Engine oil consumption is a sign of a sick engine?

Although many people believe engine oil consumption should be zero in a healthy engine, the truth is that all engines consume oil. Most handbooks will cover what the manufacturer deems to be normal – this could be 500ml/ 1000km’s or even 1lt/ 1000km’s, depending on the vehicle.

This is a very simplistic method of stating engine oil consumption, and it’s probably better to relate oil consumption to fuel consumption: ml of oil consumed