losing oil

My 99 Ranger with a 4.0 seems to be losing oil. I started out with 5W-30 when I bought it a few months ago and it seemed to run through it. Switched to 10W-40. Same thing. Should I switch back to 5W-30 and use Lucas oil with it? I know Lucas is a great product so I'm just wondering if that might fix the problem. The average loss is about 1/2 quart every 200-300 miles. New valve cover gasket. I don't see any visual smoke any time. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Some more information would be helpful. Is smoke coming out of the exhaust?
Is oil dripping on the garage floor. If so front or back of engine. Is it dripping around the oil filter?
Check for a plugged pcv system

As I said, no smoke. There are no leaks anywhere. I just replaced the PCV valve.

It's either you are burning it or leaking it. If its leaking, it's either leaking out of the engine or, could be leaking into the cooling system. Check your coolant for any signs of emulsification.

if you are burning, check your compression. if the plugs are good, and your compression checks out, then you have bad valve guide seals/seats.

if your plugs are fouled or messy then that would cause missing oil

if your compression dont check out then rebuild time.

if i had to choose i would choose bad valve seals.

i agree valve stim seals if all other's posting's checks out...good luck...

If your valve stem seals are leaking you should get smoke on start up which clears up.
You can change them by either putting air in the cylinder or some people slide some rope into the spark plug hole and turn by hand until the valves are against the rope. This way you don't have to pull the head. Go to a machine shop and buy umbrella seals.

Sounds like arthroscopic repair. I also have a '99 Ranger 4.0L. If your problem is internal, you are surely going to have some visual indication (smoke, fouled plugs, etc.) and for sure you will feel it in your truck's performance. Hate to say this but it looks like you may have to tear the engine apart to fix the problem.

I recently changed the spark plugs and there is no fouling going on. Also, no visual smoke at startup. When I change the oil in about 1000, I'm going to try about a quart and a half of Lucas with 5-30. It seems to be worse off with 10-40 for some reason.

or try using rotella made buy shell....good luck..


SCRAPPER.......

This might give some leads on the case: I just put in a new PCV 2 weeks ago and the new one already has oil on it. I'm thinking that it might not be a good thing. What could be the problem and how easy is it to fix?


Thanks in advance!

Its an indication of a blow-by. But using oil that much surely should have some other indication. No emulsified coolant, right. I'm skeptical about using "miracle" additives. It may hide the symptiom but don't take care of the problem. I use 5-30W in my '99 Ranger 4.0 and at 82K miles, I'm hardly low half-a quart by the time change oil (5K miles) is due. Frankly, from what you've been saying, I'm somewhat stumped for answers.

What is a blowby and how can I fix it?

blowby is a indacationg of bad rings if ou tak your oil cap off and have it running if smokes coming out indacates bad or worn rings...good luck..


scrapper.....

[QUOTE=Scrapper]blowby is a indacationg of bad rings if out take your oil cap off and have it running if smokes coming out of the oil hole indacates bad or worn rings...good luck...

some guy at work last night said that it can be bad rings if it smokes on start up but goes away after a while.

he said the rings were warming up and expanding. sounds possible but havent heard if it as a problem on 4.0 & 3.0 rangers

if it was rings 1 or more plugs would fowl out...i still say vave seals...do comp. test on all cylinder's ....

The integrity of the each compression needs to be intact during the firing cycle. However, sometimes the valves don't seal tight, or the valve stems are worn to the point that compression pressure tend to leak thru them and into the intake manifold. Depending how bad the leak is, the plugs may get fouled, oil in the PCV, etc. If the rings are bad, it could be worse yet since oil may come up from the crankcase. A true indication of this is poor performance.