- an excessive amount of oil leads to its greater consumption, because through the crankcase ventilation, excess oil is blown into the engine;
- thin oil burns faster than thick oil. Seasonal oil in a heated state becomes liquid like water, and its consumption increases accordingly. All-weather oil stays thick; this entails its lower consumption - this is especially noticeable on long trips;
- All-season oil left in the engine for too long thins slightly, losing its highest viscosity grade, and the need for its addition increases accordingly.
- a sharp driving style at high engine speeds, in addition to increasing fuel consumption, also increases oil consumption. This is especially evident when the new engine immediately starts to work with full load.
- during break-in, the engine needs a little more lubrication than usual.
- leakage. Check everything as described in chapter Engines.
- a defect in the engine itself; e.g. defective valve stem gaskets, too much clearance between the valve guide and valve stem, defective piston rings or incorrect assembly during repair, damage to the cylinder wall due to wear or piston seizure.
Lack of oil consumption is suspicious
In winter, when driving short distances, it happens that the oil level from measurement to measurement does not decrease, but even rises. There is no reason to be happy here, since this means that the engine oil is diluted with fuel or water condensate. These «additives», which significantly worsen the lubricating qualities of the oil, it is necessary «boil down» by regular long driving so that the condensate evaporates. Then you need to immediately measure the oil level, because after evaporation of gasoline or water that got into the oil, its level will drop sharply! When driving exclusively in extreme city driving without intermediate long-distance trips, it is recommended to change the oil more often than at the intervals indicated above, for example every 3000 km or every four months.
In winter, an oil consumption of 2-3% should be taken into account, while our injection engines contain less gasoline in the oil with a dosed enrichment of the working mixture during a cold engine start than in older carbureted engines.
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