I had recently purchased a 93 SR5 V6 p/u with a rod knock. The engine ran fine, just ticked @ certain RPM, but it never used any oil. The engine was supposedly new/remanufactered 30,000 miles ago and then completely rebuilt 5,000 miles ago after the previous owner ran it out of oil.
A month ago i tore out the engine to replace the bearings and found 3 or 6 rod bearings spun. My dad and i are not sure why the rod bearings went, maybe loss off oil again or wheeling at an extreme angle for a long time?, but the mains were fine and the cylinder bores looked good, as did the crank and all surfaces. Anyways, i replaced the rod and main bearings as well as the front main seal.
Once the engine was in, i started driving the truck and about 300 miles into it, it started leaking oil front the front of the engine. Turned out the front seal popped out, so i just cleaned the housing and placed in a new seal, now no leak. I drove the truck about another 100 miles with no problem or excessive oil consumption. A few of my vacuum lines were messed up as well (ADD, EGR, VSV), but i got those all straight the other night, i hope (thanks Yotatech forums). I started out last night on a 400 mile trip and when i was leaving, the truck started making a new noise under acceleration that sounded like an exhaust leak on the drivers side, near the engine, but @ idle, it sounds normal. I also noticed the truck consumed about a half quart every 200 miles. There are no leaks and it doesn't smoke. I run Mobile1 Synthetic since i redid the bearings. The engine ticks a bit, but it sounds like its coming from under the plennum and i have heard the 3.0 has super noisy injectors.
Please help me, i am ready to drive this truck and i don't want to wrench on it anymore!

 

Have you done a compression test?

 

I have not as of yet, it doesn't seem to have any loss of power and still idles fine. From my experience with most other engines when you fry a piston or rings, the vehicle will not idle normally. I will do a check when i get a chance tho.

 

I had talked to some people and they thought that the synthetic oil may be the reason that i am consuming oil. Something about it not allowing the engine to truly break-in? So idk, i'm gonna try putting some regular oil in it and see what happens.

 

There is no reason for that kind of consumption on a rebuild. What weight oil are you using?

 

I am using 10w 30 oil. Engine will use half quart in a hundred miles and then not use any for another couple hundred. Weird stuff.

 

Try a heavier weight oil. That usually makes all the difference on a well-worn engine.

 

what do you suggest? 10w 40?