[manaboutown]

The OP brought back some memories. I bought a brand new 1979 L82 Corvette. For whatever reason, its dipstick never clearly showed the oil level in the engine. It would just come out with an indefinite coating of oil after I had extracted and wiped it, then reinserted it. Back then I changed the oil myself so I took care to measure how much oil I poured into the crankcase after draining it. As I changed the oil fairly frequently I never had a problem, accumulating many miles over seven years as I frequently drove it back and forth between Los Alamos and Albuquerque. I sold it for $600 less than I had paid for it at the dealer.

I bought a 2016 BMW X5 xDrive50i new and because it was serviced by the local dealer under warranty never paid much attention to checking the oil. After a few months I planned to take a long trip and thought I ought to check the oil. I looked under the hood but could not find a dipstick! So I went to the internet and found oil level was electronically monitored and used the instructions in the owner's manual to check the oil. I still own the vehicle and it has never needed oil added between 10,000 mile oil changes. My 2023 X5 M50i has no dipstick but at least I expected that. How does one check the oil level if the battery is dead? lol

A friend of mine had a 1964 Dodge Hemi back in the day. It went through a quart of oil every 500 miles.

[Number 10 GI]

I read a lot of automotive articles, and every auto manufacturer has a lemon model(s). A quick search shows that the 2017 Escape is known for using oil, sometimes a lot of oil. Before purchasing a new or used vehicle, spend some time doing internet searches and buy Consumer Reports annual buyers guide. Some models of cars have a few years where there were numerous problems and other years where they are quite reliable. The Ford Bronco Sport had a number of recalls in just it's first year of production. All the auto manufacturers have recalled thousands and thousands of cars in the last couple years.

[Larryandlinda]

Originally Posted by biggamefish1

Buy an electric vehicle and you will have 0 worries about the oil level or changes

That’s exactly why we are fully ev as of 2017
Rivian PU, bolt, Kona, and Ioniq in family .
Last straw was oil indicator on Benz Sprinter in 2018 said ‘one qt low’
It’s was a diesel w/14 qt sump capacity a
- one qt low 6 miles from hone no biggie.then 3 miles our 2 qt low, still no biggie.
200 yards away the freak show started with never-before-heard noise.
Next day on the same route I saw the trail of oil along the 7 mike route.
Turns out Sprinters ( likely others) only go up to 2 qt low force indicator.
$10k repair, and another $8k 6 mo later to fix first repair.
9 years old 38k miles.
My stinking John Deere tractor will not let you start with low oil or oil pressure.
Is MB that lame?
ICE no more.
Take your dead dinosaur burning vehicles and give us those free amperes which come right off our roofs in TV and back up north
Except for a cup holder and door pocket on Rivian and a free new battery on the bolt, no repairs ever in a combined 200k miles of abusive, neglectful use.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Ok, now I am curious. Instead of just an overall criticism of my post. Please go further and dissect (preferably sentence by sentence) what you believe to be incorrect statements.

Only in cold weather pre 1960s vehicles.

wrong in warm climate , now if up north in zero degree weather and have vehicle that has crank case ventilation problems then yes condensation can build up. Not in Florida where temperatures are warm to hot year round. Not the big temperature swing like up north.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Larryandlinda

That’s exactly why we are fully ev as of 2017
Rivian PU, bolt, Kona, and Ioniq in family .
Last straw was oil indicator on Benz Sprinter in 2018 said ‘one qt low’
It’s was a diesel w/14 qt sump capacity a
- one qt low 6 miles from hone no biggie.then 3 miles our 2 qt low, still no biggie.
200 yards away the freak show started with never-before-heard noise.
Next day on the same route I saw the trail of oil along the 7 mike route.
Turns out Sprinters ( likely others) only go up to 2 qt low force indicator.
$10k repair, and another $8k 6 mo later to fix first repair.
9 years old 38k miles.
My stinking John Deere tractor will not let you start with low oil or oil pressure.
Is MB that lame?
ICE no more.
Take your dead dinosaur burning vehicles and give us those free amperes which come right off our roofs in TV and back up north
Except for a cup holder and door pocket on Rivian and a free new battery on the bolt, no repairs ever in a combined 200k miles of abusive, neglectful use.

There not that old yet, but you’ll trade them long before they have real problems.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

The OP brought back some memories. I bought a brand new 1979 L82 Corvette. For whatever reason, its dipstick never clearly showed the oil level in the engine. It would just come out with an indefinite coating of oil after I had extracted and wiped it, then reinserted it. Back then I changed the oil myself so I took care to measure how much oil I poured into the crankcase after draining it. As I changed the oil fairly frequently I never had a problem, accumulating many miles over seven years as I frequently drove it back and forth between Los Alamos and Albuquerque. I sold it for $600 less than I had paid for it at the dealer.

I bought a 2016 BMW X5 xDrive50i new and because it was serviced by the local dealer under warranty never paid much attention to checking the oil. After a few months I planned to take a long trip and thought I ought to check the oil. I looked under the hood but could not find a dipstick! So I went to the internet and found oil level was electronically monitored and used the instructions in the owner's manual to check the oil. I still own the vehicle and it has never needed oil added between 10,000 mile oil changes. My 2023 X5 M50i has no dipstick but at least I expected that. How does one check the oil level if the battery is dead? lol

A friend of mine had a 1964 Dodge Hemi back in the day. It went through a quart of oil every 500 miles.

Unless your friend swapped in 426 street hemi it was 426 max wedge? Beside who has hemi or max wedge and don’t have their foot in it all time. My 69 GTX 440 didn’t fair as good, maybe 300 mile to quart. But the was ruff 300 miles.

[lawgolfer]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

I have seen some articles recently that automotive manufacturers consider 1 quart every 1000 miles to be acceptable. Now I would ask the dealer or look at the owners manual to see when the oil light is supposed to come on. Since you do not have any indication of a leak, you are probably burning the oil, you could have someone follow you and see if they see any smoke from the tail pipe.

Because of the catalytic converter, it is not likely that the OP would see smoke in the exhaust if his engine is burning oil because of worn valve guides or piston rings.

I don't understand the OP's comment about checking "both sides" of the dipstick. What difference would this make?

If the OP notices his engine is down a quart after 1000 miles following the recent oil change, I would complain long and loudly to Ford.

Of interest, the car magazines are replete with complaints by Porsche owners about their cars using 1 quart/1000 miles and being told by the company that this is acceptable.

[Battlebasset]

Originally Posted by biggamefish1

Buy an electric vehicle and you will have 0 worries about the oil level or changes

I'm a very practical guy. And also somewhat of a car guy. 2001 Z28 Camaro. Change the oil myself once a year with synthetic, needed or not. 30 minutes out of my retired day. Like I've got something else more important to do.

I have a lithium ion golf cart. Far better than gas. No maintenance. Charge at home on 110 outlet. Don't know why anyone would buy a gas cart anymore.

But EV for my primary/only car? Sorry. Too many issues with charging stations when away from home, and the value of the vehicle after a few years. I'm actually considering a used EV as a second car. Why? Only using locally and the residual value drops like a rock. I can pick up a Chevy Bolt crazy cheap. Because after five years, no one wants them.

Until I can charge my EV wherever I need in ten minutes, it goes 400 miles on a charge, and the battery is reliable to 20 years, I'm sticking with ICE for my primary vehicle.

No hate of EV. Just the right tool for the job.

[bark4me]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I am definitely not a car guy. But I thought I knew how to check the oil level in my car. The last oil change, I used synthetic oil because the mechanic said it would last 7,500 miles. Yesterday, after about 6,800 miles, the "check engine" light and the oil light came on in my car. I checked the oil level and it looked fine. There has never been any oil on my garage floor, but my car was almost totally out of oil. I took the car to Firestone, the guy changed the oil, and he said I only had about one quart of oil in the car. There was no indication of a leak. It is interesting that the low oil light never came on before yesterday. Apparently, when checking the oil, you need to look at both sides of the dipstick. I was only looking at one side. I was also surprised that a car with only 65,000 miles could burn off that much oil with no indication that the car was using any oil. In the future, I will be changing my oil much more often.

If your car is older, rule of thumb is the change the oil every 3k miles or 3 months

[CarlR33]

Originally Posted by bark4me

If your car is older, rule of thumb is the change the oil every 3k miles or 3 months

Um, Heck no, even a cheap $50 oil change 4 times a year would be $200!

[rsmurano]

The OP is missing the point: you are using oil when you shouldn’t be, oil changes are the last thing you need to do, you need to find out why you are using all this oil.
Did somebody look at your spark plugs to see if they are coated with oil? Do a compression test! You can have piston rings that went bad, valve guides leaking, or a number of other issues.
Take your car in to a mechanic and have him look into this.

[Donegalkid]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

I have seen some articles recently that automotive manufacturers consider 1 quart every 1000 miles to be acceptable. Now I would ask the dealer or look at the owners manual to see when the oil light is supposed to come on. Since you do not have any indication of a leak, you are probably burning the oil, you could have someone follow you and see if they see any smoke from the tail pipe.

Accurate. Some new engine designs by certain manufacturers result in higher oil consumption, as stated, up to a quart per 1K of miles. I’ll leave out the manufacturers and engine models but one can easily research your car. Ironically, some of these new engine designs are now “oil burners” in the pursuit of higher MPG and performance. Engine longevity can suffer, though, as can the life of key components, like catalytic converters. Good to know your car.

[Bruceg0028]

I would have the technician show you the dip stick after the next oil change. Perhaps you’re not getting the proper fill. Most cars have different capacities and the tech may not have changed the setting on his oil filling device after the last job they did. A quart every thousand miles seems excessive.

[Donegalkid]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

I have seen some articles recently that automotive manufacturers consider 1 quart every 1000 miles to be acceptable. Now I would ask the dealer or look at the owners manual to see when the oil light is supposed to come on. Since you do not have any indication of a leak, you are probably burning the oil, you could have someone follow you and see if they see any smoke from the tail pipe.

Accurate. Some new engine designs by certain manufacturers result in higher oil consumption, as stated, up to a quart per 1K of miles. I’ll leave out the manufacturers and engine models but one can easily research your car. Ironically, some of these new engine designs are now “oil burners” in the pursuit of higher MPG and “performance”. Engine longevity can suffer, though, as can the life of key components, like catalytic converters.

[gorillarick]

Yes! It is not a low-oil light; it is a low oil pressure light.

Wonder how far you drove with the light ON ?
Lucky you didn't over-heat and seize your engine.

ps: I would drive about 100 feet before I investigated.