I recently changed my oil...I change the oil religiously at 3k mi intervals. The last time I changed the oil I pulled out a little less than a gallon when I drained it. When I went to re-fill it, I put a gallon+ a little less than 2 quarts from another gallon of AMSoil. I checked my oil level because something didn't seem right to me the last time I changed the oil..and sure enough my oil level is right at the first hole on the dip stick..so..I am guessing I am about 2 quarts low...I don't have any visible signs of oil leaks...I can't figure out...where is this oil going....I can't be burning oil..I don't see white smoke coming out of the tail pipe..what could be happening here!!?..

 

Burning oil causes blue smoke and it's very unlikely that you would see it as usually cars burning oil do it when you're beating on the car...

 

Blue smoke is oil burn in high temperatures ( usually cause by broken "sealant valves" - I don't know if I find right part definition in EN, sorry ), white smoke is oil burn in lower temperatures. If you will see white smoke behind you it's almost sure that your turbocharger say "goodbye".

As Toxin said if you beating a car, driving with v-max then it's normal that car will take more oil than normally.

Rgds
Martin

 

This is correct, however he didn't say anything about the car not driving normally so I skipped that option for now

 

you can start also with checking the easiest things like probable leaking etc. Raise the car with the car jack and find out that there is no leaking under chassis ( engine area ).

Rgds
Martin

 

i thought white smoke ment you were burning coolant?

when i do my oil change on my ix every 3k miles it takes 1 gallon & a half quarts = "4 and a half quarts" and i always drain less then a gallon out of my car with no smoke so i say its normal if you ask me

 

Well now that you mention it...I'm not exactly a gentle lover when it comes to the car I do have a bit of a lead foot...so perhaps I should slow it down. I don't want to damage the engine...so..sounds like that could very well be the problem. Thanks for the input guys..hopefully this is it..but..I will make some time this week to get underneath the car .... I stumbled across a thread dealing with a small oil leak on a return line of some sort( possible timing cover leak)..I will check that out as well. It's just mighty strange how the car started to burn oil now...it really wasn't doing that before...

 

No, if you burning coolant your car has got lessr power because of too high temperature in coolant system. For example in diesel engines burning intercooler causes dark, black smoke in hot days and of course less power untill you will cool it down.

 

Oh sorry sir...yes I meant oil..no..my coolant is fine..I added some more oil..I will see what happens...

 

You also have to think that while the old color standards are true...today's catalytic converters can mask some of this smoke due to it doing it's job. Suspect all of the above, but also see if its "marking it's territory" when in a parking lot. There is also some UV dye you can add to the engine oil and with a black light, easily find any external leaks.