Using Oil

[Dennis & Leatrice Amo]

We just purchased a 2005 24 RB. On an E-450 chassis with 6.8L gas engine. I spoke to the previous owner and he said every 1500 miles you might need to add a quart of oil. He used 5w 20 oil. I checked for oil leaks didn’t find any and there is no smoke coming out of the exhaust. I know that the book says to use 5w 30 oil. Is this common for this engine? Or do I need to bring it in for serviced.

Dennis & Leatrice Amone

[bcope01]

My 2004 BFT with the same engine uses NO oil between oil changes. You don't say how many miles on your coach, but I find it highly unusual that a 2005 would use so much oil.

Bill

[Sab & Ann]

You may be experiencing what Bill Lyons did on his unit. He replaced the PCV valve and his oil usage was stopped. The PCV valves usually cost less than $10 at a Ford Dealership plus labor for installation.
I would recommend that you stay with the manual spec's on oil. Using a lighter grade would not be good for your engine. The 5W20 is a lighter grade than the 5W30 oil. I would also recommend a sythetic oil such as Moble One and a Moble One oil filter and change your oil and oil filter regularly.

[whemme]

Here is my experience being the past owner of a 1999 Born Free 24' RB motorcoach with the Ford V10 gas engine rated at that time at 265 HP. I purchased this coach new and it always used a quart of oil in approximately 1500 to 2000 miles. So I always had to add a quart between oil changes that I did regularly between 3000 to 4000 miles. I put a total of 55,000 miles on that coach before upgrading to my current 2002 Born Free 26' RSB motorcoach with the Ford V10 gas engine rated at 305 HP. This particular engine does not use any measurable amount of oil between changes and it currently has 37,000 miles on it.

If your coach only uses a quart per 1500 miles and is not getting worse, I guess I would not worry about it too much. That usage level is not enough that you would ever see oil smoke come out of the tail pipe. You could however try having your PVC value replaced as Sab suggested above and that may or may not stop your minor oil consumption. I guess I would also recommend the use of 5W30 oil rather than the lighter weight 5W20 - that might reduce oil consumption also.

[Roger H]

My '01 V10 specifically calls for 5W-20 oil. It's even has "5W-20" raised in yellow letters on the oil filler cap!

My '01 uses no oil between changes, but most manufacturers claim that a quart between changes is acceptable oil usage. Many engines that are run in hot climates will also use a quart between changes, but not use oil when the ambient air temps are cooler.

A plugged PCV will cause crankcase gases to build up forcing the oil out through the rings at about the rate of consumption you're seeing. It's an inexpensive repair, and even if it doesn't help, it can't hurt.

Roger

[Mel Wilbur]

Our 2002 (on 2001 chassis) also states to use 5W-20 but I also us 5W-30 synthetic. With 72k miles on the coach I use approximately half a quart per 1500 miles. For what it's worth I was told by a former engineer for Mobil that Ford originally recommended 5W-30 for the V-10 but switched to the 5W-20 at one point as they gained approximately two tenths of a mile per gallon, using petroleum based oil, which helped their overall fuel economy ratings. Not that it was necessarily better for the engine.

[BornFree_n_Now]

We have used AMSOIL Signature Series 0W-30 100% Synthetic Motor Oil for the past several years with good results, as far as we can tell ~~ 38,000 miles on coach, and change oil more frequently than AMSOIL recommends (every 3000 miles or so). We have never had to add any oil between changes.