shotgun_000

Since my engine was rebuilt, almost a year ago, it has used a little oil. Once a month, I have to add a quart of straight 30W oil. Is this normal with a light oil, and high oil pressure?

My oil pressure when cold is 60 idle, and 80 driving. When the engine is fully warm, idle is 45, and driving is 70. This is a bit more pressure than my last engine ran.

I made sure to break the engine in properly, by varying the rpms when driving, and frequent oil changes.

The engine doesn't smoke, but it does have a very tiny oil leak, I suspect from the valve cover or maybe the oil pan; maybe the bolts just need to be re-torqued. When I park, sometimes there is a spot of oil about the size of a dime. However, I leak much more power steering fluid than this, yet it seems I am adding oil more often than power steering fluid.

So my thought was that maybe with such high oil pressure and thin oil, it was common to have some oil loss. Or, do I have a bad problem? :cry

Thanks! :seeya

Alwyn678

I run a higher oil pressure than you do and I have never had the car use any oil.....I do run 10w40 though

pws69

Mine (69 350/350) has about the same issue - except that it uses a bit more oil at highway speeds. My pressures are almost an exact match for yours. I also have a leak and I am not sure if it is the pan or rear main. I was running 10W30 Mobil 1, but that seemed a little thin for an older engine and since I have been loosing oil, I decided to go with 15W-50 Mobil 1. Leaking has definately slowed down, but still there. It has a chrome pan (I have never liked them), so I will probably change it and while I am there, I will probably change the rear main at the same time.

PatsLs1vette

i always runs high pressure high volume and have never had a consumption problem my pressures are around yours or a bit higher.

Jvette73

You say yur using straight 30w. i was using castrol 20/50 in my truck and it burned off a qt every 500 or so. then I switched to Mobil1 synth and the minor consumption stopped. dont know exactly why but I guess the synth doesnt burn off the cylinder walls like the dino does. if you switch to synyh Mobil1 10w/30 theres a goiod chance yur comsumption rate will go down. Itworked for me. The synth oil is ten times better anyway.