Speed Six oil consumption

[dropacog]

Tuscanites,
I know that the Speed Six is a bit thirsty on oil (1 litre per 1000 miles in some cases), but would you be worried if in 1,500 miles you had poured in 4 litres of the 0w stuff?!
...And if your car has just passed a month out of the warranty period?
Gulp!
What could this be symptomatic of? And what should I be looking for? Blue smoke from the exhaust? An oil leak? An oil thief?
This nagging worry is taking the shine of my otherwise total enjoyment of what is a cracking car...
Thoughts (whether on-line or off) greatly appreciated.

David.

[andyvdg]

I think I've heard that 1 litre per 300 miles is an indication of a problem (say, the valve guides have gone). If they have, you should have a puff of smoke after restarting a fully warmed up engine which has been left for a few minutes. The hot oil gets by the guides, which then gets burnt off when you restart the engine.

Cheers,

Andy.

[tuscan_s]

I haven't had to put any oil in since my 1000 mile service! I check it on a weekly basis and before I go to Chichester (70 miles).

It's been great (touch wood!).

My Tuscan S is now on 3300 miles!

[admiral]

The SP6 in my Cerbera was consuming large amounts of oil. The valve guides had worn. The symptoms were:

* excessive oil usage - i would be topping up the oil every 200 miles

* oil spattered on the bodywork above the exhaust pipes

I know that blue smoke is a classic symptom, but I didn't see any.

The engine was running beautifully apart from this. The work was done under the factory warranty so I've got no idea of cost - I believe they simply replaced the head in the end.

I was using, and still use, Mobil 0w40, which is like water when hot, so if there is any wear, it'll reveal it.

In 2000 miles since, it doesn't appear to have used any!

[Mr Freefall]

I too get alot of oil consumption, but when I start the car from cold I get no sign of blue smoke or when I start the car from hot I get no sign of blue smoke.

However, if the oil is at running temperature say 80-85 + degrees and I sit in a traffic jam for a couple of minutes or so, then when I pull away I do get a puff of blue smoke if I just let the engine tick over. If, I take the rev's upto say 1100-1300 gently for a split second every minute or so then no blue smoke.

I'm guessing that at this temperature then the oil is very thin so some might slip by as the s6 engine does burn oil.

Car has done 8K and it's a Red Rose conversion engine.

Personally I think taking the oil reading is a skill all of its own, and still haven’t worked it out successfully yet