Okay, I checked my engine oil last week and it was pretty clear and at the full line, I went to check it yesterday after a two hour sit and it has went from full to about 1/4 of a quart low and has gotten a lot darker in that week.

The oil has only 1,200 miles on it so far, but this week I have been doing heavier driving with it on the highway with a mix of both high speeds (70-85MPH) on the highway and frequent stops and goes in the city.

Why would my oil level both drop by about a 4th of a quart and get quite a bit darker within a week, could it be because of the sudden driving change? Majority of the time I only drive in town and keep it under 60 lol.

 

How many miles on the truck? High mileage motors have a lot of sludge that can dirty oil quickly.

 

231,000 miles, we got the truck in June of last year and had the oil changed in February, it is just now getting up to 1,200 miles on the oil.

I did add an additive to the oil when changing it to help clean if there was any gunk, but I have been checking it every week since the oil change and only this week have I seen it all the sudden drop and get dirtier than it has been the past 1,200 miles.

Up till last week the oil was at the full line and light colored, now it's about i'd say maybe 1/4 low and is quite a bit darker than before. But I did notice that a slight tick I use to hear at higher RPM's is now gone, so I don't know what that could mean.

I'm thinking of changing the oil out at around 1,500 to put just oil in it with no additive.

 

The additive for cleaning the engine will make the oil dirtier. That means the additive is actually doing its job. Changing at 1500 miles isn't a bad plan.

Do you get any smoke at startup? Is it the original engine? (if its original, the little bit of oil consumption you are seeing is going to be normal.)

 

No smoke at start up, except from water in the tailpipe when it rains or in the morning it'll evaporate and dissapear as quick as it came, and yep it is the original engine.

 

Yeah, you should expect some oil consumption then. That is slightly past the average lifespan of these engines.

 

That's good to know, a little off my mind lol, just double checked for smoke at start up since it rained today, first start up of the day no smoke from the tailpipe.

I'm just wondering why it seemed to of gone down a little like it did in a week and get darker too, maybe the additive finally is kicking in lol.

Like I said though, 231,000 miles, original engine, and using 10w-30 high mileage no apparent loss until around 1,200 driven on it.

I'll keep an eye on it up to about 1500 before I change it and see if I lose any more, I would think it shouldn't drop much more hopefully, if so it'll be about a 1/2 quart every 1.500 miles. Right now i'd read it at about 1/4 of a quart low.

 

If you are only going thru a quart every 3K miles, on an engine with that many miles, you are doing VERY well.

 

Color of the oil is no indication of whether its still good or not. It could be black as coal and still have plenty of life in it.

 

Okay, im baffled lol can anyone explain this maybe? Okay as I stated originally after driving the truck Tuesday and checking it when cold after 2+ hours it was about 1/4 quart low (never low before that day), checked it Wednesday and it still was low, well after driving it again today for awhile and rechecking it cold after about 2 hours the oil is back to the full line on the dipstick lol, and yes I am parked on a level surface lol, how could 1/4 quart of oil dissapear then reappear two days later lol.