Dark Horse Low Oil

[Bsheets22]

So I bought a 2024 dark horse a few months ago and I always seem to have low oil. I read a few forms of people saying ford considers it normal for a quart every thousand miles or so but that seems ridiculous to me. Does anybody else notice they have low oil? I shouldn’t have to add oil to a new car and I’m almost 7000 miles on the odometer. Thanks.
Also, also, I’ve never got wanting light or anything I just like to check it often considering a blew a cobra up in high school.

Sponsored

 

[Interstellar]

What does low oil mean? Does the dip stick show any oil above the bottom hole? If so you’re fine. If you’re filling it up though and 1k miles later you’re at the bottom of the stick, take it to the dealer. Nothing we can do or say here is going to fix that

 

[Skye]

So, you're at 7,000 mi / 11,250 km now. From taking receipt to today, how much oil have you added to the engine? Can you give us a rough idea of the rate of oil consumption?

No smoke from under hood, under car or exiting the exhaust?

Any loss of coolant? The oil, when viewed on the stick appears clear, not cloudy or milky?

Car is otherwise running OK?

From the Owner Manual,

Printed page 299:

"Note: The oil consumption of new engines reaches its normal level after approximately 3,000 mi (5,000 km)."

Printed Page 434:

"High performance vehicles can be driven in such a way that may lead to higher oil consumption (this includes extended time at high engine speeds, high loads, engine braking, hard cornering maneuvers, and track use). Under these conditions, oil consumption of approximately 1 quart per 500 miles (1 liter per 800 km) is possible."

There have been a few instances of Owners with leaking valve covers; they were not installed correctly or had bad gaskets. One Owner had (IIRC) bad valve stem seals. At the leading edge of '24 production, like the first few hundred off the line, Ford had QC issues involving the Coyote.

If you're driving the car in a "normal" fashion and continue to add oil all the time, I'd have it documented while discussing with the dealer. If not checked already, they can review for leaks, stuck PCV valve (which can also cause excessive oil consumption), among other things.

One documentation step the dealer can take is to note the fill level and top it off. The Owner returns after a time to confirm the rate of consumption. If anything, this gets it all on the books as a reference with Ford.

During the next oil change, you could run an oil analysis, through Blackstone. This could quantify the state of the engine's internals. https://www.blackstone-labs.com/ Requesting and receiving a kit is free. The cost is $30 when sent in. They will e-mail you the results.

Edit,

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10175884-0001.pdf

This TSB has nothing to do with the S650 or the Coyote. I am going to list it though, as one example of an oil consumption test procedure, what the dealer would do to formally document oil consumption.

In summary, the procedure records how quickly one quart of oil would be lost. The rate of loss would determine the next steps to take, if any.

 

[robvas]

Should be getting an oil change by now anyway

 

[Bsheets22]

What does low oil mean? Does the dip stick show any oil above the bottom hole? If so you’re fine. If you’re filling it up though and 1k miles later you’re at the bottom of the stick, take it to the dealer. Nothing we can do or say here is going to fix that

It’s always below the bottom the hole, usually about 2 quarts low maybe a little less when I’m about 1k away from the recommended oil change.

 

[Skye]

usually about 2 quarts low maybe a little less when I’m about 1k away from the recommended oil change

If at all possible, I would not run the car so low on oil.

If you can top-up by self and record what you can, great. If not, I'd go straight to the dealer to have oil added. I know that's a PITA, but running two quarts down or more has the potential to make a bad situation worse. At the extreme, a dealer might use that condition to your disadvantage.

If you can update us on progress and dealer feedback, that'd be welcome.

 

[Bsheets22]

If at all possible, I would not run the car so low on oil.

If you can top-up by self and record what you can, great. If not, I'd go straight to the dealer to have oil added. I know that's a PITA, but running two quarts down or more has the potential to make a bad situation worse. At the extreme, a dealer might use that condition to your disadvantage.

If you can update us on progress and dealer feedback, that'd be welcome.

I’ll let you know what they say, I’ve had 2 oil changes and within 1 thousand miles of the next it’s always low…. Dealer initially said that’s normal but I don’t think he knew what he was talking about.

 

[metroplex]

Not the Dark Horse, but the GT350 was known to drink oil very quickly. Car and Driver's magazine review was kind of hilarious saying they had to pop open the hood so often to top off the oil (they used like 18 qt of top off oil during their long-term test) about 1 qt every 2000 miles. They said Ford released a supplement saying 1 qt every 500 miles was acceptable.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a23083757/2017-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350-reliability-update-3/

Supposedly the Dark Horse engine is the same as the 2024 GT Gen 4 Coyote, but has titanium connector rods and some kind of tuning that allows both throttle plates to stay 100% open at WOT whereas the regular GT was maxed at 60% or so. Local tuner shop said they only saw 6 rwhp difference on the dyno between the Dark Horse and 2024 GT. I've read a few times the GT was underrated (dyno #s translated to about 498 hp at the crank). Either way, Ford has used the throttle bodies to limit torque/boost in other applications and commanding it wide open isn't always an easy task in those applications. Hopefully it will be simpler once HPTuners fully unlocks the S650 PCMs.

 

[REV745DH24]

Not the Dark Horse, but the GT350 was known to drink oil very quickly. Car and Driver's magazine review was kind of hilarious saying they had to pop open the hood so often to top off the oil (they used like 18 qt of top off oil during their long-term test) about 1 qt every 2000 miles. They said Ford released a supplement saying 1 qt every 500 miles was acceptable.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a23083757/2017-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350-reliability-update-3/

Supposedly the Dark Horse engine is the same as the 2024 GT Gen 4 Coyote, but has titanium connector rods and some kind of tuning that allows both throttle plates to stay 100% open at WOT whereas the regular GT was maxed at 60% or so. Local tuner shop said they only saw 6 rwhp difference on the dyno between the Dark Horse and 2024 GT. I've read a few times the GT was underrated (dyno #s translated to about 498 hp at the crank). Either way, Ford has used the throttle bodies to limit torque/boost in other applications and commanding it wide open isn't always an easy task in those applications. Hopefully it will be simpler once HPTuners fully unlocks the S650 PCMs.

 

[REV745DH24]

For all you guys regarding oil level check on your Dark Horses or all new Mustangs! According to the manual says this!

Hey, on the oil situation! When I had checked the oil it was really low like 3/16th of an inch just above the bottom line! As I was puzzled and got out the manual book and did some reading and was shocked to see the “Note:” section that says “If the oil level is between the maximum and minimum marks, the oil level is acceptable. Do not add oil.” That was wholly different instructions from the past vehicle instructions that I’ve seen before!!! In the past you could see and make judgement of the oil addition but this is a bit different! So be careful on how much oil you could put in! Take care!

I don’t know if this is related or not just something to be aware of?

Sponsored