Okay so like the title says I am burning tons of oil and need help finding the problem. Right now I am going through about 5 quarts of oil every other week. I don't have the money right now to be taking it into a shop.

Truck: 2004 Ford Ranger, V6 3.0, Edge.

So here is the back story, long list of things I have recently done (In order) and symptoms that might be leading to the cause.

1. around Christmas time I had a valve spring break, I took the heads off and had them full serviced at a machine shop.

2. The truck sat for about 2 week with the heads off and a friend of mine sprayed a bunch of WD40 in the cylinders while it sat. (not sure if that's good or bad)

3. Reassembled everything but kept blowing through MAF sensors and burning oil. Truck was running like crap, tons a black crap coming out of exhaust. I have replaced these heads in the past and everything worked great but i'm sure its possible i messed something up this time.

4. found exposed wiring, wrapped everything up. MAF sensor works fine now, truck runs much better but still burning oil.

5. Ran a can of sea foam through the gas. Nothing changed.

6. Ran a can of sea foam through the break asset line, and put half a can in my oil. Smoked out the neighborhood but still burning oil.

Symptoms.

1. I noticed the other day that while I was on a slight hill, truck leaning left to right, nothing major it was in a parking lot, one of my cylinders stated misfiring, enough to throw a code.

2. Very Recently my Idle RPM has gone from about 750 to 1,300.

3. I Notice some smoke out the tail pipe when accelerating quickly.

4. attached is a picture of my spark plugs. before running sea-foam.

So please, if you know of any likely cause our anything that I can check.

Thanks.

The oil is either going past the rings due to ring/piston/cylinder wear, or it's going through the valve guides, or and on a remote chance, somehow the PCV system is malfunctioning.

* No pic attached

*No mention of whether there was an oil consumption issue before the head job.

*WD 40 won't hurt anything, but rusty cylinders is a no-no

*I find it rather odd that you sucked a valve and didn't crack a head, a piston, bend a rod and maybe crack a cylinder, thus requiring a sleeve or a new block. Of course, a cracked piston would have something to do with, among other things, oil consumption.

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2004 Ranger FX4 Level II, 5R55E, Sonic Blue Pearl

Proudly JAP/RICE free since March 2000

*Here is the pic: http://imgur.com/TQtKsfO (This was also after my truck had been running like crap from not having a MAF sensor though)

*It was not burning oil before the head job

*The piston did hit the valve, it left a small ding in the center of the piston but it looked good other then that. The valve might have been slightly bent, I replaced it with a new one anyway. The push rod was also bent and replaced that one also.

When I had the heads serviced they pressure tested them, made sure they were level, and reseated 3 of the exhaust valves on one of the heads.

Thanks

A little more info on my issue.

Right now I am going through about 5 quarts of oil a week! (roughly 400-500 miles)

I did a compression test.

all cylinders are at about 135-145 lbs but cylinder 2 is at 90. put some oil in and it was still at 90. If I crank the engine long enough (like 10 rotations) then it will jump up to 120.

I cant see it being pistons rings since I'm going through pretty much a quart a day!. and since I wasn't burning oil before servicing the heads.

Sounds like a possible symptom of a clogged or failed PCV valve. On my truck which is a 2002 3.0 its on the manifold drivers side near firewall, if I remember correctly. I'm not sure if same location on a 2004? A bad PCV can cause excessive crankcase pressure forcing oil through rings, and seals, also to sometimes be sucked into the intake too. Worth trying to change it , Hopefully it's something simple like that.

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2002 Edge Super Cab 3.0, 2wd, air box mod ,3.73
L/S,Torsion Lift, 31x10.50x15 Tires, Leer Bed Cap

Yup, just replaced the PCV valve just in case. I took the hose off and noticed oil in it and read that there shouldn't be oil in it. I don't think that was the problem but Ill drive it for a couple days to see if anything changes.

I think my next step is going to be to remove the lower intake manifold to see if I can find anything going on there. I've been told some bad gaskets or a warped manifold could cause some issues there.

Also, another thing I noticed this weekend, sitting in the drive way I decided to rev the motor to about 5,000 rpms then quickly let off the gas. When I let off the gas a large amount of black smoke shot out of my tail pipe along with oil dripping out of it (atleast I think it was oil).

Just another thought, possibly problems with the valve guides or seals could cause this also, I see the heads were redone though. Hopefully you find the cause and it's something simple... Wish you good luck. Keep us posted

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2002 Edge Super Cab 3.0, 2wd, air box mod ,3.73
L/S,Torsion Lift, 31x10.50x15 Tires, Leer Bed Cap