3.8 litres oil in engine 1.75 litres out
Hi, A few months ago I changed the engine oil in my partner's car at 120,000km. I put in 3.8 litres of the recommended Penrite oil. The car has now done 7.500km with this oil in the sump.Today I drained it to do an oilchange but there was only 1.75 litres that came out. There are no leaks evidenced by oilspots under the carport. Any ideas on where to start looking? Cheers,Paolo5
Did you check the dipstick at anytime in the last 7,500km?
Maybe before draining the oil? If I recall correctly it's about 0.75l between the H & L marks on the dipstick - to be 1.75 litres low would mean no oil showing on the dipstick at all - unless, you feel the 1.75 litres is trapped in the engine somewhere - trust me - it's not..
It's not unusual for worn engines to burn oil - it's also possible to leak a considerable amount of oil, without the "vehicle marking it's spot." Whilst you're under the car replacing the drain plug & filter look for evidence of oil leaks - if necessary wash the engine & then check again after driving it for a week or two - and check the oil level at least every week or two.
If it's not leaking it - it's burning it.
oil
As Bob wrote, did you replace the oil filter in both case ? Agree with Fordem and I will add this....an engine using oil or even leaking oil is one problem (half a litre every 5000 km is, for me, normal ) running with low oil level will become another....
Once the level is low and not top up, the engine is under severe stress, and may even use more oil, of course check for oil leak.....
Check more often, don't let the level go under minimum and see how much you add in 5000km of top up,
Happy io
Thanks Guys....To be honest
Thanks Guys....To be honest with you, I didn't check the oil level mid-change, which explains why I was so surprised...otherwise I would have been aware of the excess consumption before. There is no apparent leakage anywhere underneath/around the engine. Everything there is clean and dry. I replaced both the oil and filter 7,500km ago (and yesterday) with Penrite HPR 10, which is labelled as a 'full synthetic 10W-50 oil'. I will pay much closer attention to the oil level from now on. You know what they say about 'assume'....that's what I did. This io had only done 120,000km when I changed the oil a few months ago. Full service record makes me fairly confident that the kms are genuine and 120,000km is a puppy as far as I am concerned. Maybe this io has had a really hard life!
oil change
A full service record is a great thing....it means that the oil change have been done as it should. If you are using this oil (very good to me...), I wouldn't change the oil every 7 500km but 10 000km, but no big drama here, more oil change should not create a problem anyway !!
Check the oil more often and see how it goes, with a bit of luck you might find that it is not that bad. I will be curious to hear from you in 5 000km or so to see if my theory is correct regarding the higher oil consumption once the level get under the minimum.
All the best....
Happy io
Just a suggestion ...
And I know it's often a controversial topic...
Try a conventional 10w30 on the next change - two reasons - first, I see no reason to spend the extra for synthetic if you're not going to run an extended oil change interval, and just so that it's clear, I'm changing oil twice a year based on time and not mileage, extended OCIs don't make sense for me, and for that reason I don't use synthtics; second - some people have reported higher consumption with synthetics than with conventional oils.
I've experimented with synthetics, they have their place, the fact that I don't use them, doesn't mean that you shouldn't - but - the general consensus appears to be that it's only worth the additional cost under specific circumstances, extreme cold/heat being one, and the ability to extend the OCIs being another.
500ml used in 4,000km
Mary's io has now done 4,000km on the current oil, which is the Penrite fully synthetic that I noted previously. The oil level registered half-way on the dipstick. I added 500ml of the same oil to bring it back up to the full mark.
Maybe the idea of greater oil consumption the lower it gets (and harder it has to work) holds here. I have learnt my lesson and will check the io oil more frequently than I was....
I have also bought a cheaper Penrite oil that is classified as 'semi-synthetic' to try next time. I will monitor oil consumption with this new (10w-40) oil but might do 5,000km oilchanges on the io from now on.
Thanks for your input guys!
oil change
Good to know, and I think that we can call it good news, 500ml for 4000km is still reasonable...to me at least. If you keep that good oil, it comes in 5 litres, so a bit under 4 litre for the oil chage leave you with one litre in the bottle.....then 500ml in 4000km...then 500ml in another 4000km...then oil change at 10 000km.
This way you are fully using your 5 litre, and changing the oil every 10 000km is what is recommended (for my 2002 2 litre engine) by Mitsubishi and should be fine. But as I said before, more oil change will not hurt the engine.....
Thanks for the feedback....
Happy io
Syndicate
Filter and pump
Filter and pump
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