2.5L ('98-'01) guesstimate the life left on my rangeR?

[youngmanwithapickuptruck]

can the amount of oil burning indicate how much life is left in my truck?

2000ranger, 2.5l mt 2wd at 275,000mi on odometer
truck burns about half a quart every 1000miles
i dont see any oil leaking so from what i understand it is leaking through the worn out cylinders to be burned with the fuel?
any other indicators on the lifespan of engine?

also... do i check engine oil level when vehicle sits cold or after heating up engine. i googled it and could not find a clear answer
also also also i got a P0171 running lean... is that related to burning oil? im hoping the code will go away when we switch to summer blend.

 

[racsan]

as long as you keep adding oil (check with engine cold) and you still have compression, spark and fuel it will run. at some point you’ll lose enough compression that it will be hard to start, be low on power , use more oil and eventually wont start/run at all. 275K is pretty good, difficult to say how many more miles are left, if the body & chassis are still in good shape, drop another engine in there. Id do a compression check just to see where it is, look at the spark plugs for oil fouling. Ive known of engines using twice that much oil with less miles on them and they kept going.
Im not sure what that code is, could be related, without knowing what it is I cant say for sure. Welcome to T.R.S.

Ranger- the engergizer bunny of compact trucks!

 

[youngmanwithapickuptruck]

i once inquired about an engine compression test about 75kmi ago and i was told its not worth the cost on a little shitbox like this... though i wasnt even told the cost *rolls eyes*

I wish i had been a little more frequent with my oil changes, i usually did them about every 5000mi and the oil change guy always tells me im about a quart low and my oil looks old :/

from what i understand as oil wears down, it thins out. when i top off my oil every 1000miles, should i top off with a heavier weight oil?

response to the original post from another forum: "Not really. That little of sippin’ oil could be limited to like a single ring of a single piston. As long as you are regularly checking your oil and religious with your changes you could go deep into the 3 and 400,000 mi range if you take the other service intervals seriously. "

 

[youngmanwithapickuptruck]

another question if yall could help (tried search function and couldnt find anything relevant)

i have two 2.5l rangers one at 275kmi and another at 75kmi
when i crank the 75kmi ranger, it just smoothly starts up and also makes a loud VROOOOOOOM
when i crank the 275kmi ranger to start, the truck gets a pretty quick and violent shake and then starts up. is this due to engine mounts being old? or is this just common of older truck and components?
(i also have to prime the fuel pump ont he 275kmi truck or it struggles to crank... is this related to my p0171 running lean code?)

I would assume a bad engine mount could quickly ruin the connection between engine and transmission and possibly both of those items as well, ya?

 

[scotts90ranger]

The fuel mileage should tell some of the general health as well

Lean code can be several things like a vacuum leak, pre catalyst oxygen sensor that needs changed (it wouldn't hurt), dirty MAF sensor (a $7 can of MAF cleaner would get that working, just get the air filter out and spray the element you see looking into the tube). At that many miles the fuel injectors could have some issues as well.

Hard starting could be a health related issue or a combination of the above. If you changed the passenger side spark plugs yourself (that side is EASY, you'll need the 4 spark plugs, a 5/8" spark plug socket, 3/8" ratchet and possibly a 3 to 6" extension to make it easier and possibly spark plug wires in case some break) you could see if the oil is going to any particular cylinder based on the buildup on the plugs, and while you're there if you have a helper you could do your own compression test, a tester can be borrowed from Autozone or whatever (or they're cheap too at harbor freight or such), while you have the spark plugs out have one person at the tester and the other at the wheel. Once the compression tester is threaded in to the front cylinder and connected to the gauge have the person at the wheel press the clutch and throttle pedal to the floor while cranking, it will NOT try to start with the gas pedal all the way down. Crank it for a handful of compression pulses and wright down the reading, then move down the other 3 cylinders with the same deal of cranking with the throttle at wide open..

I don't remember what normal compression is but I think it's 170psi or thereabouts, I would suspect that to be a bit low but hopefully all cylinders are within about 10psi.

A leak down test would tell you more, but that gets a bit more complicated without experience or tools

 

[youngmanwithapickuptruck]

both trucks still get the rated 27mpg highway in OD at 65mph w/ tailwind and 55mph in 4th with a headwind!!!
.... i recently got 1200 consecutive miles at 29.5mpg in the older ranger! over the rockies, 500lbs of gear and a passenger!!

that p0171 Lean code:
i tried to find vacuum leak 2x w/ cigar test and a friend tried to find it once with propane test. no vacuum leak found
ive swapped the MAF, ive cleaned the throttle body, ive swapped the front O2 sensor (just ordered a rear sensor and waiting for it to arrive)
spark plugs and cables were replaced about 3 years ago. I will check to see if oil build up is on any of the easy access spark plugs.
I think clogged fuel injectors may be causing my lean code becuase 1. it takes a few seconds for the fuel pressure to come up AND 2. i was filling my tank with a gas jug for a while and im pretty sure dirt was getting trapped in the cap between fills becuase i stored it very low to the ground.
I think the cause of the lean code could possibly be due to the winter blend of fuel. last year my p0171 check engine light was on all winter and then turned off in march right before my smog was due. then it turned back on around october.

am i at risk of damaging my vehicle if make some silly mistake trying to perform a compression test for my first time?

 

[Dirtman]

42

 

[scotts90ranger]

Not really, if the throttle pedal is all the way to the floor there should be no fuel injector pulse, it wouldn't hurt to disconnect the 3 wire connector from both coil packs while doing it then there's no chance of spark either.

Winter gas will not cause a lean code, it just means the O2 system is having to add more fuel than it thinks it should to run right which would be more in the lines of fuel injectors, especially since you are getting reasonable fuel mileage. You could just have worn valve stem seals, they get old and hard over many hours of running. Winter gas might be in the 1-3% fuel difference range, the code comes up at around 25% I think.

 

[RonD]

You can estimate compression using a $20 vacuum gauge, also see if all cylinders have the same compression, i.e. steady vacuum at idle
Vacuum gauge is one of the better tools to have

Oil use is not uncommon as miles add up, including oil leaks
Oil can leak into an intake valve stem if valve stem seal is worn, this would show as a grey puff of smoke after idling at stop light, as you take off look at rear view mirror for a puff of smoke

The rings do get worn and that does effect compression but the oil burning part of that is the BLOW-BY
Every time a cylinder fires some of that HOT explosion "blows-by" the piston and rings into the crank case
New engine usually has 5% blow-by, older 10-15%
These HOT blow-by gases vaporize the oil coating cylinder walls and piston/rings as it "blows by"
That's were ALL the oil vapor in any engine comes from, blow-by
If bearings got hot enough to vaporize oil the engine would melt down, lol

The PCV system is there to suck blow-by gases(exhaust) into the intake so they can be burned again
The Oil vapor can come long for the ride so you are burning that oil vapor in the engine
You can install a "Catch Can" on the PCV system to prevent the burning of the oil, you are still losing it but not by burning it which can foul spark plugs and lower MPG in general

Using a synthetic oil or Premium brand of oil can reduce the oil vapor as well

 

[dccarpenter]

I've had vehicles that were at the point they burned a quart every 200 or 300 miles. The 200 mile one had a slight knock sound but still started and drove around at 60mph. The 300 mile quart motor sounded great and ran perfectly , I took a few long trips with it of over 1000 miles each way. Just added a bunch of oil.

The oil usage for both got worse with time but they were well past the 1000 mile quart loss for over 40,000 miles each. Both vehicles I got rid of because suspension or body was shot well before the motor was truly dead.

 

[youngmanwithapickuptruck]

so i took apart the spark plugs
about 30-50,000 miles on them, about 3years old; 275,000mi on motor
do my plugs look okay considering the age?

pic1 : cracked ceramic insulator on spark plug #1 (closest to front bumper) in the first pic
pic2 : the sparkplug 1 is inside the socket ; plug 2 is at the top of the picture
pic3 : plug#3 is at the top ; plug #4 (closest to cab) is at the bottom of the third pic
is plug#4 oil fouled, or is that just pb blaster? if it was oil fouled then wouldnt there be oil all over the ceramic insulator as well? why does the bent metal piece (name) have no deposits on it? it was raining when i removed this, maybe i got water on it and it just looks wet?