I bought a '68 with a 327 in the middle of summer. It runs well...but a little under-powered in my humble and unexperienced opinion.

I changed the oil and filter the first day I got it and then proceeded to put on about 1200 miles over the past 6 weeks.
While driving last week I started hearing the valves "tick".

When I got home I checked the oil...and to my horror, the dipstick showed no sign of oil in the pan! I needed a good two quarts to bring it up to the very full mark. I'm certain there was no damage done..
But..where did the oil go?
There are no leaks. There no wet oil pans or transmission pans. Front and rear seal areas are dry. No wet spots anywhere. The engine runs well..no unusual noises, no hard starting . There does not appear to be an exhorbitant amount of oil burned. No "blue" smoke that I can see...at least at idle.. In fact, I can't see any smoke at all!

After topping up the oil, I put a few hundred miles on the highway and again I checked the oil ..and it definitly using oil.

This can't be normal so I'm going to have the engine rebuilt in the Fall.

Can an engine burn oil without one seeing it? Will it burn more oil at highway speeds if the rings are worn? Where the heck is the oil going??

Lots of questions. Ideas and thoughts welcome.

Vic

 

Yeah she's prolly a li'l tired.
Some likely gets by the rings,some past tired valve seals and guides and yes it can burn oil without a lot of smoke and still run pretty fair.
Replacing the valve seals which can be done without pulling the heads off would probably help with oil consumption and using a heavier oil and switching to a straight weight will not only slow down oil consumption but also may restore a little power and quiet down those noisy lifters a bit.
Stop at a parts house and pick up some straight 50 weight.