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How much oil have you added to your Coyote engine?

Coyote Oil Consumption Poll Thread

97K views 338 replies 150 participants last post by  LosAngelesGT 
#1 ·
The intention of this thread is not to create widespread panic that there is an oil consumption problem with the coyote engine. Most owners of 2011/2012 Mustang GT's have probably realized that the new 5.0L engine consumes some oil during the break-in period. Most people claim that after a certain point the engine stops consuming oil and this is simply a guide to see what's normal and what's not. For example at 2000 miles I'm close to adding my second full litre of oil. This car would be the 6th new car we've purchased since 2002 and the first one that I've had to add any oil during the break-in and a couple of those cars were turbocharged (SRT-4, EVO X MR) so while I'm not panicking I just want to use this thread as a tool that other owners can see how their car compares with other owners during the break-in process.

NOTE: The intention of this thread is not to start a *****-fest and more just a guide to see what's normal oil consumption of this engine. Posters may want to update the thread with posts if the car consumes more than they originally picked in the poll.
 
#2 ·
I burn a quart about every 1k miles. I have never seen anything like this.......

I am still happy with my 11 GT, as it gives so much more in return.

I'd gladly add a quart a week to know Ive got the sickest car on the block.
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
My dipstick is inaccurate on my 5.0. It read low when I got the car with four miles on it.It looked like it was least 1/2 quart low from the factory. The "o'clock" position of the flat dipstick within the dipstick tube will also"change" the read level .

The MIDDLE of the cross hatched marks is a actual 8 quarts fill on my dipstick. I had thought that the crankcase was about 1/2 quart low from the factory-until I changed the oil myself. And actually measured how much came out. :hihi: And noticed that my new 8 quart fill was at the exact same level on the dipstick cross hatch--right in the middle! :kooky:

If the other dipsticks are the same-some of you are overfilling the crankcase and causing these engines to burn oil because you are effectively overfilling the crankcase! And covering the crank throws with oil :nono:

Too many owners are not actually measuring what is in the crankcase by actually changing the oil themselves and not actually installing 8 quarts and then seeing what the dipstick measures with eight quart fill.

The position of the dipstick tube was changed late in the development of these engines(the tube was originally to be located way below the coil covers) and may cause these engines to read low when the oil level is correct.

IMHO-we are inducing oil burning in some of these poor oil overfilled 5.0s! :gringreen



What does the dipstick read when you think that it is a quart low?
 
#3 ·
I bought my car with 5000 miles on it. I have 11,000 now and have never had to add any oil. I did do an oil change at 10,000 but from 5000 to 10,000 miles I checked the oil every week. Never had to add a drop.
 
#4 ·
I have added 2 quarts in about 3600 miles. The oil consumption of my car appears to be slowing a little. I know from experience with other modern performance vehicles that this is normal, especially with American designed vehicles that typically have ties to Porsche. I don't know if Ford had Porsche assist in the development of the Coyote engine but Ford does have a history of using german designed and built engines. My Harley V-ROD (built by H-D with Porsche helping in the engine development phase) was an oil guzzler when new and when using Harley-Davidson synthetic blend motor oil. But now that it is properly broken in and I also use a full synthetic (Mobil 1), I typically do not add oil between oil changes.

Only recently (after 3k miles) I have started to run the Mustang a little harder; that is, power shifting at red line through 4th gear where the cats make a nasty odor that comes into the car. I don't do this all the time but I know this helps seat the rings better. I will also switch to a full synthetic motor oil (Mobil 1 or Amsoil) when the time comes for a complete oil change. Full synthetics have a higher flash off temperature rating. That is, they can tolerate higher combustion chamber temperatures before they get consumed by the heat of combustion.
 
#5 ·
The poll really doesn't say much without a timeframe (miles/kilometers driven etc.) for a reference measurement. So far, with 900 miles on mine (in 2.5 weeks) I've had to add <1 quart. She likes oil and I like her happy.
 
#30 ·
The poll really doesn't say much without a timeframe (miles/kilometers driven etc.) for a reference measurement. So far, with 900 miles on mine (in 2.5 weeks) I've had to add <1 quart. She likes oil and I like her happy.
+1 on Rob's comment, how much oil we're adding not connected to miles driven probably would be a bit out of context.

My car has 892 miles on it and it's down just just past a half quart. But considering the performance and horsepower this car delivers I find this neither surprising or alarming, especially upfront. Hell, the last time I had a 5.0 under the hood the hp rating was a mere 170, so like most of the folks around here I can't really make an apples to apples comparison to anything I've ever owned before.

I will admit due to some of the threads on here I am keeping an eye on it but I also don't mind having a reason to pop the hood. :winks
 
#6 ·
Mine has 3500 miles on it, and has not burnt any. I check it quite often though because of all the mess going around about it. This is my 3rd new Mustang and the 1st one I have ever felt the need to check the oil on. I wonder if the oil issue can help cause #8 to blow. Ford uses oil to cool the pistons and if your 1-2 qts low on oil the remaining oil is going to get hotter meaning the pistons are going to get hotter...
 
#7 ·
while Im only 1200mi in on my 2011 I can honestly say my car has not burned a dropped. I changed over to full synthetic at 700mi (hadnt burned any) with a little over 500mi on the syn Ive yet to burn any
 
#10 ·
I bought my car with 500 miles on it.

Checked the iol, added about 1/3 of a quart to get it to the top hash mark on my dipstick

Now have a little over 2000 miles, and still at the same mark it was at 500 miles. Just checked it this morning before I headed back from the cape

will keep a eye on it, and let you know
 
#12 ·
I'm not picking on you, but if you take the manual at its word you did NOT need to add oil to get the to the top of the crosshatched area. The manual says DO NOT ADD OIL if the level is in between the two holes. According to the manual just over the bottom of the lower hole is "normal operating range".
 
#11 ·
I put a quart in mine at 1k. It now has 3k and hasn't burned a drop since. My oil monitor still says 50% so I'll keep monitoring it to see how it continues.
 
#14 ·
I've changed my oil twice, once at 5k miles and then again at 11k miles. I didn't burn much if any in the first 5k miles, but I burnt a quart in the second 5k miles.

I can live with that, the motor puts out 400+ hp and still gets 23 mpg. I can compromise.

FYI, I didn't reset my oil life meter after my first change. It went to 11k miles before I got the warning to change my oil, even though I had done it twice by then. :heha:
 
#16 ·
I have just over 3300 miles and have added only 1 Quart at about 2000 mile mark so no big deal.My CTS i had befor the Mustang would use 1 Quart every 2000 miles i just checked every month car had 42000 miles on her when i traded up.nothing to worry about,no smoke coming out of the pipes i wont worry about it.
 
#17 ·
My dipstick is inaccurate on my 5.0. It read low when I got the car [snip]
The MIDDLE of the cross hatched marks is a actual 8 quarts fill on my dipstick.

Then your dipstick is accurate. SOP dictates a correct crankcase fill in the middle of the cross hatch.


As for overfilling. If you overfill enough to damage, your crankshaft will whip it up into a foam which you'll see on the dip stick.
 
#18 ·
2400 miles and oil is at top hatch marks just below top hole. First 1/4 mile run was at about 250 miles on odometer.

I need a 5.0 aluminator and some boost!
 
#19 ·
19000 km and 3 oil changes later - never had to add anything. I check every second fuel fill.
 
#25 ·
Many of the people that say they are burning oil are applying reading the dip stick from what they know of other cars. That probably does not apply here! 95% of these issues can be solved by simply reading the owner's manual. The manuial says, "if the oil level is above the lower hole it is in the normal operating range. DO NOT ADD OIL"! Several people in this therad have said they topped off to the top of the cross hatch. If the level was already above the lower hole that was not necessary. Unless they specifically saw the level lower over time it does not mean the motor was burning oil!
 
#26 ·
Well I guess the larger Ford builds the sump, the more wiggle room they give themselves. I am not sure I am satisfied with believing that Ford of all car companies would be intentionally be trying to pioneer a new thought that keeping the oil in the middle is the new status quo. For ALL cars between the lines (or holes) is safe. At the top or the bottom is safe. Outside the range is dangerous. I agree Ford has been rather vague in thier instructions. Oil in my car IS dissappearing. Service tech agrees. Ford Service keeps me topped off for now. They want my car for 3 or more days to diagnose, and I cannot commit that right now.

What Ford is really saying in the owners manual really is " Look, we dumped 8 quarts in there, you got plenty dude. Stop coming in every 3 days."
 
#33 ·
I have a little over 5000 miles on my engine and changed the oil twice… First change 2500 miles, no oil usage… My mistake was to go to a heaver oil, 10-30 full synthetic… After a couple hundred miles on the 10-30 it would smoke when first started, not every time but more than anyone would want (on a four stroke engine)…
Then it started using a quart about every 250 miles… then it started to smoke a little when full throttle applied … it just kept getting worse… I changed the oil at around 3800 miles…. I used 5-20 full synthetic for second oil change, over 1000 miles on the second oil change, no oil usage and no smoke at start up or any other time…
My experiment, slightly changing the viscosity from the recommended was a not a good idea… I will run 5-20 from here on out….
 
#35 ·
My 1987 GT burned a quart every 1000 miles for 13 years. I sold it with 113,000 miles on it, never had the engine rebuilt, or the heads off of it. More blow by usually helps in lessining the possibilty of blowing the engine as long as you check the oil level on a consisitent basis. Shouldn't you do this anyway?

Pete
 
#37 ·
If you guys think this is excessive oil consumption, go buy an Audi 4.2 with direct injection; 1qt per 1000 miles is considered normal by the manufacturer. Of course, they're also suffering from massive carbon build up on the intake valves. A tear down for cleaning every 35k miles is pretty normal.

My S4 (non-DI) that I sold to buy the GT only consumed about 1qt every 3k miles which was at the low end of the spectrum. My wife's Q7 (DI) runs through about 1qt every 2k miles. But also had miss-fires from carbon chunks coming off the valves at 35k miles.
 
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