High oil consumption?

[FordPrefect]

I changed the oil in my 1977 ... a few months ago, and today I checked, and it appears to be bone dry. I've got newspapers on the ground underneath the car in the garage, which aren't filled with more than a spot or two of oil (I think the drain plug leaks, might need a washer on it).

I've been driving every day, does this seem like a reasonable amount of oil consumption? Should I be worried? Compression seems good, btw.


Thanks!

[joelittel]

That seems like an unreasonable amount of oil consumption to me.

Check the rear of your engine, where the block meets the bell housing, down low. It's probably moist.

I had a very slow leak from the lower of the two plates on the back of the block. It rarely left a drop of oil on the garage floor when parked, but under load it must have been a different story because it consumed a bit of oil each month. I only discovered the location of the leak by accident. By putting the front of the car on Jacks overnight the oil drained right out. I came out the next morning to an alarming amount of oil under my car.

[vandor]

How many quarts did you put in it during the oil change? If it was full, and it's not leaking, then it must be burning it.

[SunnySideUp]

I had a very slow leak from the lower of the two plates on the back of the block.

Was it the rear main seal or some gasket/seal that was the source of the leak at the lower plate? How did you fix it?

[joelittel]

Combination of the rear crankshaft cover gasket and rear crankshaft seal.

I was pulling the engine anyway so I replaced them. I read somewhere that a little bit of rtv sealer where the crankshaft cover gasket meets the oil pan gasket can be used when installing new gaskets.