FX45 Possibly Burning Oil

M

Murphcm

Member
Location
Minneapolis
Car
2003 FX45
Name
Chris
Hello Everyone! I am a new owner of a 03 FX45, and looking forward to learning a lot about it via this forum!

It has a few imperfections here and there that I will likely start a few other posts on/search for answers on, but wanted to start out by addressing a potentially larger/main issue I may have. The guy who sold it to me showed me the receipt for a synthetic oil change that he got about a thousand miles ago... upon checking the oil I discovered that it was VERY low via the dipstick... I added a few quarts to get it to a normal level.

I am wondering if anyone has experienced their FX45 burning a decent amount of oil, and what the potential causes of this would be in this particular car? I haven't noticed any leaks under the car, nor do I blatantly smell it when I stand behind the car, so my guess is that its not leaking out, or burning off right into the exhaust...

Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated! At this point I want to avoid just taking it to a dealer and paying them $125 an hour to poke around and find out, but we'll see what happens here first!


Also, is there a way to find any other members by state/area? I would love to connect with a few people local to me in Minneapolis that I can bounce ideas off and maybe get some mechanic advise for when something comes up! Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to :iS:, Murphcm. Congrats on your 45! Search for "I am using Shell Rotella 5W-40 T-6 oil" Lots of old posts about burning oil. (My own mechanic told me about FX's burning oil two years ago, but I got one anyway, and loving the V8 power.) Check your oil religiously! (No problems yet!)
 
Mine too. It just the nature of this engine. Mine takes a quart between oil change. I also use the Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 synthetic oil and it seems to help a bit.
 
How many miles are you up to?
For a long time I'd always loose a quart every 3000 miles.
Recently and since about 190k miles, now I'm loosing a quart every 500 miles. I do have something else going on that I need to further trouble shoot though.
 
Thanks Guys! Good to know, although it might be kind of annoying, it's good to know I might not be looking at major work in the very near future.... It just hit 110k miles, so not many for the age, but I will try and keep track of how much it is actually going through. Pork, follow up if you discover that there was something else at play once someone takes a deeper look at the engine! Did you do anything major/semi major at around that 100k mark to keep it running strong to 190k? I am thinking about doing plugs and wires just cause, but there are no signs I should at this point...
 
I'm at 190K too, still needing just on quart in between oil change.

@Chris, you may want to take a look down into the spark plug well. Remove the coil pack and take a look in there. There may be a leak in one of the valve cover gasket. It's a well know problem with valve cover on the 45 and 35. It can be any of the plug wells. If so, valve cover replacing is in order.
 
the 45 does burn oil,

i had the same problem as you and switched to rotella t-6 5w40 and its reduced it subsantially. Also the oil ring goes out after a couple years and its really cheap to replace. That would cause some drippage. You cant avoid the 45 burning oil. Some burn less and others burn more depending on how hard you push your vehicle. I dont even check my oil, I just keep changing it every 3500-4000 miles with the same synthetic.
 
^ I think he talking about the watchamacallit oil pump thing behind the oil filter. I think I've changed mine twice and only needs replacement when it shows dripping.
 
Thanks for that! I think in the spring I will do a deeper dive on the valve covers and see what exactly I can see with some of the plastic off! PS, that is one sweet looking car for 190k! Are those 22's or 24's? I would also love to do the Red brake calipers at some point, but not sure how that goes when currently rusted....
 
Murphcm said:
Thanks Guys! Good to know, although it might be kind of annoying, it's good to know I might not be looking at major work in the very near future.... It just hit 110k miles, so not many for the age, but I will try and keep track of how much it is actually going through. Pork, follow up if you discover that there was something else at play once someone takes a deeper look at the engine! Did you do anything major/semi major at around that 100k mark to keep it running strong to 190k? I am thinking about doing plugs and wires just cause, but there are no signs I should at this point...
Click to expand...

I did the valve covers a few thousand miles ago. Since I had procrastinated on that for a while, I had big hopes (or expectation) that would help the oil consumption. I have the P430 code which is usually a cat, but I still have hopes of a simple exhaust air leak. I've just kept up on the regular recommended service and maintenance. Nothing major or out of the ordinary getting me up to 193k.
 
porkandbeans said:
^ I think he talking about the watchamacallit oil pump thing behind the oil filter. I think I've changed mine twice and only needs replacement when it shows dripping.
Click to expand...

The oil cooler gasket. :smile:

---------- Post added at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 PM ----------
Murphcm said:
Thanks for that! I think in the spring I will do a deeper dive on the valve covers and see what exactly I can see with some of the plastic off! PS, that is one sweet looking car for 190k! Are those 22's or 24's? I would also love to do the Red brake calipers at some point, but not sure how that goes when currently rusted....
Click to expand...
Mine? It's 24" wheels with BBK setup of 6-pistons front, 4-pistons rear and 15" rotors all around. The red calipers are powdercoated. They're treaded through 4 Chicago winter already.
If you plan to paint the stock caliper to give it a refresher; paint them silver or black instead of some bright attention grabbing color as there is nothing worth showing since it stock caliper. :wink:

Prep your stock rusty calipers by brush them with steel brush to get rid of gunk and rust. Spray them with brake cleaner to remove any grease or brake fluid. Mask off other parts and Paint them using high temperature engine paint.
 
*sigh* not what I wanted to hear lol
I did an oil change today and for some reason I feel like only 2-3 quarts came out.
I'm at 243,000 miles now.

Ordering a valve cover from a member now.
 
I purchased my 04 FX45 with 79k miles 2 years ago and right away noticed that it was consuming oil at a rate of about half a quart per 1,000 miles. At the time I noticed it was losing oil I was using Mobil 1 5W-30. Reluctantly I tried Mobil 1 10W-30 and noticed the oil consumption go down a tiny bit. Then after reading this forum I tried Shell Rotella 10W-30 and the oil consumption went from half a quart for every 1,000 miles to half a quart to every 3,000 miles.

BUT, about a year ago a friend of mine mentioned Royal Purple and after watching a few Youtube videos on Royal Purple I tried Royal Purple 10W-30 and now I lose about half a quart every 5,000 miles or so. The car by the way has 112k miles.

Of course YMMV but as they say, "this is my story and I am sticking to it!..." :smile (2):
 
la_fx35, have you made the switch to royal purple yet? I might also have to try it too. 1000 miles into my oil change with Rotella T6 i had to add almost a quart in. I might just have to give royal purple a try on the next one. rather pay more for the oil up front than always adding more in.
 
i did royal purple in small cars and the fx and my bike and it's a waste of money tbh. I use it just for "peace of mind" but nothing stops burning oil better than rotella t6 so far. Tried most synthetics available in Canada.
 
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