Hello all you guys out there in Ford truck land and Happy Thanksgiving!
Got news that my mother in Arizona is declining in health. I may need to move there to be near her and help the family. I currently live in Tennessee and it would be a one-way trip of about 1600 miles. Here is the issue. I had planned to have the 360 V8 engine pulled and repaired early spring. Even though the dry compression is pretty good on all jugs and shows no issues while running, the engine burns right at 1 quart of 10W-40 oil every 126 miles. You can set your watch by it. I have. That means that it might be one or two broken rings or a scored cylinder or so. The spark plugs are pristine and show no signs of burning oil. The oil seems to be taking care of the mechanical problem. I just keep adding it. But if I need to leave soon, can I make this trip if I don't push the truck too hard? I would just keep the oil topped off during the trip. I would have to haul a small trailer like the one in the photo. I could get everything there with that. Currently there are no other issues with the truck. It is as solid as a rock.
Thank you for any input and/or suggestions. Donald.

Adding more oil than gas would be scary for me. Having said that, I have been in situations where I had to do things I didn't feel was right, but did them out of necessity. Good luck on your decision.

It really depends on what the actual issue is that's causing the oil consumption. That said, I ran my bronco for about year in college with single digit oil pressure, bad valve seals, two pistons with broken rings, another piston with a broken skirt...and added a quart of oil every 50-100 miles. It's a gamble, but if you feel confident the issue couldn't potential cause something to bind or seize...I'd say you'd be fine topping the oil off when need be.

Thanks for the replies. Ben, I do not have a numerical oil pressure gauge but do have the stock one in the dash. It reads almost half way when I am plugging along at about 50 mph. Water temp is about one third on cool days. Very little smoke if any is noticed when driving.

I would definitely avoid running interstate with it like that. My 75 that had a 390 swapped in ran until I pulled it apart, and was going though so much oil I was putting used oil from my landlord who was a farmer through it. Turned out two cylinders had snap rings that held the wrist pins in place broken, and the wrist pins had worn 1/8" deep grooves in the cylinder walls. It still ran, but I left a cloud behind me. It was also the only wheels I had left at the time so I did what I had to do. One other occasion, had a 70 Chevy 6 banger that I was towing a Mustang with. I was about 4 hours from home and 4 hours from my parents when it was like the movies where you see the airplanes get shot, all of a sudden just a cloud of smoke from under the hood. I was stopping frequently to put oil in as it was getting rid of it fast. It had split a piston top and the oil was going through the split.

Main thing, is if it is just oil usage, no other noises, it may well be fine. It is always a gamble when you are having issues like that, but sometimes you just gotta do it.

Another thought is to rent a uhaul truck and trailer and do it that way. Might be a wash fuel and oil cost wise.

Fellro, all very good points indeed. Believe me, this is not something I really want to do. I still plan to pull the engine and give the bores, pistons, rings, etc a going over. I figure that while it is out we may as well replace the rear main seal and take a good hard look at the valve guides and seals. I am keeping an eye on the situation. I won't go unless I can't avoid it.

Donald

Are you sure it's burning the oil? Sometime a 43 year old engine has been known to leak some. You said the engine's compression check was pretty good overall, has pristine spark plugs, and shows no issues while running. I'm assuming this means no visible exhaust smoke and the engine runs smooth. It might be getting rid of the oil some way other than burning it. If it was me I'd probably take a chance on it. If you want to use less oil you can switch to a more viscous oil. Ford says that above 10F you can use 20W-40 or 20W-50. Arizona is fairly warm, especially in the summer. Try to identify exactly where the oil is going. Keep monitoring & topping it up, & drive moderately. It should be able to pull the trailer. You've got some road choices between central TN and AZ. I-40 will take you most of the way if you want. If you'd prefer to drive slower and see more towns go on the old roads. Life is a gamble. Try to stack the odds in your favor. Tell your mother that you still love her. Best wishes.

Hi Ozzie. The rear main seal is leaking a wee bit. After I park the truck for the night it leaks two dime sized spots. Not a lot of oil on the underside of the truck. At least not enough to account for a whole quart. I will admit the I recently started using 10W-40 oil. Before that I used straight 40 weight and got over twice the distance before adding. But it was not detergent so I went to what I am using now. If I did go to 20W-50 I am sure that mileage would jump even further. But would I get adequate lubrication with 50W? Just wondering.
The water temp seems to level out at the same spot even on cold days and the level in the overfill bottle stays the same. People have commented to me how quiet and smooth the engine runs. I figure the trip would take 4 days and 3 nights at a casual pace.

moveoverGM said:

Hi Ozzie. The rear main seal is leaking a wee bit. After I park the truck for the night it leaks two dime sized spots. Not a lot of oil on the underside of the truck. At least not enough to account for a whole quart. I will admit the I recently started using 10W-40 oil. Before that I used straight 40 weight and got over twice the distance before adding. But it was not detergent so I went to what I am using now. If I did go to 20W-50 I am sure that mileage would jump even further. But would I get adequate lubrication with 50W? Just wondering.
The water temp seems to level out at the same spot even on cold days and the level in the overfill bottle stays the same. People have commented to me how quiet and smooth the engine runs. I figure the trip would take 4 days and 3 nights at a casual pace.

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It might be a combination of leaking and burning. The spot you see on the ground is the residual that leaks out after parking with the engine stopped. When the pressure is up it could be more.(?) The viscosity numbers on multi-grade oils are measured at different temperatures. The lower number is from a low temperature while the upper number is at an elevated temperature. The actual Saybolt seconds value is far greater for the lower temperature than the elevated temperature. Actually the more critical time is when the engine is started cold. Once the engine is heated the additive with the chain molecules "kicks in" (hopefully) to help sustain the viscosity to that of a SAE 50 at the elevated temperature. Most manufacturers allow for the use of the 20W-50 except at low temperatures (like the 10F Ford specifies). On the other end of the situation, Ford, as do other manufacturers, recommended not to use an oil such as 5W-30 (or thinner) when sustained highway speeds are expected. Since it became available, I have used 20W-50 in a south Louisiana sub-tropical climate with good results. The SAE 40 non-detergent you used probably was a better lubricator at highway speeds due to its viscosity and lack of additives, but was less good at lower temperatures and at keeping the engine clean. Your change to a detergent oil should improve the cleanliness of the engine internally. Engine oil, like many things in life, is a compromise. Allowing the engine to operate at a lower temperature will likely keep the oil viscosity higher and result in less loss of oil. A 160 thermostat would probably be helpful in your situation. A few years ago I purchased my '76 F-250 in northern CA and drove it back to LA, passing through AZ. It was a pleasant trip.

Me has been keeping quiet on this one because......... for all of the aged engines I've seen and heard people talk about, they all seem to show visible blue smoke by no later than 500 miles. Plugs don't stay pristine either, and in fact, it's no surprise that one or two like to foul on a somewhat regular basis and need replacing. Inside of the tailpipe is sooty. Pull the PCV valve and smoke rolls out. With this in mind, if it's not smoking than IMO the only thing that makes sense to justify the consumption of one quart every 126 miles (a VERY significant amount) would be that gotta be leaking while going down the road. :shakeshead:

My experience with excessive leakers is that yes, while going down the road they will drip off on the road, but they also soak the floor pans and undercarriage, then drip from there when parked. My 75 previously mentioned would leak externally heavily, and definitely marked its territory with way more than a couple small drips. Same on the old Chev.

However, the plugs definitely do not stay pristine if burning that much. On the 20-50 oil, once warmed up it will flow like a 20 weight, so lube is not an issue, only cold is the time it causes any issues. Straight 40 weight never flows any different than 40 weight, so a 20w-50 will actually do better than the 40.

My fellow Ford friends, thank you so much for the great suggestions and valuable information that you have shared. I am humbles at the collective knowledge on this site!! I am going to try a little experiment with my truck. I am curious just how much the rear seal might be expending under pressure. I plan to fashion a temporary catch cloth inserted in the space at the bottom of the bell housing to see just how much might be going out. Should be interesting and I will share any findings that I might get. Knowledge is power as they say...


P.S. I am not ruling out valve guides either...

moveoverGM said:

My fellow Ford friends, thank you so much for the great suggestions and valuable information that you have shared. I am humbles at the collective knowledge on this site!! I am going to try a little experiment with my truck. I am curious just how much the rear seal might be expending under pressure. I plan to fashion a temporary catch cloth inserted in the space at the bottom of the bell housing to see just how much might be going out. Should be interesting and I will share any findings that I might get. Knowledge is power as they say...


P.S. I am not ruling out valve guides either...

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It sounds like a worthy experiment. Once when I managed new highway construction for the state, I complained to one of our contractors that one of his machines was leaking oil and staining the new concrete pavement. Since he couldn't send it to the shop at the time, he fashioned a sort of diaper which hung under the machine to catch the drips. The problem was solved. All he did was to "top up" the crankcase and change the diaper regularly. When the job was completed the machine went to the shop.

My truck/360 uses about a quart month ,but I drive it every day as a daily
driver!
It does leak a little around the top end & maybe a little at the rear seal.
I haven't done nothing to the spark plugs or points in 5 years....

The 360 engine seems to hold up quite well under those conditions ,
I would definitely take a chance if it was my truck an if I know that I can
drive it all around every day with out issues!

Sense the weather is cooler ,it maybe better on the motor!

Ozzie said:

It sounds like a worthy experiment. Once when I managed new highway construction for the state, I complained to one of our contractors that one of his machines was leaking oil and staining the new concrete pavement. Since he couldn't send it to the shop at the time, he fashioned a sort of diaper which hung under the machine to catch the drips. The problem was solved. All he did was to "top up" the crankcase and change the diaper regularly. When the job was completed the machine went to the shop.

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Semi trucks in the 70's actually had such a catch pan from the factory... It also had a material for catching oil.

X2 with what Roger said RE oil spraying back on floorboards, etc while driving, but......I've seen one exception to this that has burned a LOT of people. That one is the M5OD tranny used in the 20something year old Rangers, Explorers and a variant (I believe) in some F-150's. These trannies had neoprene shift rail plugs that over time, would swell and allow the ATF to seep out while driving. Nice, clean shedding of fluid from the vehicle, and other than someone noticing a slight trail of oil on the tranny case or low fluid level (the few that caught it in time) the drips on the floor were typically the size of a nickle and didn't excite a lot of folks. Result: gears that would slingup the oil while driving, oil escapes, no major warning (ie, oil slick), and one day, a noisy tranny due to fried bearings and viola, you need a new tranny and you need it now.

FWIW, because of this and once the word got out, countless people made it a point to remove those neoprene shift rail plugs and replace with brass plugs or soft plugs (aka, freeze plugs).

LOL...we all need to wager a bet on if he makes it or not!

! got a case of beer if he does!.....

cbaker65 said:

LOL...we all need to wager a bet on if he makes it or not!

! got a case of beer if he does!.....

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2x i think he will make it to.


anyways i know you had this truck a while and have kinda been battling this problem but i havn't kept the best track of everything. i cant remember if it was a crate engine that was put in it, or a rebuilt engine etc. i know it sat for some time. i know you have okay compression. I've been wondering how many miles you have put on this truck sense you got it? you said this thing smokes

i keep thinking to my self maybe this engine just need some hard miles put on it.

i know you were using sae 40 on a fresh engine rebuild, to heavy a starting oil can cause gum to build up behind the rings, dont think this is the problem but BG make a product to fix oil gum behind the rings.

i had a guy build a C7/3126 CAT engine for his RV. he honed the block with a course strait stone style engine hone (this is a no no). the cross hatching was so deep it wicked on into the cylinders and out the tail pipe so fast. when i got that rv it it smoked like a pig and turbo hot housing was dripping oil
it burned maybe a half gallon of oil every 1000 miles for the first 2,00 he put on it. till the rings seated and bore smoothed out a bit. engine running well enough now after some run time. something like this could have happened to you


just a few thoughts

i used to travel cross country with my dad every now and then in and old 85 gmc 1 ton. if it started and the nothing seemed like it would fall off we went. and made it home almost every time (truck had 500,000+ on it when we parked it). sometimes you have ot do what you have to do. i do think a rental might be most cost effective fuel wise like fellro said

CB, I just HAD to laugh out loud when I read your post!!!
If I did make it uneventfully I would supply the beer!! Believe me, if there is any doubt about making this trip or having a breakdown on the way, I will figure something else out. If I have to go it might have to be done pretty quickly so I am doing a lot of homework and exploring all other options. I am going to try 20W-50 for a while to see what diff it makes. Took it to Lowe's today. She runs so sweet!

I forgot the bottom was supposed to be fresh, so with that, mechanically it should make it.
Might even be what it needs to break in, but might just keep using the oil and need redone, but it mechanically should be fine.