Surprising oil usage

[powershift]

I searched around the forum and didn't see any threads about oil usage, but did find one for how long to go between oil changes and I'm now sold on 7,500mi. I started overlanding in a new environment and my oil usage went up to 1/2 qt. per 80 miles round trip into town and back plus a few trails, up from 0 quarts in 3,500mi in the desert where the 5.0 V8 was climbing 7% grades weekly, but from about 100' to 4000' which it took in 5th easily at 65 MPH, 65 MPH speed limit and it was a two lane highway w/out the need to drop down and go WOT.

I've been taking the 8% Utah grade to 9,980' from 5,500' in 4th at about 45 MPH and a 40 MPH speed limit with a couple WOT passes down into 2nd on a one lane highway and that's it. Does it seem like excessive oil usage? Does anyone else experience fluctuating oil usage between changes? Its probably not a big deal, I'm so happy with the LR4 its simply amazing. No regrets, just a bit concerned that I may forget to check the oil and boom, throw a rod out the block or spin a bearing.

 

[ftillier]

1/2 quart in 80 miles is a ton and should leave a trace, you'd be bone dry in 700 miles.

I do my oil changes every 5k miles, easier to remember, plus I rotate the tires then too. Last change I noticed I only extracted a bit under 7 liters, less than usual. Next time I'll get new pcv valves and see if that helps.

 

[powershift]

I too think there would be evidence like a drip or oil circles the tailgate from oil in the exhaust, but I haven't seen any oil. I've been inspecting the front of the engine with a bright **** amazing flashlight and its all good. No drips on the ground. The vacuum pump is not leaking, valve cover gaskets are new and good. No oil smell when I get out. I might pull the skid plate but with that much oil loss I'd think it would run off and drip down to the ground.

I'm starting to wonder if I didn't wait long enough when checking the level. Its not overfull after waiting 1/2hr and checking today so I don't know lol. When I traveled from Nevada to here I needed to add oil, it was 1/2 way low. Then again it was 1/2 down after a round trip to town. I've never had a dipstickless engine like the LR4. I know Mercedes does it too on the G. Hopefully its user error.

Its been about 4K since my last change and I bought oil today to do the oil change now so that I don't need to do it in an unfamiliar area. But then I read the Mobil 1 bottle when I got to camp and it said 10k miles guaranteed coverage so I started searching and settled on 7,500 since my usage was a bit heavy in the 122F heat. The engine bay is not all dusty, but the exterior is dusty asf each time I go out.

My last two changes were 3k and I did that by intuition and not calculating mileage. I read 3k is a waste so doing the change now at 4k usage probably isn't a good time to change it. This is the 9 page oil change interval thread where a service guy sounded pretty knowledgeable suggested 7,500 should cover extreme cases and 3k is too soon.

 

[powershift]

I checked the Wix air filters and took a pic of it along with a shot of the amazing flashlight (Acebeam L35), it works well to see any animals stalking me at night as well as inspecting the engine, like cracks on the serpentine belts for example. I'd guess the oil is clean enough for now based on the air filter

 

[itsaguything]

As previously mentioned, that is excessive oil use. Given the dirty engine compartment, how's the PCV valve??

 

[scapistron]

Pop the intake off and look at the throttle body.

 

[powershift]

As previously mentioned, that is excessive oil use. Given the dirty engine compartment, how's the PCV valve??

The PCV valves are original, ~108k mi now. Replacing them luckily looks straight forward, but I've never dealt with the PCV valve before on any engine. There is oil/dirt residue that wasn't around the port previously at 101k mi. The oil/dirt around the oil filter housing wasn't present either, but back then the truck hadn't been in the dirt before I bought it. Should there be oil going into the intake?

on the driver side there is a diaphragm looking thing that looks like it has oil + dirt that wasn't there before, but it had not been subjected to so much dust

Pop the intake off and look at the throttle body.

Looks slightly dirty but it has the same look as when I had the intake off at 101k mi. The water spots (whatever they may be) don't wipe off.

I've been thinking about making another round trip to town to see if the problem replicates again but this time use a timer and measure the oil at 10 minutes after shutting off the engine. Previously I've just been winging it. Do the PCV valves seem bad? I was thinking about popping them off but didn't want to take an unnecessary risk.

 

[f1racer328]

Make sure you’re on completely level ground when you’re checking oil, and do it the same way every time if you can.

I only check when the oil is cold, and in my garage or another flat surface like a gas station.

 

[ktm525]

Do not touch the PCVs until you have the replacements in hand.

 

[powershift]

Land Rover has rebuild kits for $75 each, but I'm hoping the low oil is user error and I'm not sure how to validate if the PCV's are functioning properly. It would be great to test them. I might try measuring the oil in a store parking lot with a 10 minute timer, figure out a way to determine if the truck is level or just let it sit at a gas station that doesn't have business lol. The air suspension seems to adjust the ride height dynamically when I get out with the engine off. Does the air suspension keep the frame level when its parked?