What Is the Difference Between Oil Burning and Oil Consumption?

Generally speaking, all cars will "consume engine oil" but not necessarily "burn engine oil."

What is engine oil consumption?

When the engine is running, the piston moves up and down in the cylinder at high speed, and the oil acts as a lubricant and protective agent between the two. In other words, when the engine is running, it is inevitable that some oil will remain in the combustion chamber. The wall surface is burned; after the vehicle is driven for a period of time, the oil will be reduced, which is the so-called "oil consumption".

What is burning oil?

When it comes to burning engine oil, the first thought that comes to everyone's mind is that it is burned by the engine and emits blue smoke. Burning engine oil is abnormal oil consumption. It may enter the combustion chamber and be burned. It is possible that the oil cannot flow back and may leak.

When you feel that your car is burning oil, you should first check the height of the oil dipstick. During the interval between maintenance, as long as the oil level is between the highest point and the lowest point, it is normal.

Checking the oil dipstick is tricky. You need to wait for the vehicle to cool down before looking at the oil dipstick, because the best inspection is to wait for the oil to fall back to the bottom of the oil pan, otherwise it is easy to cause misjudgment.

If you find that the oil level in the engine dipstick has dropped sharply, you can check whether the engine is leaking oil. If there is no oil leakage in the engine, check whether the exhaust gas is emitting blue smoke.

If there is none, then focus on observing whether there is a problem with the air-oil separation that causes the oil to be blocked on the ventilation valve. Of course, it may also be in other positions.

All in all, it is necessary to distinguish between oil consumption and oil burning, otherwise it will cause misjudgment and only lead to excessive repairs.