High engine oil consumption can be a real worry for car owners. Each model of car has a predefined level of engine oil consumption, i.e., the amount of oil that should be consumed under normal working conditions. Medium-force engines have an average engine oil consumption level where the oil level decreases from the top to the bottom of the label probe. As you look into more accelerated engines, you will find that the oil consumption level keeps increasing. The engine oil consumption is mostly dependent on the operating mode.
In this article, you will get to know about some of the major factors that increase the engine oil consumption.
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Poor quality oil – If your oil is of poor quality then you will experience high oil wastage. This can also affect your engine’s friction parts, causing them to wear off quickly. Hence, it is essential that you use only that engine oil which is appropriate to your engine type and its mode of operation.
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Age of engine – If your engine is new, then it will go through a "breaking-in" period during the initial phases of its lifetime. This might result in the high consumption of oil. Once your engine breaks in, the engine oil consumption will automatically start reducing. But, again, when your engine starts to approach its end as in starts getting old, the oil consumption starts to increase again.
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Worn out valve guides – If the valve guides become worn out, then too much clearance between the valve stems and guides is created. You can avoid this problem to ream out the valve guides and use thin bronze or CI guide liners in its place.
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Heavy loads – It is obvious that under heavy loads and other extreme performance conditions, your car is going to need more of its resources to keep up with the increase in demand. As a result of which, it starts to consume much more engine oil as compared to normal load conditions.
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Viscosity effect – You can observe variation in the consumption of engine oil when you change the viscosity of your engine oil. Viscosity is inversely proportional to the engine oil consumption, i.e., if the viscosity of the engine oil is low then your engine will consume more engine oil.
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Increased drain intervals – You should never increase the drain intervals beyond a reasonable limit because this will result in higher engine oil consumption.
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A leakage – It is very common that if there is a leakage anywhere in your engine parts like in valve cover gasket, or crankshaft seals, or any other main seal, then you will be facing a major engine oil leakage issue.
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Carbon deposits – While the oil is being burned, then carbon particle might get deposited on the valves of the combustion chamber. This will hamper the performance of the engine as it will be blocking the valves leading to more oil consumption.
- Fail of oil seals in the turbocharger – If the seals of the turbocharger fail, then engine oil will emit into the exhaust pipe through the turbine, thus causing the loss of engine oil.
There can be endless of other factors that would unknowingly be responsible for increasing the fuel consumption. But, it is up to you to ensure oil consumption stays under check. Follow these easy- to- follow methods and give your car and engine a longer life.