oil consumption

Hi there, Can anyone advise me? I have got a 2003 carrera 4s with 64000miles on it ,ive only had it for three months but it has a good history. I have noticed that over 600 miles on the motorway it has used around 600ml of oil?it has no loss of power,running fine no missfires oil pressure is good along with temp and not using water,however the left exhaust is sooting up quite heavily its not wet though.there is no blue smoke or oily smells which is what i would expect with an engine burning excessive oil?but if you really look closely you can see a faint white smoke from the same side,could this black sooting of one side be through over fueling or could it be more sinister,a scored liner has been mentioned.any thoughts would be much appreciated ? Many thanks,Dave.

Sounds normal enough to me - certainly in line with my experience in a 996 Carrera and now 996 turbo. Both very heavy drinkers. The manual I believe says it uses a litre of oil every 1000 miles so you are spot on that. My turbo drinks like George Best on a night out with Oliver Reid. Constantly topping up. No problems that Im aware of.

There have been lots of posts about this topic. The guide line of 1litre per 1000 miles is correct I think. My own car, an early 997 uses a litre per 3000 miles and from discussions this is typical. If in doubt, get it checked. Is it leaking?

Mine drinks about 1lt every 3k too. Nothing to worry about all my cars have consumed a little oil.

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Hi , Thanks very much for your input ,im suprised that the flat six uses so much ol must just be a characteristic i suppose,still not sure about the sooting up on one side though?i will keep .eye on it . Thanks again,Dave.

You could always take it to a specialist or OPC to get checked out if you are conserned about the black exhaust.

My '98 C2 never needed to be topped up between oil changes, which I did every 6000 miles. It would drop about 1-2 bars on the gauge in that distance. It had 85,000 on the clock when I sold it, and it now has 115,000 and it's the same story. Maybe I was lucky, but I've heard the same thing said lots of times. The Turbo is a different story. About 3000 miles to the litre.

Correct, the oil left in the bores will not drain into the sump like a 'normal' engine...hence when you start it, whats in there, gets burnt off. (please correct me if i'm wrong). Also, are you parking the car on the flat, or is one side lower than the other on a slope maybe....?? I did 4000 miles in my Turbo last year and it's not needed a top up...Judging by the 'bars' consumption, it should be good until the next service in July 2011.

Unfortunately the majority of my mileage is short journeys where I only just get up to temperature when I arrive at my destination. I have now done 61k and still use 0w 40 mobil 1, and only use about 1ltr per year 11k. I do wonder if I should move up to a thicker oil soon but due to the low temperature journeys and that that I am not losing much, perhaps I should stick to what I'm using. I'd really like Baz's opinion on that! :worship:

Thanks a lot, No its not leaking at all.i will just keep an eye ,on it,Hopefully the sooting up of the exhaust isnt connected to the oil consumption. Regards,Dave.

Yes the car is parked on a slight slope but sloping right not left which is the side its sooting up on.but you only notice heavy sooting after motorway extended runs,not short runs,i will see how much oil is burnt over motorway miles as a pose to short runs which is what it normally does? Cheers,Dave

Mine's using between 1-2 litres between services (I get it serviced every 6k), so probably a litre per 3k miles maximum. No leakage, using 0w40, perfectly normal... 8)

Thanks a lot i feel slightly better about it by all the feedback ive had,but i will get the exhaust analysed when i get shoreside. Regards,Dave.