Oil change issue

[Tahoma]

2019 JL Wrangler (Moab). 3.6 engine.

Issue: oil dipstick is dry. I did oil change, I drained 4.0q, and I put in 5q after (I’m positive I put in 5Q the last oil change)

Background: (I use the molar oil filter. Pennzoil fully synthetic ow-20 oil. I typically do oil change when the Jeep dashboard tells me to (~8,000 miles). Last oil change was in January (8,000 miles ago). I do live in central California where summers are 100+ degrees for about 4+ months, in case that plays any role.

Question:
1) is it normal to be burning a whole 1q of oil in between oil changes?
2) if not, how to detect what the issue is?
3) resolution?

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[nagoya10]

Check the oil regularly, like every 2 weeks or less. No way should a dipstick have no oil on it unless it’s leaking oil heavily or using heavily or never checking the oil and running thousands of miles.

A quart every 8k is fine.

Check the oil! Preferably every fill up or 2. I don’t know when this trend of people never checking the oil, let alone opening the hood, started but engines get destroyed because of this. Subaru had to lower their oil change intervals because those flat 4’s used oil and no one was bothering to check it until the engine locked up.

 

[Heimkehr]

is it normal to be burning a whole 1qt of oil in between oil changes?

For a healthy engine? No.

 

[cripton805]

I feel like that would be normal in really hot weather.

I feel like back in the day, it was normal to use different viscosities in different weather. Things changed when they were shooting for high MPG and not necessarily protecting the engine.

Is there anything in the owners manual that states to use different oil viscosity in 100+ degree weather?

 

[Deleted member 59498]

Man that is seriously hot outside temp. But no mechanic myself just could imagine 100 degree oil losing a little every time you start it up..

 

[txj2go]

1) is it normal to be burning a whole 1q of oil in between oil changes?

Well YMMV. I don't recall how much I've drained out for my 2018 3.6L with 40k miles, I don't pay that much attention to it. You will also want to check in the valley in the top of the engine to be sure the oil cooler isn't leaking. I haven't had that problem but I've been told it is somewhat common.

I've been working on cars for a long time and not that many years ago it wasn't unusual to burn a quart of oil in 2000 miles or less. I used to change my oil every 3000 miles. I remember my father had an old Dodge van that burned a quart of oil every 50 miles. Engines have gotten better WRT oil usage but they still do burn a little bit of oil.

 

[Rick4570]

The 3.6 is weird when it comes to oil changes. If you have the dealer change it and add 5 quarts it will be slightly over the full mark (they don't wait for it all to drain out). When I change mine, I will lift the front end and let it drain for several hours while I do other things. When I come back, it is still dripping! Anyway, then I change the filter and put 5 quarts in. The dipstick will show read right at the halfway point on the dipstick. And actually, more toward the bottom of the dipstick.

When the oil is new and clean, it is hard to see on the 3.6 dipstick. Thats why when it is overfilled, nobody knows, you can't see the oil on the "wire".

On different days, my oil reads at different places on the dipstick as well. Its uncanny, I have never experienced this on any engine except the 3.6.

 

[JerseyJeff]

Losing A quart between an 8k oil change is totally possible and normal in some instances.

 

[Powdermike]

You don’t “burn” more oil in hot weather.
Our summer here in Phoenix was nice and toasty…115f during the day and “cool off” to 95f at night ;-)
None of our JL & JT 3.6 Pentastars needed any oil topping off over 5k miles.

 

[cripton805]

I just read the manual. What's interesting is that it mentions protection for low temp starting and fuel economy.

It says that 0w-20 protects for "all temperatures". I know for a fact I had a few cars in my lifetime that will mention two different viscosities depending on the ambient temperature.

I think the EPA has something to say about this including the start stop system. The Manuel itself says that the start / stop system prematurely wears parts, but provides the best MPG.

It would make sense "to me" to use 0w-30. You still get that cold weather protection/ cold starts. But the hot temp gets a little extra protection.

Now, that's just my opinion and theory.

The 2.0 uses 5w-30.

 

[Maverick909]

28K miles on my 3.6 I tend to change the oil twice a year. I don't think i've ever let the oil go past 5K miles but that's because its not a daily driver and most its time is spent cruising the highway and hitting trails. jeep spends more time on the trails than anything else. I can say how ever with 0-20 in my silverado pick up i use for work it eats about 1.5qt per oil change 8k miles between. been eating oil like that since 50K miles. at over 160K now and its still runs great.

 

[KCSgtMaj]

You didn’t check your oil level for 8,000 miles? Seriously? I check mine every time I fill up the fuel tank. At least once a week, and mine is brand new.

 

[Heimkehr]

I check the fluid levels in our vehicles every Saturday morning.

Like the 2.0T in my Jeep, our Hondas also have a single oil specification: 0W-20. None of them has ever consumed oil to any noticeable extent between oil change intervals.

Used oil samples are also sent to Blackstone Labs for analysis. If there were any concerns about the potentially adverse health of the engines, of which oil consumption is a plain exemplar, I'd know about it.

 

[Jeep Wick]

I run approved spec 10w-30 in hot weather. I know they say 0w is ok, but I'm old school.

 

[AFD]

What operating temperature are you checking at? Iirc, the recommended procedure is to get the engine hot, shut down, wait exactly 5 minutes and check on level ground. If you check before this time, all the oil is away from the bottom and it will read at least a quart low.

Even after the cooling wait, mine still tends to read a little low and I seem to get more consistent results by checking completely cold in the morning, which matches exactly to full as it was the day I got it (checked cold in the same spot in my driveway).

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