 10,000 mile intervals, I
change the oil & filter every 5,000 miles, using 10W-40 semi-synthetic
oil.
However it is now using a litre of oil every 1,200 miles or so,
depending on how hard I drive the car. A small part of this comes from
a leaking main oil seal, but I suspect most is simply burnt in the
combustion process.
Is this simply a fact of life for a car of the age and mileage? Or
should I use a higher-viscosity oil, or take some other action?
Thanks
John Morris
 
G
#2 ·
In <1136546094.564824.4970@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
john41 <john.morrisGB@gmail.com> wrote:

> My 1995 850 2.5SE (10v) has now done 210,000 miles (335,000km).
> In addition to the regular garage serving at 10,000 mile intervals, I
> change the oil & filter every 5,000 miles, using 10W-40 semi-synthetic
> oil.
> However it is now using a litre of oil every 1,200 miles or so,
> depending on how hard I drive the car. A small part of this comes from
> a leaking main oil seal, but I suspect most is simply burnt in the
> combustion process.
> Is this simply a fact of life for a car of the age and mileage? Or
> should I use a higher-viscosity oil, or take some other action?


I would suggest that you make sure the flame-trap is cleaned at least
once a year (every 10,000 miles), to keep crankcase pressure down -
which will push oil past the seals.

If you're not in a warm climate, don't use a higher viscosity oil. And
what's the point of wasting money on "semi-synthetic" oil (is this
Valvoline Durablend)? Might as well as go with regular dino oil.

AC
--
In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice,
but nothing to choose from - Peter Ustinov.
 
G
#4 ·
The blended oil if often around 5% why even bother, use the real synthetic
oil ,avoid imitations .so I wont use castrol, got my drift .



"Aawara Chowdhury" <aawara@nohome.org> wrote in message
news:drsmup.37h.aawara.NM0.2a@nohome.org...
> In <1136546094.564824.4970@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> john41 <john.morrisGB@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> My 1995 850 2.5SE (10v) has now done 210,000 miles (335,000km).
>> In addition to the regular garage serving at 10,000 mile intervals, I
>> change the oil & filter every 5,000 miles, using 10W-40 semi-synthetic
>> oil.
>> However it is now using a litre of oil every 1,200 miles or so,
>> depending on how hard I drive the car. A small part of this comes from
>> a leaking main oil seal, but I suspect most is simply burnt in the
>> combustion process.
>> Is this simply a fact of life for a car of the age and mileage? Or
>> should I use a higher-viscosity oil, or take some other action?

>
> I would suggest that you make sure the flame-trap is cleaned at least
> once a year (every 10,000 miles), to keep crankcase pressure down -
> which will push oil past the seals.
>
> If you're not in a warm climate, don't use a higher viscosity oil. And
> what's the point of wasting money on "semi-synthetic" oil (is this
> Valvoline Durablend)? Might as well as go with regular dino oil.
>
> AC
> --
> In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice,
> but nothing to choose from - Peter Ustinov.
 
G
#5 ·
In <43be78ef$0$12718$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>,
John Robertson <johnnr@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

> The blended oil if often around 5% why even bother, use the real synthetic
> oil ,avoid imitations .so I wont use castrol, got my drift .
>


I agree, and my point was that if the engine has gone 200,000+ miles on
what is basically dino oil (syn. blend), why not just save money and
stick with dino .....

Switching to synthetic after so many miles may get oil past the valve
seals etc.

AC

>
> "Aawara Chowdhury" <aawara@nohome.org> wrote in message
> news:drsmup.37h.aawara.NM0.2a@nohome.org...
>> In <1136546094.564824.4970@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
>> john41 <john.morrisGB@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> My 1995 850 2.5SE (10v) has now done 210,000 miles (335,000km).
>>> In addition to the regular garage serving at 10,000 mile intervals, I
>>> change the oil & filter every 5,000 miles, using 10W-40 semi-synthetic
>>> oil.
>>> However it is now using a litre of oil every 1,200 miles or so,
>>> depending on how hard I drive the car. A small part of this comes from
>>> a leaking main oil seal, but I suspect most is simply burnt in the
>>> combustion process.
>>> Is this simply a fact of life for a car of the age and mileage? Or
>>> should I use a higher-viscosity oil, or take some other action?

>>
>> I would suggest that you make sure the flame-trap is cleaned at least
>> once a year (every 10,000 miles), to keep crankcase pressure down -
>> which will push oil past the seals.
>>
>> If you're not in a warm climate, don't use a higher viscosity oil. And
>> what's the point of wasting money on "semi-synthetic" oil (is this
>> Valvoline Durablend)? Might as well as go with regular dino oil.
>>
>> AC
>> --
>> In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice,
>> but nothing to choose from - Peter Ustinov.

>
>



--
In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice,
but nothing to choose from - Peter Ustinov.
 
G
#6 ·
Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice.
One question - does "semi-synthetic" oil like (Castrol GTX Magnatec in
the UK) confer no benefits over regular mineral oil at all?
In which case, are there any benefits to the engine in using
"fully-synthetic" oil such as Mobile-One, which is very expensive?
 
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