Hi gang - my SRT has 2,800 miles on it and has already used 2.5 quarts of very expensive synthetic Mobil 1 (0w40) oil. I checked the oil about two months after I got it in March and noted is was about a quart and a half low on that very long dipstick. I always like to get the first oil out of the engine just in case there is anything from the assembly left over and floating around so I had the oil and filter changed May 22nd with 1,361 on the odometer. I took one 700 mile trip and then some city stuff and today, June 19th with 2,805 on the odometer it's exactly a quart low. There's no visable smoke or even excess black residue on the tail pipes and no leaks on the garage floor so it must be burning it slowly but regularly. The engine runs fine and strong. I called the dealer today and their standard "factory" answer is a quart every 700 - 1000 miles is OK. I laughed at the guy and told him maybe 25 years ago it was OK to burn oil but not today and there's no way a quart every 700 miles is OK.

So the question to my fellow SRT owners, any one else using oil and if so how much? Thanks for the feedback guys as I'm hoping I get enough responses so I can take the info. to the dealer and Chrysler and prove to them they need to investigate and fix my problem and not sluff it off with a lame excuse like I got.

In the old days, the 426 hemis used a quart about every 200 miles.

Although oil consumption can be normal to a degree on new engines, my Jeep hasn't use a drop from day one. It now has 8,100 miles on it.

Just an idea, and not sure if it applies but...did you ever run normal motor oil? And if so, for how long before switching to a full synthetic?
The reason/theory being, was to allow the rings to properly 'seat' buy using normal oil the first 3-5k miles then switch to full synthetic. If all you've used is synthetic, try switching to a normal oil for 2 oil change cycles and then see if your oil loss goes away(or significantly diminishes). If so, then your rings have seated and you could switch back to a full synthetic.

You also mentioned one of the first things you did was take a 700 mile trip, not exactly text book break-in for a new engine. More like a recipe for cylinder wall glazing. (but I would hate to think a new engine would be so susceptible to such a thing)

Not sure about this motor specificly but... in general a good break-in proceedure goes something like:

run the engine for a few min....turn off let cool completly
then start running for more time, more rpm each time, but keep a light load on the engine
change oil & filter at first 80-100 miles
gradually get to running full rpm sprints but still not full load(gradually increase speed)
finally- start increasing the load on the engine durning sprints to max rpm(increased rate of acceleration) until your doing full throttle runs.

The above is kind of vague about specific rpms, but the general idea is a gradual but definate increased load that you put on the cylinder walls and rings to allow the rings to expand/wear in properly to the walls and create the best seal.
All of the above could be done over a 500mile or less period.
If this looks vaguely familiar to anyone, yes, I read it somewhere too, a long time ago (years & years ago) and I used this very proceedure on a new GSX-R I had at the time. I got a funny look from the dealer when I went back the next day with only 60 miles on it and asked for an oil change, but other than that, I had no problems.

these SRT-8 6.1L come from the factory wtih snythetic Mobil 1 0w40 and that's what they tell us to use with the option of 10w40 Mobile 1 which I may try next oil change. So far I've been on three forums and mine is unfortunately the first oil user of the guys that have responded. I drove mine around town for 1,200 miles beofre taking it on that 700 mile trip so the rings and seals should have seated by then. I sent an email to the head of PR for the SRT Group and he said he'd pass my email on to the powertrain guys. He asked me to stay in touch as now I'm going back to the dealership every 1,000 miles for them to check and add oil so it's all documented. I figure I'll give them 10,000 miles and if it's still using a quart every 1,000 miles, they owe me a new engine as I am not having a deaership tech. tear in to my new engine.

I believe you must be right about somthing wrong 6200 and not any oil useage on mine. Changed out the mobil one at 3000 and went to AMSOIL.

I live in Phoenix, AZ and am going to switch to at least the Mobil 1 10w40 next time or maybe even find something in the 10w50 range if they have it in a good synthetic. Then again, if I'm going to have to go to the factory for a new engine if this one doesn't fix itself, I'll probably stick with the recommended 0w40 so there's no issue about warranty coverage.

Using normal oil until rings settle is the conventional wisdom. BUT, do we know if our engines have this gap or are they gap-less ring combination? On the break-in “procedure” I’ve never seen anyone recommend going to max RPM (even under no-load conditions) in the first thousand miles. For example my Ducatis’ manual tells you not to go over 75% of max RPM until 1200 miles.

I’ve been using Royal Purple liquids in most of my cars (from engine oil, to tranny fluid, to differentials, to engine coolant additives). I’m a complete believer in the superiority of Royal Purple product line. I used RP tanny fluid in my BMW 540 6-speed, the difference was astonishing, transmission felt like butter! Then I used all of their liquids for the drivetrain in my Yukon, again night and day difference.

I’ve been communicating with their technical staff to figure out what to use in our Jeeps. So far they recommend using XPR 10W40 racing oil (http://www.royalpurple.com/prodsa/rpro.html).

When I was working as a Dodge mechanic I had to find a cause of oil consumption in a magnum. It had already been to three dealers and had a new engine installed at one.

Turned out the intake manifold was the problem. The bottom of the intake is sealed with a gasket to the sheet metal bottom cover. The gasket was sucked in a little, letting the engine pick up oil from the lifter valley.

Although the SRT-8 has a newly designed intake, this may still be an issue worth looking into.

thanks for the input and I'll keep that in mind should mine keep using oil. I'm hoping it doesn't come to a new engine as mine runs great and I hate the idea of tearing in to it. I'll keep you guys posted as the 1,000 mile check ups continue.

Hi guys ! I have the same problem on my 2008 GCSRT 392 mopar, with bad smell and little blue smoke in the exault pipe. It has a big oil consumption with its 26,000 miles. I use Mobil 1 10w40. but I want to change the oil.
Can I change for 5w30 full synthetic?

I have an 09 with 650 miles on it and it's already a quart low :(

Hi gang - my SRT has 2,800 miles on it and has already used 2.5 quarts of very expensive synthetic Mobil 1 (0w40) oil. I checked the oil about two months after I got it in March and noted is was about a quart and a half low on that very long dipstick. I always like to get the first oil out of the engine just in case there is anything from the assembly left over and floating around so I had the oil and filter changed May 22nd with 1,361 on the odometer. I took one 700 mile trip and then some city stuff and today, June 19th with 2,805 on the odometer it's exactly a quart low. There's no visable smoke or even excess black residue on the tail pipes and no leaks on the garage floor so it must be burning it slowly but regularly. The engine runs fine and strong. I called the dealer today and their standard "factory" answer is a quart every 700 - 1000 miles is OK. I laughed at the guy and told him maybe 25 years ago it was OK to burn oil but not today and there's no way a quart every 700 miles is OK.

So the question to my fellow SRT owners, any one else using oil and if so how much? Thanks for the feedback guys as I'm hoping I get enough responses so I can take the info. to the dealer and Chrysler and prove to them they need to investigate and fix my problem and not sluff it off with a lame excuse like I got.

mine used oil for about first 2 to 3 thousand miles has settled down now

My '06 JGC SRT8 uses about 1/2 quart every 3000 miles. I attribute the consumption to a poor break-in when I first bought the Jeep. It had about 200 miles on it when my wife had to drive it on a 540 mile trip to Virginia. I believe that the constant RPMs on the interstate probably kept the rings from seating properly. Anyway, I can live with a 1/2 quart usage between oil changes.

I have also noticed that if I drive with the auto-stick alot, and use the engine braking to slow the Jeep down, my oil consumption increases. I believe this is due to the high vacuum created during high RPM throttle "lift-offs". The LS1s in the manual Camaros, Firebirds and Corvettes had this problem at one time too.

This is my first car that uses oil...I didn't think it was normal but I guess it is since a good amount of you guys are in the same boat. None of my other cars use a drop of oil at all

my 07 goes through about a quart every 3k miles. i gave it a good hard break-in from day one, varying rpm and all that jazz, so my guess is it's just that the motors on these things are prone to blow-by.

i think people running catch cans can attest to this :-)

I also use a quart every 3000miles or so. Jeep runs strong though, stronger then others that I've run against at the track so it doesn't seem to be hurting it. I do most of my driving with the auto stick to save the brakes in the city, maybe it is that.

Hi guys ! I get some anwers for my GC and I'm going to do an oil change this week. I'll try another mark ( 5w30 Motul 100% Syntheyic ) with an additive (STP or Wynn's). I hope the rings are not off. Thanks to BBA, I' ll give a look to the intake manifold.

mine did the same thing... but i came to the conclusion that they might have not put all the oil in it... i have 8400 on mine now and she is pretty much right where it was at 4000... so i would call it break in or lack of oil (i never checked mine till i saw it was like 1.5 quarts low)

I used 3/4 of a quart in my first 1300 miles. I now have 2000 miles but haven't checked. First oil change will be at 3k. I'm going to try and have Chrysler take a sample for me so I can send to Blackstone.

Whenever someone asks me about my Jeep I tell them it likes oil almost as much as it likes gas. I really do NOT drive mine hard at all. Never raced. Only live about a mile from work. Had it since May 2007 and it has 13000 miles on it. Has used oil since day one. I did do the recommended break in procedures (varying rpms and speeds, etc). It doesn't use as much now as it did, however I go through about a quart every 4000 miles. Sucks but I think it is just the way they are built. Some local mechanics have told me that it is a byproduct of a performance engine with a high compression ratio? Don't know if that is true? Just thought I'd share.

Ever had an engine that finds it's own level? Mine seems to burn off a half liter of oil after every service, then doesn't burn anymore off till next service. It seems to like it a half liter below add.

thats where the dipstick drops to the bigger part of the oil pan so it takes much more time to burn though it...






JK... but it sounded good right?

So I posted that my jeep has been using oil. I happened to check it about 3500 miles into the oil change and not a drop has been used this time.

I caught my dealer putting in regular oil a few times instead of whats recommended. Oil usage was always the worst with the regular oil. I suspect this may be part of my issue. Two proper oil changes since I caught them and now no more oil usage. Just a thought.

I just put 1,000 miles on mine having changed the oil/filter at 500 miles; no issues so far; appears to be holding the mark. I installed a catch can recently so it will be interesting to note how much oil builds up at the bottom of the can....