Gday all,

Wanting to know if anyone has had anything similar or suggestions as to what this might be, Basically im going from full oil to min oil in about 2000KMS/2 months. Its always been a oil thirsty, but im sure its worse now. 15w-40 oil, 225000kms on the clock, head gasket done a year ago, no external leaks, no oil in the coolant, pressure test wet and dry both within spec, and if i let it idle for a minute or two then give it WOT no smoke comes out, and it doesnt blow smoke when its driving. So where the hell is my oil going???

Sounds like your rings are worn unfortunately, Also check your PCV is working correctly.

the rate you are going through oil would not show much on a quick stab of the throttle.

A leak down test will show you the condition of the rings.

I have a similar issue. Try running penrite20w60 oil. It's the goods.

Let car idle for minimum of 5-10 minutes,then give it a good rev.If you see blue smoke at exhaust,valve stem seals are worn or dried out/shrunken.Pull out all of your spark plugs,if they are black/oily this indicates worn oil control rings.Also have a good look for any external oil leaks.If you cant find any leaks,try changing to a quality oil,try using 15w40 and add a bottle of nulon stop leak(@$15) at next oil change,this may cure your oil consumption problem(but you need to use it each oil change).I would not recommend using 20w60oil as this may put excessive stress on oil pump and may also cause tappet noise on cold start up.I run my ef xr6 on nulon 10w40 full synthetic plus a bottle of nulon stop leak every oil change.It has 155000km and uses no oil between oil changes(and no I dont drive it gently).I have also had good results using castrol magnatec 10w40.

Dont run stop leak.
At all.
20/60 will be fine, make sure you have the oil level spot on.

The best way I know to check if it's burning the oil is by watching the exhaust on overrun / engine braking - ie, throttle closed decelerating in gear at medium to high revs. Creates massive vacuum between the throttle plate and the exhaust valve on the intake stroke, so will suck oil past the rings or valve guides if they are the source of the problem. Smoke can disperse quickly so you might not see it in the mirror and may need someone to drive along behind you to watch the exhaust.

A squirt of oil in each cylinder, with before and after compression tests will tell you if it's the rings that are shot, as opposed to the valve guides and/or seals.