What's the noise? Take your laptop out, record it and post it here for diagnostic opinions.
2 gallons is too much for my 617.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I think two full gallons in a 240D is a little much.

On the 240D I just rebuilt the engine in I was going through about a quart every couple hundred miles. Since the rebuild I have been about 750 miles and have not seen any drop on the dipstick. I replaced the front tranny seal while it was out and must have messed it up because it started leaking since the rebuild. At least a front tranny seal replacement on these are pretty easy.

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Jim

If you put too much oil in all types of weird and wonderful things can occur. Frothing, excess consumption, blowing oil out seals, etc. What one poster meant was try filling to the midpoint on the dipstick marks to see if consumption lessens. Some of these engines do not like oil to the top mark of the dipstick. If your air cleaner filter saturates with oil in a very short time for example it is probably either your overfilling with oil or general engine wear. Even higher levels on that dipstick are certainly not good. The one disturbing component to me in your description was the car goes like hades. I have had several engines over the years that seemed to increase power a lot near the end of their practical life period. I always assumed internal engine friction lessened with wear. I personally would no longer push that engine quite as hard to extend usable remaining life. I could be all wet here as well. Your really cold start temperatures without a block heater might give some indication of current condition of the block, valves etc. . At what temperature does starting get pretty hard? For this type test you have to have timing, glow plugs, battery , valve lash, etc in pretty good shape. Or just do a compression and leakdown test. Even these tests may not be totally conclusive as your oil rings might be pumping oil yet the compression rings may still not be really bad. Two hundred and fifty thousand miles even if you are sure the milage on the odometer is correct and a lot are not can wear an engine pretty bad. Contributing factors can be useage patterns, frequency of oil changes all its life, how hard car was used, plus other factors. The indicated milage is no gaurantee the engine is not well worn. As mentioned previously I can be wrong as well.

Shlomo(1979 240 auto) consumes what I feel are fair amounts of oil, especially at a time traveling 88mph(terminal velocity w/ the auto/616) on the freeway!!

I'm just guessing, because I don't really track mileage between 10 dollar fuelings(i hate bein poor ) but I think mine would be around a quart every 500 miles.

What is normal here? Everyone is posting their own personal figures, but is there some kind of baseline that may help us better gauge how far of from normal we are?

The neon uses some oil at nearly the same mileage(145k, 240D is 154k) but is much stingier. I think that doesn't really matter because that one doesn't go here

He leaves spots, but nothing that would account for so much oil. This is how it works for me-- I buy 2 gallons of oil at a change, then add from that second gallon until it runs out. I believe in the past that I've needed 2 additional quarts on 5k oil services. So, around 5 quarts, I suppose?

I'm rambling.

Apologies.

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Neon, it is a little uncertain when you guess that you are burning it all. Many times an oil leak picks up a bit when load and speed of engine are involved underway. Then there is the factor of how much oil mist is being consumed through the intake manifold from the pvc tube. Anyways in general I know of many 240ds in the 1,000 to 1,500 mile per liter consumption range that seem to run perfectly. It is well known that at the upper end of their speed range consumption will increase somewhat more as well. I like the kill test by holding your finger over the vent line and counting the seconds till engine dies test. Another separate test in conjunction is the tea kettle test of the oil filler cap. If engine runs for say 10 seconds and the cap does not dance in it's separate test I consider the engine to have quite a bit of life left in it regardless of apparent oil usagage or leaks. Just some of my thoughts. I also apply these tests to any example of 123 type that I purchase if running. One more approach is to try the stratagy of only filling to the half way point between marks on your dipstick. A lot of site users have always claimed their cars oil level drops fast to that point and consumption slows drastically then. This does force you to audit your oil level more frequently perhaps as well for safety plus to find out if it is of any benifit in your case.

Barry-- In all brotherly love and kindness

!!!USE THE CARRIAGE RETURN KEY(ENTER) ONCE IN A WHILE!!!!

But to get back on topic-- The car does have blow-by. It is 27 years old and has 154,000 miles-- I'm not wanting for it to be perfect(although... to hear the guys here tell it... these cars aren't broken-in yet at 150k, which is complete B.S.) but I just want to know that some oil consumption is ok.

I've always kept the oil level dead center on the dipstick, and after a weeks driving(150-300 miles) I'll have to add some oil to get the level back up to the correct place.

I'm almost certain this is normal, but just wanted to check since its being discussed

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iNeon, I top off my 240 once a week or so as well. 150-250 miles probably, maybe not quite that much. I think you are ok. I also leak some oil, drive it a little hard, and do a decent amount of in-town driving.
Highway burns just as much though, I think.

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'79 240D 4 speed manual 105k miles

Lets get an obvious question answer before we try to answer another one. At what time do you check your oil? I check when the engine is warm and off. some people check it while it is running. I know of a 240D that has at least 250.000 miles and does not leak or burn a drop. This 240 manual was purchased for 300 dollars. it isn't the best to look at but it gets you where you want to go. To say that it is normal for a car to burn oil like that may be frequent, but is not the norm that we should except. These cars did not burn oil when they were new did they? No. I am not saying that it is going to hurt the engine but as far as i am concerened it isn't exceptable.
-Stephen