oil consumption?

[E.T.]

My 2003 KJ seems to be going through a lot of oil lately. I've added several quarts recently, but hadn't checked it for a while before that, so it was probably going down slowly over time. Not sure where it's all going because there are no spots on the driveway. There's about 120K miles on it now, so I doubt this is going to be worth trying to fix, but just wondered if anyone had suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Rowlette]

If you believe your heads are fine I would add a little thicker oil in the summer months.

 

[E.T.]

Not sure about the heads. Is that something I can inspect visually?

 

[dude1116]

Crank seals front and rear? Valve cover gaskets?

 

[tommudd]

Just get under it and see if you can see anything, could be vales etc causing it to burn oil, many times you never notice it burning through the exhaust but it is
As far as running heavier oil......no

 

[Rowlette]

I use 10w40 in the summertime and 5w30 after September.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Try a high mileage oil like from Castrol or Valvoline. Might take a few OCIs to make an impact.

 

[tommudd]

I use 10w40 in the summertime and 5w30 after September.

My 04 had over 221,000 miles, oil changed every 3-3500 miles from new and never used high mileage oil/ different weight or none of that, just Mobil 5W30 its whole life and maybe used 1/4 of a quart
Is a tad bit hotter in Fla, but........

 

[LibertyTC]

Check your oil level weekly.
Keep it it topped up! Low oil is bad= chitty -chitty -bang- boing- clunk! :icon_razz:
What kind oil oil are you using dino/syn?
When was the last time you did an oil/filter change?
Check PCV valve to be clean & to rattle, make sure it is not plugged up w/ gunk.
Take a paper towel, wrap it around your finger, engine cooled down, and get up under the valve covers on the back side.
If the paper towel is wet with oil, replace the valve covers.
Inspect on a lift. Look for any leaks, pan, seals etc, often you can see fresh oil easily with a bright flashlight.
Just a few ideas to start with...:gr_grin:
If it's not leaks, adding several quarts of oil recently, the engine is burning it...compression test it..stem seals or rings bad..

 

[jeepbeep]

Spend tens of dollars and have a compression and leak-down test done. It saves you thousands.

I think pan leak, pump leak, filter leak, valve seals, sending unit, and head gasket are the points of cause for this. I'm just getting in to these engines so I'm no expert but I see pump and sending unit failures a lot.