Rate of oil consumption?

[gladis]

Hey all, I have a 1996 2.2L with ~160k miles on the clock. Just checked the oil level the other day and noticed it was way low, I put in a quart and the levels rose up to 1/4 in above the E mark.

Oil was last changed Aug 2010, and has had about 4500 miles on it since, I'm not sure how high it was filled to since the mechanic does it, so I'll assume it's about a quart.

Just curious if that's cause for concern? Or is it normal for cars of this mileage and age? Thanks!

edit: oh, and also how much oil is the difference between the F and E mark? A quart?

[fenixus]

what oil type brand and viscosity are you using?

you SHOULD go by time change interval if you cannot hit the distance/mile interval in a reasonable fashion, e.g. every 3k miles or 3 months for a conventional oil (any brand, any type) or 5k miles or 6 months for fully synthetic oils.

check for oil leaks under car other than that you should see bluish smoke coming from the tailpipe if you don't have leaks and car burns oil.

you could try switching to thicker oil, e.g. 5W-40 or 10W-40 (stick to High Mileage formula) to minimize the oil burning.

it should take no more than 1 quart of oil to bring the oil level from E to F on dipstick.

[Safari Wagon]

Change the oil and filter and make sure it is filled with the required amount of oil. Monitor oil consumption and get some specific figures (like 1 quart / month / 1 K miles). This will help you make better decisions about what to do.

By your current description, you are burning about a quart per 2 K miles or 3 months. That is getting up there in oil consumption, but not horrible. Check for leaks and keep monitoring consumption. The car can probably keep going like this for a long time.