Losing oil

[Tanji]

My 2005 Jeep Liberty 3.7 just lost a quart of oil in a matter of days. I first noticed it last friday where it was halfway in the safe area on the dipstick. Then today I found that it was below the safe zone.
There is no drips under the car and I doubt its leaking because I replaced the gasket on October and it had no problems since. My guess is the oil is burning but I am not a mechanic so I don't know anything about this.
Does anyone know what could be the cause of this and how I can fix it without spending hundreds?

 

[Sephiroth]

Change the pcv valve, I do notice a difference on oil consumption after replacing it.

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Tanji]

I replaced it last year though. But I will change it again to see if it helps since they don't cost much. Since it's Christmas it will have to wait a few days so I will post again if that doesn't help.

Thanks,
Tanji

 

[tommudd]

You're not telling us anything except its losing oil
Number of miles?
Maintenance history?
Type of oil and how often its changed?
Just few of the questions I would ask if you came to my place asking that question
Could of had a history of oil never being changed like it should of been, or with a ton of miles on it

 

[HoosierJeeper]

How many miles had it been driven during that time period?

 

[Tanji]

It currently has 150k miles and I changed the oil pan gasket at 148k miles. I always used the valvoline maxlife 5w-30 oil for oil changes every 3 months or 3000 miles but the months come before the mileage. I changed the pcv valve last year when it had around 145k miles. As far as anything else that I did related to the engine are replacing the spark plugs within that period.
Edit: The oil pan gasket was leaking because my dad put in synthetic oil once before the last oil change I did. I heard mixing synthetic oil in a car that used conventional or semi synthetic is bad but I didn't know it at the time.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I meant how many miles was it driven between last Friday and when you checked it?

And what brand PCV valve?

 

[Tanji]

I meant how many miles was it driven between last Friday and when you checked it?

And what brand PCV valve?

Less than 100 miles for sure. And the pcv valve is the fram one from Amazon. I ordered a different one this time.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Try a Mopar one.

 

[JasonJ]

Edit: The oil pan gasket was leaking because my dad put in synthetic oil once before the last oil change I did. I heard mixing synthetic oil in a car that used conventional or semi synthetic is bad but I didn't know it at the time.

The use of synthetic is not what caused/causes that. That gasket was already ready to pop... the synthetic oil used may have had more detergents in it, cleaning some gunk that was barely holding together anyways... then pop! You got your leak.

You heard a rumor based on nothing but anecdotes from people who are not chemists or have a good understanding of how modern engine oils are manufactured.

Doesn't matter... it's done now and you replaced the gasket. But still...

 

[tommudd]

The use of synthetic is not what caused/causes that. That gasket was already ready to pop... the synthetic oil used may have had more detergents in it, cleaning some gunk that was barely holding together anyways... then pop! You got your leak.

You heard a rumor based on nothing but anecdotes from people who are not chemists or have a good understanding of how modern engine oils are manufactured.

Doesn't matter... it's done now and you replaced the gasket. But still...

Old wives , well in this case old shade tree mechanics , who always said if you switch it will leak, ruin your motor etc . Motors are a lot different than back in the 50s-60s and 70s

 

[JasonJ]

Old wives , well in this case old shade tree mechanics , who always said if you switch it will leak, ruin your motor etc . Motors are a lot different than back in the 50s-60s and 70s

For sure. My dad was a wrench turner from the 60s and 70s, he once told me that when he was a kid, life expectancy of an engine was only about 30,000 miles before you expected to have to rebuild it.. just because that's how they were built. But then again, you could rebuild them with a bearing, ring and gasket set, and only a 3/8" ratchet.

Not so anymore....

 

[Aceofspades]

I’ve had mixed results. 90k on Dino oil and made the switch to full syn- my cam seals started leaking and so did the o ring on the dizzy on my 6g74 engine.
Haven’t noticed any leaks in the jeep when I switched tho

 

[Tanji]

Try a Mopar one.

Bit late for that. Already had ordered one online on Christmas. I installed it today. The old one popped of halfway from one end that connected to the hose and one that goes in the socket. Hoping this fixes it, if not then I might bother you guys for help if you don't mind.

The use of synthetic is not what caused/causes that. That gasket was already ready to pop... the synthetic oil used may have had more detergents in it, cleaning some gunk that was barely holding together anyways... then pop! You got your leak.

You heard a rumor based on nothing but anecdotes from people who are not chemists or have a good understanding of how modern engine oils are manufactured.

Doesn't matter... it's done now and you replaced the gasket. But still...

Like I said, I am not a mechanic so I don't know what does what. I have only heard that switching from conventional to synthetic when you have high mileage can cause leaks. If that's a rumour only then you are right I fell for it since I seemed to have experienced it. But now I know that it doesn't matter so I will keep it in mind.

Thanks for all the help thus far everyone!

 

[JasonJ]

I’ve had mixed results. 90k on Dino oil and made the switch to full syn- my cam seals started leaking and so did the o ring on the dizzy on my 6g74 engine.
Haven’t noticed any leaks in the jeep when I switched tho

Like I said, I am not a mechanic so I don't know what does what. I have only heard that switching from conventional to synthetic when you have high mileage can cause leaks. If that's a rumour only then you are right I fell for it since I seemed to have experienced it. But now I know that it doesn't matter so I will keep it in mind.

Thanks for all the help thus far everyone!

Yep.. like I said, higher detergent level in some synthetics, so your gaskets, seals and o-rings were already deteriorated... would've eventually failed anyways.

It's the same thing you see with a transmission that hasn't been serviced for 140k miles.. change the fluid and bam! The trans takes a dump... if the trans is not healthy enough to keep going after a simple fluid change, it was not a healthy transmission to begin with and you were already on borrowed time.

Good luck to all fixing the issues!

 

[Tanji]

Yep.. like I said, higher detergent level in some synthetics, so your gaskets, seals and o-rings were already deteriorated... would've eventually failed anyways.

It's the same thing you see with a transmission that hasn't been serviced for 140k miles.. change the fluid and bam! The trans takes a dump... if the trans is not healthy enough to keep going after a simple fluid change, it was not a healthy transmission to begin with and you were already on borrowed time.

Good luck to all fixing the issues!

Now you have me scared... I was literally about to do a transmission service this weekend and I don't know if the trans was ever serviced. The fluid is still pink so I have my hopes high.

 

[JasonJ]

Now you have me scared... I was literally about to do a transmission service this weekend and I don't know if the trans was ever serviced. The fluid is still pink so I have my hopes high.

Have you been experiencing shifting delays or rev hangups? Is it slamming into gear when cold or otherwise shifting funky? If not, I'd just get the old fluid out and put a new filter on and move on... I just replaced my pan completely and made sure to get one with a drain plug so that come spring, I can drain and refill it again to clear out even more of the older fluid.

 

[Tanji]

Have you been experiencing shifting delays or rev hangups? Is it slamming into gear when cold or otherwise shifting funky? If not, I'd just get the old fluid out and put a new filter on and move on... I just replaced my pan completely and made sure to get one with a drain plug so that come spring, I can drain and refill it again to clear out even more of the older fluid.

What a coincidence I was gonna replace the pan as well while getting a new one with a drain plug. The transmission feels fine, it has never acted weird or funny so I am not as worried of something going wrong. I already have the atp filter and gasket on hand. Just waiting on the pan to arrive today to get started. Really hopes nothing goes wrong otherwise I might have to just sell the thing as it is giving me more problems than not. Literally just the other day I noticed the lower ball joints were bad and that's gonna be a pain for me to deal with.

 

[Tanji]

Okay after a week of driving and not even a full tank of gas, the oil is almost below the safe mark. I am going to lift it at a local shop and see if it has leaks but I doubt it's leaking cause I would see a quart of oil on the driveway.

Edit/Update: I see no leaks anywhere so I know it's not a leak. Now I will take out the spark plugs tomorrow to see if if they have any carbon build up.

 

[JasonJ]

Okay after a week of driving and not even a full tank of gas, the oil is almost below the safe mark. I am going to lift it at a local shop and see if it has leaks but I doubt it's leaking cause I would see a quart of oil on the driveway.

Edit/Update: I see no leaks anywhere so I know it's not a leak. Now I will take out the spark plugs tomorrow to see if if they have any carbon build up.

If it's not leaking, it's burning.

I'd always prefer a leaker to a burner, but it is what it is. That's a lot of oil burning, I'd expect to see visible blue smoke from the tailpipe with that amount of oil consumption.