Originally Posted by
onehundred80
It does not use much oil that is true, but it does use oil, the oil catch can proves it. Also a thin layer of oil on the cylinder walls, inlet and exhaust valve stems is lost as well. When you change your oil note how much less you put back into the empty oil jugs.
I estimate that in three thousand miles driven since the last oil change the car used 1/4 to 1/2 a litre, maybe a bit more.
If no oil was lost the car would seize up solid.
This is a good point. There is always wear occurring within the engine. The oil just helps to minimize the impact of that wear over time. To do this, some oil loss is expected & desired so engine life is sustained. Even the OEMs, by the dipstick design, show a good oil level range which verifies that some oil loss is expected & not a concern. But for most of us, we hardly see any significant oil loss on the dipstick.
IMO, if having to add a quart of oil between oil changes is occurring, I'd be concerned about engine wear becoming a problem. Back in the days before synthetic oils, I'd probably say 2 quarts between oil changes. And that might be a stretch!