Leaky valve seals (at this volume) should also produce some blue oil smoke out the exhaust I would think, but perhaps burning Amzoil does not honor the Rover gods in that way. Maybe not the SeaFoam level, but visisble. A generic leak should produce spots on clean cardboard you park over, or a lot of oil spots all over that aerodynamic butt end of the brick we call the rear door. I mention the clear issue because we have had posts and I have seen dipsticks with oil so clear at first glance you would think it was empty. So a leak might be a little harder to see.

I've got a 288K miles Mercedes 3 liter six with an external HG oil leak, one quart every 500 - 1200 miles. A quart every 200...

 

yes sir. after oil change, I typically add 1-2 qts before the next oil change at 5000 (okay sometimes I slip to 6000).

 

That is fine, no worries mate, it's all good.
I am sticking with my theory and say that you are chasing a red Herring.
If it were leaking that much oil you would see it on the ground, if it were actually burning it you would see smoke, even full syn oil smokes when burned, you could test this by pouring some clean oil into your lawnmower gas tank while it is running.
I have no other bases to go on other than my own personal experience*

*your results may vary

Best of luck, I hope I am right, not only so I can say "I told you so" to everyone but also for your bank account.
I will now bow out but also keep reading, again, best of luck and we are good bro.

 

Spike - if you are right the next time I come home (Midland, MI area) I will personally deliver you a case of beer of your choice! Of course I won't be driving the Rover - I'd have to sell my children in order to afford the gas it would take to get from GA to MI in a Rover.

 

DEAL!!!
And if I am wrong I will buy you a case of Bad *** Beer the next time you come home.

 

Tried posting this earlier but it didn't seem to go through.

Got word from the shop today:
Dry compression test - everything within specs (don't have numbers as I'm out of town)
Wet compression test - everything within specs
Since compression tests were fine - they pulled valve covers - all valve seals are where they need to be
When pulling the spark plugs - #8 was "ashy" - that cylinder was better than others in regards to compression

Conclusion: none - they're at a loss.

My conclusion - I may need to wait a few more thousand miles and thousand gallons of oil, then climb up to that dreaded MI and buy my brother Spike a Bad *** beer! Cheers?

 

Sometime's I just hate being right.

I'm going wheeling in TC Memorial Day weekend, come on up.

 

Good luck with it.
But i'm not buying the fact that valve covers, oil pan, front and rear seals which are all rubber soaked up 7 quarts of oil. the only thing not rubber is the intake gasket.
If you told me it was a 50 year old motor with cork gaskets that soaked up 7 quarts of oil I would still would say "not".
i have two 70's jeeps which i switched over to systhetic and they used an extra quart or two but that is with 1970s cork gaskets and most of that were newly aquired leaks after changing over to synthetic.
6 month later I went back to Dino oil and they stopped leaking/using oil.
you might want to consider throwing a bottle of UV dye and check it with a light in a few days or weeks.

 

Actually, that may prove to be interesting. I was wondering if it was leaking out for some reason while driving.

 

Man I'm having such a hard time letting this go. What do you think about the following:

"Finally, other ways oil can be consumed in the engine are not common but a leaking intake manifold gasket on some V6 and V8 engines can allow oil to be pulled into the combustion chamber. Because the leak is on the underside of the intake manifold, it can be difficult to test for, but often this type of problem will cause the spark plug to foul in the one cylinder affected by the leak."

This too would explain why the problem occurred only after the head gasket replacement - I guess if it was a faulty gasket or installed incorrectly around/near the No. 8 cylinder. In looking around the internet, it seems that this was a TSB for Dodge trucks (1995-1999).