A Systems Approach to Oil Consumption

Reduced vehicle oil consumption is desired to conserve petroleum resources, lower vehicle operating cost, decrease exhaust hydrocarbon levels, increase catalyst life, and enhance the customer's perception of vehicle quality. To effectively accomplish this and provide optimum remedial measures, it is necessary to know the relative contribution of each of the three systems consuming oil. The systems of interest are the power cylinder system, the engine overhead system, and the PCV system. Controlling factors and evaluation techniques are discussed for each system individually, and test results showing the relative contribution of each system are presented.