[Jzepp300]

Heres the thing.........i called 2 different dealerships and they told me that according to Ford it is within spec to go through 1 quart every 900 miles. On another website i have had like 12 people that own mustangs tell me its not normal to be burning any oil at all between oil changes.........i dont know who to believe. My car does not smoke out the exhaust or the engine and i see no visible leaks on the ground but my starter and some other spots are kinda lightly wet......looks like black grime maybe some light oil........If its burning oil where the heck is it going? Should i do the compression test anyway?

[BlueStreak03]

Go ahead and do the leakdown test. Anyone who tells you that you should not experience ANY oil consumption in the operation of an internal combustion engine is either selling you something or they are a complete idiot. The question is, how much is normal and where do you begin to worry. If you go through 1.5 quarts, every 3000-4000 miles, you are perfectly fine. If you start going through more than that then I would begin looking towards having the engine freshened up with new rings and bearing and having it bored and honed a bit to restore any lost compression.

[Jzepp300]

Bluestreak...........sounds like you are one of the few who knows what they are talking about...........i have even asked 2 dealers like i said and they will even provide me with documentation showing its withing spec to go through 1 quart per 1000 miles on some 4.6 liter DOHC engines........now he said not all engine will be the same.......some might burn a little......some might burn nothing.....one guy told me that the dealers are full of crap......they all say that....he said if the cobra engines were hand built and all have the same specs why would 1 engine consume oil and another not.

[BlueStreak03]

It doesn't matter whether they were hand built or not. It's all in wear patterns, initial clearances and how well it's been taken care of. Just for peace of mind, go ahead and have the leakdown test done. I'm 99$ sure it's going to show that you have a minimal amount of leakdown and the engine is in fine shape.

[Jzepp300]

Do i want the leakdown test or the compression test done? I am hearing 2 different answers about what test to have done...........What do each specifically tell you about your engine?