How much oil should it burn?

[Grundig]

Well, you guys might recall that I had some sludge build up on my oil neck and cap of the 2005 that I bought a month or so ago, so I changed to synthetic (Castrol 5W30 with the dealer, will switch to Mobil 1 later) and then decided to take a good long highway run ala JRL and the suggested Italian tuneup.

Drove to Toronto and back, about 250 miles; pushed the engine pretty hard between 75 and 85 mph the whole way and back, nonstop. I think the car performed pretty well, and certainly ran smoother by the time I got back.

Bit concerned though; this morning I checked the oil level and I would say it dropped about an 1/8" of an inch (or even a little bit more) from the full mark. I don't know if that's normal or not. How much oil, if any, does a healthy engine burn? This car has 54,000 km, which is about 34,000 miles. Thanks . . .

[JRL]

None to maybe 1 qt. per 4-5000 miles, work from there backwards!
You're engine is NOT in a perfect state (as you stated) so a bit may be normal as your engine is not used to being driven hard.
That's really not too much if you really did push "hard"

[Grundig]

Well, I'll have to keep an eye on it.:( It seems to me that I read that the difference between the min and max marks is 1.6 US quarts. The min and max marks are about 5/8" apart; if I lost an eighth then I used almost a third of a quart in 250 miles!:eek: (I do like these smilies). Maybe I shouldn't have driven it so hard on the thinner 5W30 . . . The other possibility is that I didn't read the dipstick correctly. When the oil is new, it's barely possible to read since the oil is so clear. It definitly is darker now; when I measured it, it was a few minutes after turning off the engine. I'll leave it a few hours and see if it comes up some, sure hope so!:o

[Grundig]

You know, it just occurred to me (doh!) that maybe I've got an oil leak. I mean, I did just switch to synthetic; maybe I'm leaking some oil somewhere that I mistakenly think has been burned up. I'll check the driveway. I might have noticed something already, except that the driveway is wet from the winter weather. Any suggestions where synthetic might leak?

[n00bkiller944]

^^^Same place any normal oil would leak from... I would start by checking the drain plug and filter housing, depending on how much its leaking or if it is leaking, once you get under the car you may be able to easily see it.

[howardc64]

I presume you kept the belly pan on which will actually catch most minor leaks and dry up before it ever hits the drive way.

If you see drops on the drive way and your belly pan is on, I'd say the leaks are more than a few drips here and there. Take the belly pan off and inspect.

Typical oil leaks are on the turbo air intake, turbo return line, I have had leaks here and none has ever hit the drive way.

[sjonnie]

Well, you guys might recall that I had some sludge build up on my oil neck and cap of the 2005 that I bought a month or so ago, so I changed to synthetic (Castrol 5W30 with the dealer, will switch to Mobil 1 later) and then decided to take a good long highway run ala JRL and the suggested Italian tuneup.

Drove to Toronto and back, about 250 miles; pushed the engine pretty hard between 75 and 85 mph the whole way and back, nonstop. I think the car performed pretty well, and certainly ran smoother by the time I got back.

Bit concerned though; this morning I checked the oil level and I would say it dropped about an 1/8" of an inch (or even a little bit more) from the full mark. I don't know if that's normal or not. How much oil, if any, does a healthy engine burn? This car has 54,000 km, which is about 34,000 miles. Thanks . . .

A healthy engine really shouldn't burn any oil. My '02 with 125,000miles on it also has varnish on the inside of the oil filler cap, the filter screen and the dipstick. I changed the oil, which was black after 5,000miles, and the oil filter, but saw no sign of actual sludge (carbon deposits). I put in 12oz of Auto Rx and 5.5quarts of Penzoil Platinum and drove 1,000 miles to Texas (and they drive fast in Texas, lol), oil level is the same as when I started. The turbo does drip a little oil, but nothing too much so you never see it under the car.

I'm not sure if you should fill the engine to the full mark or not, that is, the top mark of the dipstick, my manual says it should be between the two marks, and when cold the oi level in my engine is right in the middle of the two marks. When the oil warms up the level rises as the oil expands. So if you fill your oil to the top mark when cold as it heats up could there be too much oil in the system which will burn off?? You are right about reading the oil level correctly, again the manual says you should do it after the engine has cooled for a while allowing the oil to contract and drain from the upper part of the engine into the pan.

[Aviator]

A healthy engine really shouldn't burn any oil

All engines burn oil.....some more than others.


When the oil warms up the level rises as the oil expands.

Engine oil doesn't expand as it heats up. If it did, there would be hot and cold markings on the dipstick instead of low and full.


drain from the upper part of the engine into the pan.



This is correct.

Dave.

[Grundig]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm going to admit feeling a little stupid about this . . . when I checked the oil this morning it seemed to be right at the full mark, especially if I look at the back of the dipstick and turn it around. I'm going to attribute this lack of basic intelligence to two possible things; when the oil was put in a week ago, I could barely tell where the level was because it was so clear. Maybe it wasn't quite as high as what I would have thought (ususally they overfill a bit, but maybe not . . .) Secondly when I checked the dipstick and found the low level (with oil that now is a lot more visible because it's dirtier), I had waited at least 5 minutes after turning off the engine. Wouldn't this be enough time for the oil to drip back to the drainpan? It does now appear that the level is higher than what initially scared me; I'm going to take that as a good sign and apologize for the false alarm . . .:o

[sjonnie]

All engines burn oil.....some more than others. Engine oil doesn't expand as it heats up. If it did, there would be hot and cold markings on the dipstick instead of low and full.
Okay, well, whatever, I never owned a car where I noticed that it burnt oil, but maybe I'm just unobservant :D However, oil, like all fluids, expands as it heats up, unless engine oil somehow magically escapes the laws of physics ;) The difference in volume between room temperature and operating temperature is somewhere around 10% but maybe the upper mark on the dipstick is set to take account of this.

[mbsl98]

As I understand it, our engines actually take 6.2 quarts, while most everybody refills with just 6 quarts. That should leave the level just slightly below the full line on the dipstick.

[sjonnie]

Manual states that the volume for the 2.4T is 5.5L which is 5.8quarts (US).

[EJones]

I presume you kept the belly pan on which will actually catch most minor leaks and dry up before it ever hits the drive way.

If you see drops on the drive way and your belly pan is on, I'd say the leaks are more than a few drips here and there. Take the belly pan off and inspect.

Typical oil leaks are on the turbo air intake, turbo return line, I have had leaks here and none has ever hit the drive way.

This is proving to be a very informative thread. I bought a used (2002) XC at a Volvo dealership in Virginia. I thought it was a Volvo "Certified/Pre-Owned", but I think it was just "used"...

Anyhow, I have the same varnished oil on the filler neck and oil cap. I attributed that to the previous owner not staying on top of the maintenance the way they should.

I'm now changing the oil every 5,000 miles (a convenient routine for both of my vehicles - I change the oil and have the tires rotated to comply with the tire warranty). Every once in a while, I notice the oil is low (I usually check it once a week, but probably miss a week here and there). I have had to add as much as a quart after only 1000-1500 miles on recently changed oil. The part that's been confusing is is that it doesn't seem to burn oil at a consistent rate.

In mid January, I took the car to the dealership and they said that the turbo control valve was faulty, and needed replaced. I now have oil leaking (about a "saucer sized" puddle on the garage floor 2 times a week) from a source that I haven't been able to locate. I dropped the belly pan a week ago to double check the oil filter and the drain plug. The oil isn't coming from either spot. When I looked up at the back side of the engine, I saw what appeared to be an oil "drip path" on the surface of the turbo.

Does anyone know if an incorrectly installed turbo control valve can result in a leak? I'm trying to figure out whether to take it back to the dealer that installed the valve, or to take it to a place where I know they are competent and honest and will give me a more reasonable price than the dealership on any repair work.

Any insight / suggestions would be appreciated.

[Grundig]

Just typed out a long message and lost it to cyberspace[mad2]

Anyway I started the thread with the concern of using too much oil in the 2005 with 34,000 miles that I bought a couple of months ago as a Volvo Certified Used car. The Volvo dealer I bought it at is out of town; I had my own dealer change the oil to synthetic. The oil was changed by the previous owner as per the Volvo schedules (not ideal, but not the worst . . . )

I noted today that after 1300 miles, the car has used (leaked?) about 1/2 quart. Not great, I know. So I'm taking it to my dealer and having the car checked for leaks (hope so). If that's not the problem then what should I do? I like the car otherwise very much; it's still under the original warranty until August 15 . . . should I ask for it to be "fixed"? Can that even be done? Should I just put in some oil and forget it? Thanks . . .

[sjonnie]

In mid January, I took the car to the dealership and they said that the turbo control valve was faulty, and needed replaced. I now have oil leaking (about a "saucer sized" puddle on the garage floor 2 times a week) from a source that I haven't been able to locate. I dropped the belly pan a week ago to double check the oil filter and the drain plug. The oil isn't coming from either spot. When I looked up at the back side of the engine, I saw what appeared to be an oil "drip path" on the surface of the turbo.

All turbo's leak some oil, however, it shouldn't leak enough to create a puddle. Take the car back to the original dealer and tell them to check that they haven't inadvertently created a more serious leak around your turbo when they installed a new control valve.