Typical Oil Consumption?

[hadley000]

I was using 1 quart every 6-800 miles before changing out my CDR. There was a noticeable oil film in the intake before the change out, but now it's gone. Now I burn about 1/2 quart every 1500 miles. There aren't any leaks other than the wet passenger manifold from a valve cover gasket I've yet to replace (driver side already done), but it doesn't drip so can't be leaking much. Is this typical? Do these engines use a bit of oil in normal operation?

 

[Golden Helmet]

That sounds about right for oil consumption. For some reason mine will always guzzle 1qt right away (and if you try and keep that 1qt in there, you'll go broke in a week), but after that it's about the same as yours, ~1qt every 3k miles. I change my oil every 3k anyways, so it works out fine.

What oil are you running? These aren't very picky engines, but a lot of them love to guzzle Rotella like it's cheap whiskey. Mine doesn't drink it so I keep running it, but other people have to switch to Mobile / Delo / etc to get their oil consumption to stop.

 

[hadley000]

always guzzle 1qt right away

I've been using Valvoline 5w-40 Turbo Diesel. It's funny that you mention the first quart, if i keep it at halfway down the dipstick hashes it uses oil slowly. If it's full it sucks it down in no time until the halfway mark.

 

[pelky350]

Idk about using 5-40? I only use 15-40 and delo. Mine leaves drips around where I park and I use about 4 quarts every 3k. But I think most of it Is leaks

 

[Cubey]

My 87 has benefitted from Lucas Oil Stabilizer. It has seriously slowed consumption from what I can tell. I have no leaks that I can find.

 

[Joseph Davis]

I tried Rotella 15w40 but the 7.3l N/A liked to suck it up like a straw was put in the oil pan. Switch to Delo and it seem to be holding the full line after the first month of use. No visible oil leeks. But still a work in progress. Good luck

 

[Jason1377]

Hm on the service manual for my "93 says 15w40 and like 11 qts I've not used any other oil besides rotella haven't had any leaks,I'm due for oil change pushed it to 7k miles since the last oil change.

Might try some other oil from these suggestions n when refund is in picking up a '93 7.3 n/a as a test truck

 

[Hydro-idi]

15w-40 will do just fine in an old outdated idi diesel with loose tolerances....unless you live in an area that regularly sees below 0 temps.
Use anything oil besides Rotella and your engine will be happy.
When your engine requires Lucas oil stabilizer to control excessive oil consumption, that’s a good indicator it’s time to plan on a rebuild. That stuff is thicker than gear oil. Would never pour that tar oil in my engine.

 

[chris142]

My owners manual says 1qt in 750 miles is normal. I use exactly that much unless my air filter is dirty. Then it drinks it even faster.

 

[Figor]

Why don't Idi's like Rotella? I was thinking about using it since I put it in everything else.

 

[jwalterus]

Why don't Idi's like Rotella? I was thinking about using it since I put it in everything else.

Go ahead, they love it........
They love it so much that they have a tendency to drink more of it than any other oil......

 

[Golden Helmet]

Why don't Idi's like Rotella? I was thinking about using it since I put it in everything else.

My IDI has no problems running Rotella, only used about a quart every 3k. But mine seems to be the exception to the rule, i have no idea why so many IDI's love to drink it up.

 

[sjwelds]

Run it in mine too, with not much if any consumption.

But have read on here of many whose engines drink it.