Engine stopped burning oil

[canadiankid]

So my e30 was burning ALOT of oil as I discovered one day. Top line to bottom line in about 200-300km. One day I replace my icv(was bad) and top it up again. Hasnt burned a drop since. My mind is blown. No leaks. I didnt put the same stuff back in(castrol 10w30), I used my dad's "blend." Basically he takes the last .5 quarts from every oil change and adds it one jug. Its all the same weight just different brands(whatever is on sale). So I didnt really know what I put in except it was a quart of 10w30 and it hasnt burned any oil since.

Is it possible I didnt have the filler on properly and it was "burping" onto the exhaust manifold or something? Compression is 170 on all cylinders. Engine mileage 150k miles.

[5Toes]

use atleast 15w40 or 10w40

[E30SPDFRK]

Sure it didn't just run out?

[canadiankid]

When I topped it up, I did it a quarter of a quart at a time and watched the dipstick rise. Doesnt/didnt smoke at all.

[u3b3rg33k]

So my e30 was burning ALOT of oil as I discovered one day. Top line to bottom line in about 200-300km. One day I replace my icv(was bad) and top it up again. Hasnt burned a drop since. My mind is blown. No leaks. I didnt put the same stuff back in(castrol 10w30), I used my dad's "blend." Basically he takes the last .5 quarts from every oil change and adds it one jug. Its all the same weight just different brands(whatever is on sale). So I didnt really know what I put in except it was a quart of 10w30 and it hasnt burned any oil since.

Is it possible I didnt have the filler on properly and it was "burping" onto the exhaust manifold or something? Compression is 170 on all cylinders. Engine mileage 150k miles.

new or used oil? and why aren't you running 15w50/20w50?

[canadiankid]

New. It comes in 5 litre jugs and all my cars take 4.5 litres and dont burn oil so every 10th change is free + filter. I was told 10w30. What the manual says to. Im in canada. Its 10 celcius right now or about 50F

[Northern]

New. It comes in 5 litre jugs and all my cars take 4.5 litres and dont burn oil so every 10th change is free + filter. I was told 10w30. What the manual says to. Im in canada. Its 10 celcius right now or about 50F

Manual says 10w40 for winter and 20w50 for summer. 20w50 is good down to -10, and 10w40 is good down to -20 according to the manual, iirc

[u3b3rg33k]

That's why I run a 15w oil. You can basically run it for everything, save Super cold winters, and when it's that cold, I let the car warm up anyways - if I lived in Alaska during the winter, I'd probably be forced to run something even thinner.
More importantly, M1 15w50 and Valvoline 20w50 are M20 valvetrain friendly oils (ZDDP), whereas most 10W30/10W40 oils are not. Don't even get me started on the "optional" energy conserving oils. Better MPG at the expense of engine life? No thanks.

[Northern]

I just use regular castrol. I don't see any benefit to paying extra for full synthetic or 15w50 since I feel like changing the oil 2x a year is more about the crud buildup in the oil than the lifetime of the lubricant or temperature range. And in the end, its an M20.

Once the m52 goes in, things will change.

[u3b3rg33k]

I just use regular castrol. I don't see any benefit to paying extra for full synthetic or 15w50 since I feel like changing the oil 2x a year is more about the crud buildup in the oil than the lifetime of the lubricant or temperature range. And in the end, its an M20.

Once the m52 goes in, things will change.

On that note my UOAs agree with you. Given a 5,000 mile OCI, my last UOA showed a TBN of 3.6, so there was plenty of life left, but all the other numbers showed I should be changing it more often.

However if you use an appropriate lubricant in it's temp range, then you'll likely have less wear than if you use an inappropriate lubricant outside of it's temp range, so I don't appreciate that viewpoint as much as those waiting on an upgrade might.
All I've got is the M20, and I'd like the next one that goes in to be an M20B31 from MM, so I hope to get a decent amount more life out of this one. Mind you I use mine as a trackday car and a DD, and I have 217k on it now.