1999 Crown Vic oil problem

[cmmaster]

Picked up this car last summer with 50 K Km from and old man that hardly drove the car. Now I have 74 K on it. From day one I have battery light on once in a while but it comes and go and sometimes its gone for a month or so. Still didnt solve this problem (checked for loose wires, battery, alternator etc. all is good). New problem that i have now is every 5000K when I do an oil change I am missing 1/2 liter oil acording to the guys in mr lube. Is this normal? I do highway driving and drive it up to 130 KMH for about 3 hours a day.

thank you

[1996Chreokee]

that amount does not sound excessive.... how was the car maintained before you got it?

when it idles for a while then you get on the gas does it puff some blue smoke....

I would just keep an eye on it and maybe check once or twice a week and not just at oil changes..

good luck

[cmmaster]

According to the old man's records all services were done on time. The only thing is that the car was not driven that much over the first 7 years (only 52K Km).

I do not see any blue smoke in any condition.

Will start looking at the oil level weekly.

I was just wondering if it's normal with these engines to burn some oil if they are driven 1000 KM a week on the highways?
Do police cars and cabs experiance that?

Thank You

[1996Chreokee]

i have a buddy that works for a city pd and he said his patrol car uses a quart of oil per shift, 8 hours... those car run literally 24 hours a day 365 and only shut off to do investigations... but they are driven only about 30 miles per shift...

[way2old]

Ford considers 1 quart in 1000 miles as normal usage.

[cmmaster]

Should I maybe try synthetic oil? Is it good for these engines? I was told by the guy at Mr lube that If I do that I will not burn oil and that oil changes would be every 8000Km and not 5000Km. Is this true? or are they just trying to make more money on me?

Thank you

[Rutsah]

I use mobil 5000 with no problems in my own car.

I am a taxi driver however and as such
drive an 03 for work she drinks about a quart a week.
Bear in mind that this is a vehicle that is lucky to have its' oil changed on time from overuse. The company uses petroleum oil. I would use petroleum oil too, if my car was pissing it out at that rate.