Is it normal to burn a bit of oil?

[radiod]

Just a curiosity question. My car and the 3 other supra owners (or former owners) I know all burn a little bit of oil between oil changes for as long as any of us have had our cars. I personally don't add more than MAYBE half a litre between oil changes (every 5000km/3125mi, 3 months max) to keep it topped off but it just struck me today if that is normal or not. And yes, turbo, not NA.

 

[hvyman]

Do you get into the higher rpms a lot?

I never have had problems with using oil unless there was a leak or burning oil.

 

[radiod]

I'll take it for a few good pulls a gas tank I'd say (stop to 80mph ish, basically first to redline, 2nd to redline, and a little in to 3rd), not a lot of extended periods of time above 3000rpm though. A few could be anywhere from 4+ I'd say....more in the summer time.

 

[D.J.T.]

Bad Valve stem seals could be the reason your burning small amounts of oil.

 

[Poodles]

How many miles? It's normal to burn oil on an old engine. (every engine burns oil, it's just if it's noticable)

 

[radiod]

Valve stem seals are 5000 miles old. I replaced the head at that time, but left the bottom end and block alone. Bottom end was rebuild ~45,000 miles ago. I just replaced the turbo about 800 miles ago due to excessive shaft play, fins wanting to exist in the same space as the housing. Bearings in the turbo were pretty bad. Since I put the new one in I noticed an extra 5psi of pressure throughout the entire rpm range, a bit more as it gets higher. I haven't found any oil loss since the switch, but have been keeping my eye on it closely. Was curious though because every other 7M-GTE that I've seen has always burned/used/lost a little bit and was wondering if and/or how much consumption was normal.

 

[Nick M]

It is normal to burn oil. Rods have holes in them from the crankshaft to spray oil on the cylinder wall. The cross hatch suspends oil that the rings don't pull back to the pan. That oil burns up with combustion. When you don't see a drop on your dipstick, it is from the contamination filling the lost oil. A high way trip and high speed allows the additives to do their job, which is why after a drive, all of a sudden you need some oil when you never did before.

 

[radiod]

Yeah, I found an article and read that just this morning. The car sees mostly short trips, so I can completely understand that. I try and get it going for a good 30 minute drive at least once a week though.