they gave me a parts warrenty for 90 days. but i ended up getting back 250 by default from the core charge. I went out and inspected and there are no visible leaks. everything looks clean.

 

Are you still running downstream O2 sensors? If so, if all that oil was going through your cats, they would probably be fried by now and you would be getting a CEL from the O2s for bad cats. The phosphorus/zinc and other metals used in oil is bad for the cats, and it will affect them over time if oil comes in contact with them, therefore destroying them.

And if youre still running Valv Maxlife Full Synthetic oil, Im positive you can still burn in in your engine at normal temps. Its synthetic, but not a true synthetic. The BITOG forum has countless threads discussing what exactly a true synthetic is. But I believe I have read that Max life is a class III oil, and only class IV and V are "true synthetic" oils and will resist burning up in to the high temps, as suggested by waynesgarage. A true synthetic group IV or V oil will run you a premium price though. And all group III, III+, IV, and V oils can be advertised as synthetic.

All of this info on synthetic oil was obtainted by other posters on the BITOG forum though, so Im just taking their word, and its possible that I misunderstood. Please correct me if Im wrong

And sorry to hear about your trouble Thunder.

 

well even with my full synthetic Pennzoil the oil "burned" or dissapeared. ive got more oil now with my synth blend than the full synth.

 

Yeah, I would guess youre burning it. My truck burns about a qt of semi-syn in 3k miles. The way I drive, its no suprise. If I put full syththetic in, Im sure it would burn alot more.

IMO, full synthetic isnt worth it for my application. I dont tow, I dont drive in extreme heat, and I dont do extended drain intervals. Conventional oil will protect just as well as sythetic will if used moderatly for 3k miles. In extreme conditions, synthetic wont break down like conventional, therefore giving it an advantage. If you dont drive in extreme conditions and you arent running synthetic oil for 5-7k miles plus, youre wasting money.

 

would a compression test determine if the valve seals or guides are worn?

 

have you checked your plugs yet

 

i did when i first started this thread, and they were fine. I havent yet now.

 

sorry i goofed

 

just changed the oil, it was unusually black for only 2800 miles, but i will check it weekly to catch where it starts to diminish.

 

I certainly hope you get it worked out. If I'm understanding correctly you are still running fully synthetic? That will not burn up do to heat, unless your 180 t-stat isn't working and your engine temps are reaching 700, lol.

It's possible for the valve seals to be failing and it getting into the combustion chamber. If that is the culprit, then yes, a leak down test will let you know. Are you having any discoloration to your exhaust?