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average oil consumption

B

bobct

Advanced Contributor
My '88 454's have about 1,000 hours on them now. For the first two years I owned them, I never added any oil during the season which were around 100 and 75 hours each.

I have about 35 hours going this year and my port engine is down around a QT, maybe a little less. The Stb engine has used maybe 1/2 QT. I've also noticed that the Port engine oil is a lot darker than Stb which looks like it's just been changed. The inside of both engines are spotless from what I saw with intake manifolds and valve covers removed.

Is a QT over 35 hours anything? I know people use a lot more so I'm not losing sleep over it but figured I would see what you guys use on average. I'm sure some the consumption is seepage around the pan but I don't have any major leaks.


Bob
 
My seasonal boat usage has been about the same as yours the last year , Bob and I may have added a 1/2 quart by August or mid August at 35 hours and then change it on haul out in November / December. Since we check it every time out, if it looks lower than the filled line from the previous full change, I may add as little as a 1/2 cup if needed so by mid summer 1/2 quart or so can be added up.
 
Have you looked to see if they are leaking vs. using oil? Do you notice blue smoke on start-up or while running? If it is not obvious, I would not worry about a adding a quart every now and then. With fewer amounts of hours being run on older/higher hour engines, I'm sure you are getting some oil weeping past the valve guides and seals.
 
Bob, I forgot to mention that I DID score the dip sticks after a complete oil change so that I knew where the fill marks would be as the engines sit in my boat with their current dip sticks. Who knows that they are originals or just close matches.

So if that dip line lowered, I had accurate info on the oil volume and usage
 
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