Oil Consumption Acceptable Level
 

It is known that our motors burn some oil. What is considered to be normal or acceptable? Is losing about 1/4 of an inch on the dip stick for about 4k miles under normal driving condition considered to be acceptable? Guess that is about 1/2 quart? Thanks.

Well within spec. Nissan doesn't bat an eye at 1 qt/ 1K miles.

Its normal just tap it off problem solved.
Most or all high compression engines burn oil to certain degree. VQ engines is no exception.

Isn't that a bit excessive, 1q/1k miles? Do we lose the oil through the piston rings or the valve guides or both?

Any idea what is the oil capacity between the upper and lower dot on the dip stick? Would that be about 1 quart?

A lot of manufacturers use 1qt/1k mi as the limit. It's one quart between the dots.

If I had to guess where it goes, I'd wager it burns some and blows the rest through the PCV system. I used to lose 1qt / 3k miles when I ran the factory spec oil. I run a slightly thicker oil now and it doesn't lose a drop. But I'm not about to turn this into a "what kind of oil should I run" thread. :rofl2:

Chuck is meaning to say even a loss of 1qt is nothing to worry about.
BmW M5 does that for every 1k miles.

As long your oil level is between the upper and lower dots your still good.
Not sure about the amount of oil in between the dots.
The manual says the oil capacity.

I am surprise to hear that it makes such a big difference in oil consumption with thicker oil.

I've also read that a well broken-in engine burns less oil.

Thanks for the info.

@ chuck
What weight of oil do you use? I'm thinking of bumping it up so I burn less. I actually was worried my engine wasn't broken in properly and that was the reason for my oil consumption. Would probably be a good idea to buy a oil catch can as well.

My Z was burning about 1qt every 3k miles on 5w-30. I switched to 0w-40 and went down to maybe a little less than 1/2 qt every 3k miles. I also started using an oil cooler. It seemed like that higher my oil temps were, the more oil I would burn. Once I had the oil cooler installed with 0w-40, I would rarely go past 200F, and then I wasn't burning as much.

Right on,thanks for the reply. Yup,next oil change I'm switching to a bit heavier. I've been using royal purple. I'll have to research and see what all they offer in weight.

I guess it made sense since cooler oil is thicker.... so it doesn't slip through the rings and valves as easily....

This is very common with Mobil 1. It tends to break down at higher temps over time. Look at some NOAK Volatility test of it.

I go through about a quart every 7500kms, i run Redline 5/30 and have over 200000 miles...oh and its a 09.

Redline seems to do the best with NOAK Volatility. Guess it shows with this statement.