Brian,

My '85 has over 140K on it and I don't notice any oil loss.  1 quart every
3K may sound high, but I have heard of new Porsches using that much oil, and
I have seen 4-year-old Hondas using that much as well.

I would do a compression and a leak-down test to see how your rings are
performing.

Chris.
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf Of
Brian Doss
  Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 6:55 AM
  To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
  Subject: Oil Consumption?

  I've noticed the exhaust smell being different (and maybe stronger) as of
  this season. I'm also paying closer attention to the amount of oil I'm
using
  to top off my crank case. If I'm burning say, a quart of oil every 3,000
  miles, is that excessive for an engine with 130,000 miles on it? At what
  point do I consider a ring job?

  Brian Doss
  '88 Weekender, Queequeg

[text/html]