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'96 Turbo burns a lot (?) of oil.... 850

Going through about 1 quart every 1000 miles. A little puff of gray smoke from exhaust when starting. Car has 96K and using Mobile One currently. Is this normal? Seems like a lot of oil to go through between changes.








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    '96 Turbo burns some oil....(NOT alot btw) 850

    Believe it or not, IF the car was new and still under warranty, most manufacturers claim that 1 qt per 1000 miles is "normal" even though most engines do better than that.
    I once had an old car that used that much oil since day #1 when I bought it with 15K miles (almost new) until I sold it 12 yrs later with 150K miles. It didn't bother me enough to re-ring the engine which is usually what's required.
    I'd just check and ad another qt when needed.

    So, unless you're leaking oil externally, it's burning it. With a turbo, it's remotely possible that oil is seaping by either front or rear turbine seals but that's not a common thing. Do make sure that your PCV system (all related hoses) are free from accumulated debris (sludge build-up). It doesn't have a flame trap but does still have a PCV system and if it's not functioning correctly, there will be too much crankcase pressure and you'll burn excess oil.
    Assuming everything else is OK, it's then likely that your rings aren't seating as well as possible and that's a labor extensive job, especially if there's so much wear that you'll need re-boring with new pistons. Valve guide seals may also be questionable but that's not usually a cause for excessive oil consumption, just some smoking when first starting. If it's determined to be rings, it's far cheaper and easier to just ad a qt when needed unless it gets alot worse and it may not.







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