A quart of oil in 200 miles is excessive. A quart in 1,000 is a more normal upper limit. Is it burning or leaking it? It is common for these engines to have the heads loosen or the cases warp so oil will leak out at the base of the cylinders. A telltale is if you get oil smells in the heating system or if the engine sounds like it needs an exhaust.  Burned pistons and broken rings can also be a cause of excessive oil consumption. Time for a compression and leak-down test. 

 

Dennis

 

 

 

From: Christian Smith [mailto:christian.smith.84@gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, December 7, 2015 12:34 PM
To: d23haynes57@hotmail.com
Subject: 81 Westfaila

 

Greetings!  I recently purchased a 1981 Westfalia, I just completed an 800+ mile trip from Chicago and she ran very very well, there is a "slight" oil drip and it does seem to consume a fair amount of oil (4 qts over 800 miles in 3 days).

 

 I will be driving her upstate to store her for the winter but I wanted to have a professional have a look at her.

 

I'd love to hear some recommendations in terms of projects or maybe just make some suggestions for what I should keep an eye out for or have fixed/upgraded by a mechanic sooner rather than later.

 

Let me know if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

 

Thanks!