Truck using oil

[Bhill552]

So my 04 dodge ram 5.7 hemi has started using oil recently. It's about a quart every 1000 miles or so. It's not leaking or going into the coolant. It has about 135k on it. Is this something that should concern me? Also any possible fixes short of tearing the motor apart. Thanks

 

[MThuntr]

no leaks = burning it...replace the PCV valve first. test to see if it's still burning. If it doesn't fix it then you're looking at valves or piston rings. That'll require a mechanic.

Yes 1 quart per 1K is bad

 

[Bhill552]

Thanks. Just did the PVC so now we wait and see.

 

[Rzrbck918]

Hope that will fix it. It often does. Had a friend with the same problem on a 5.3 Chevy. It was drinking oil, PCV changed and runs like a champ.

 

[Jappenz617]

I’m following this! My 06 Hemi is having the same problem.

 

[454]

I had a new 03 Hemi that starting using a quart by every oil change while it was still under warranty. At the time, the techs said they were not allowed to tear into the Hemi engine but could replace it if it grenaded on me. They documented the consumption/loss and offered to top it off for free in between oil changes but never got the bottom of the issue. By the time it hit 65k miles it was using closer to two quarts in between oil changes. It always ran great and never seemed to lack power. I drove it coast to coast five times without issue other than oil use. I kept it until it hit 93K miles and eventually sold it before deploying overseas. The guy that bought it did not hesitate when I mentioned the mystery oil loss. I'm not suggesting you ignore the oil use but it never seemed to hurt mine.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I hope this is not the case with your engine, but do a search of "dodge plenum gasket leak." It seems to be a common occurrence with dodge hemi engines. It is a lot of work to replace but it is not the end of the world.
There is a gasket that goes between this metal plate and the aluminum intake on our dodge engines that fails quite often.

 

[B4U]

My 03 Hemi has used 3 qts per oil change for 180,000 miles. It now has 302,000 miles.

 

[std7mag]

The plenum leak has been known about since the 60's. Lol
Haven't seen a Chevy 5.3 that hasn't used oil yet.
New Subaru's use oil also. Changing from the 0W20 to 5W20 helps with that.
Wife's Mini Cooper S uses about 1qt every 1,000 miles. Found out that if you actually use the turbo it doesn't consume that. ( also helps with carbon build up in the intake also).

Run it, but keep an eye on your level.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

I have had motors eating oil in the past, and for me bumping up the viscosity one level fixed the problem. One of the extreme cases was a quart every fill up, and going from 5w/30 to 10w/40 solved the issue in that case.

 

[Jmnhunter]

this sounds like my wife's 2010 chevy equinox, atleast 2 qts every 1k miles

 

[Bhill552]

Well it appears that switching the pcv valve didnt fix it. Still using oil. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Well it appears that switching the pcv valve didnt fix it. Still using oil. Thanks for the ideas.

Have you tried changing the oil weight? Also have you noticed where the oil is leaking from? or is it just all over the block?

 

[Scott85]

Reminds me of my first truck which was a 1987 Toyota pickup, it had a rear main oil seal leak. I was working on a dairy farm and every Friday I would got to the tractor shed and grab the 5 gallon bucket of used tractor oil and fill up the oil. Truck ran like a top until I slammed into a rock sign one night. That was 17 years ago and realize how redneck that is now but never had an issue with motor running on old tractor oil and God knows what else.

 

[Bhill552]

It's not leaking at all. Must be burning it.