How much oil does your hemi burn?

I changed the plugs at unknown milage a few months ago after owning the truck for a few months. The electrodes were normal wear and tear but they seemed a little "wet". That would be indicative of a running rich issue not an oil issue? No?

What were they wet with?

Using a little oil is normal. I have heard many different standards as to how much but not a big deal. Brand does make a difference it seems based on my own tests.

Hemi5speed said:

I changed the plugs at unknown milage a few months ago after owning the truck for a few months. The electrodes were normal wear and tear but they seemed a little "wet". That would be indicative of a running rich issue not an oil issue? No?

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If you were running rich I'm sure it would be throwing a code. I was burning a lot of oil on mine and never saw any smoke either.

NYCruiser said:

What were they wet with?

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At the time I assumed gas so I didn't think much of it. Maybe that wasn't the case, don't think I can be sure now

RonJon '06 said:

If you were running rich I'm sure it would be throwing a code. I was burning a lot of oil on mine and never saw any smoke either.

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That's what baffles me. I feel like I should be seeing smoke with the amount I burn, cause it seems more than a regular amount

Hemi5speed said:

At the time I assumed gas so I didn't think much of it. Maybe that wasn't the case, don't think I can be sure now

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Next time you have wet plugs, give them a sniff, fuel will smell like fuel, where oil will smell like burnt oil.

Harley Harrold said:

Next time you have wet plugs, give them a sniff, fuel will smell like fuel, where oil will smell like burnt oil.

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I'll pull one out the next free day I have and see what they look like now

I am running a 4.7L not a hemi and only have driven 3k km since I got the truck back in August. I put in about ¾ of a litre and have no blue smoke at any stage coming out the exhaust and the plugs are not wet and all have a light grey color to them.

I know I don't have any leaks as I have replaced the Pan and Gasket and have been monitoring the engine from top to bottom to make sure no oil is leaking from anywhere.

I don't have oil either in the coolant which I know from changing the radiator and flushing the coolant system.

So the only remaining option is for oil to be burnt or evaporating. I don't have a catch can installed yet, and when I cleaned up the TB there was a lot of oil on either side of the butterfly valve of the TB. No oil in the bottom of the Intake manifold either aside from deposits on the wall I have seen with my endoscope.

My engine was plagued with the hugly cold ticking at startup but is getting much better the more I use the truck. Not sure if the oil I'm using is helping in that regards and as the cold engine noise are slowly going away, I may also have loosened up some the engine components responsible for maintaining the oil seal like Piston Rings, Valve stems and others. Engine is currently soaking in Valvoline High Mileage Semi-Synthetic with a Penzoil Filter and was running Penzoil High Mileage Semi-Synthetic before I did the pan and gasket.

Since the 4.7 are well known for their ability to sludge I am just about ready to yet again do another oil change with some High Mileage Semi-Synth. in the hopes that the added detergent in this oil type can help loosening up all of those components. I might try a little seafoam in the oil before doing this next change and maybe some Combustion chamber cleaner, to clean up the valves seats. I'll use my endoscope to have a look at the valves and piston top through the Spark Plug holes before and after the CCC and see if it really did a difference. I'll make sure to post the pics when I'M done.

750ml of oil over 3k km puts you in the "perfectly normal" range.

If i were you i would pick either valvoline maxlife or pennzoil high milage and stick with it for a few oil changes in a row to see if consumption decreases. If it doesnt try the next oil.
For some reason jumping around between brands doesnt seem to reduce consumption as much as we would hope.

Wonder if I should try that high mileage stuff. I'm at about 162k.. Just running 5w30 halvoline conventional , figured I burn oil so why not use cheaper stuff . Might have to see if my comsumption changes with new oil, also replaced pcv valve and no help there.


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I use a quart or so every 5k. Twice that would not bother me. If the plugs arn't fouled and the oil pressure is good I do not worry.


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hemihustlin said:

750ml of oil over 3k km puts you in the "perfectly normal" range.

If i were you i would pick either valvoline maxlife or pennzoil high milage and stick with it for a few oil changes in a row to see if consumption decreases. If it doesnt try the next oil.
For some reason jumping around between brands doesnt seem to reduce consumption as much as we would hope.

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I'm definitely sticking with the high mileage stuff. I already bought my next oil change kit and it will be Quaker High Mileage. Did not buy Quaker to switch around, just bought it because it was the one on sale at my Local Canadian Tire shop... that and a High Mileage Fram oil filter.

Actually I read around that the high mileage oils are good on older engine as they have higher detergent levels and help keep the oil passages clean and favor better lubrication. My thinking is then that since the 4.7L are well known for getting sludgy, the more detergent cannot hurt and it seems to be working for me. I am not worried at this time with the oil consumption mainly because I don't do a lot mileage (around 6500 miles/ year) so I just keep an eye on the dipstick and make sure I top up whenever I start missing over a half quart.

Tolson93 said:

Wonder if I should try that high mileage stuff. I'm at about 162k.. Just running 5w30 halvoline conventional , figured I burn oil so why not use cheaper stuff . Might have to see if my comsumption changes with new oil, also replaced pcv valve and no help there.

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I believe you should give it a shot, especially if you do your own oil change, in a DYI scenario, the uptake on the cost is minimal, and if you get any benefits it's just the more worth it.

I run 5W20 in my truck and it really seems to have had a positive impact so far.

Most "high mileage" oils are labeled as such because they have seal conditioners in the additive package. There are plenty of great detergent oils, like Penzoil, that aren't labeled as high mileage. Seal conditioners basically swell any rubber seals it comes in contact with to minimize leaks. You have to decide if you need that or not.

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible_pg2.html

xb1230 said:

I believe you should give it a shot, especially if you do your own oil change, in a DYI scenario, the uptake on the cost is minimal, and if you get any benefits it's just the more worth it.



I run 5W20 in my truck and it really seems to have had a positive impact so far.

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Yeah I'll have to give a shot! Need a oil change soon anyways. I've tried a oil change with Lucas oil treatment and I don't think that helped but maybe this will


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I'm a 4th gen but I burn about that much if I drive like I still it (normally always on the way to work lol)
But if I drive normal maybe about 1qt every 2k miles I usually dump a full catch can every month do to my 100 mile drive every day

Well what NY is bringing to the table is very interesting...

Tolson if don't need the seals conditioned it might not be required to use a High Mileage oil then, but would definitely give a shot at one of the High detergent oil to clean out the oil passages. Also you can try 5W20 instead of 5W30. Being in Northern MN you will see a big difference on Dead Cold start... Being from Montreal we are about at the same Parallel and we know what a cold winter morning can be like.

xb1230 said:

Well what NY is bringing to the table is very interesting...

Tolson if don't need the seals conditioned it might not be required to use a High Mileage oil then, but would definitely give a shot at one of the High detergent oil to clean out the oil passages. Also you can try 5W20 instead of 5W30. Being in Northern MN you will see a big difference on Dead Cold start... Being from Montreal we are about at the same Parallel and we know what a cold winter morning can be like.

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Not sure if I need the seals conditioned but I know it's wet under there like I have a small leak somewhere so maybe that would be beneficial ? And yeah maybe try it out for two or three oil changes to see if I get any different results. That's another idea, I mean will it make a big difference from 5w30 to 5w20? Cause last year we had -20 to -40F with wind chill and I think 3-4 days I couldn't get my truck to start .. Also have a dura start battery which ppl say around here from the store I bought it from is a junk battery.. After one year it's giving me issues probably about 10 months.


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It all depends on where the oil leaks from. If it coming from the end seals it might help, but mine was badly leaking and it ended up being the pan itself being rotted, so I swapped both the pan and pan gasket which comes as a combo pan gasket/windage tray.

As for the Cold starts you would definitely see a difference between the 5W30 and 5W20.
Can't say about the battery as Mine is fairly new and it is an Interstate unit which has not given me any issues... yet...