Engine/Oil Question

[Manarius]

I was doing an oil change on Sunday and I checked how much oil I drained from the engine. I was .6 qt short! My question is. Is it possible that it's stuck up in the engine? (I did the drain when the car was warm) Or is it possible that it all leaked out my and rear crank seals? And if so...did I do any damage running it short like that? I usually check the oil often enough to catch this..and I never noticed that I was short.

I don't have any spots on the ground, I just can't believe I burn that much between oil changes.

[206er]

the filter probably has about .25 or so of a quart in it, which will not drain out of the pan. dunno if you figured that into your measurement.

[Manarius]

I factored that in...I drained the filter via punching a hole in it.

[scuzzy]

I was doing an oil change on Sunday and I checked how much oil I drained from the engine. I was .6 qt short! My question is. Is it possible that it's stuck up in the engine? (I did the drain when the car was warm) Or is it possible that it all leaked out my and rear crank seals? And if so...did I do any damage running it short like that? I usually check the oil often enough to catch this..and I never noticed that I was short.

I don't have any spots on the ground, I just can't believe I burn that much between oil changes.

it's normal for an engine to consume half a quart between oil changes.

Infact, I would be surprised (and worried) if my engine didn't consume oil at a slow rate.

figure this, every time the piston comes down, the oil wipers don't get ALL of the oil off of the cylinder wall, so that's a slight film of oil which is burned on the compression stroke.

if you gear down and use engine braking (I do all the time) the negative pressures in the chamber pull oil up into the chamber, not much, maybe just a few drops here and there, but that's still a consumption over hundreds and thousands of revolutions.

don't worry that you're consuming oil, it's a good thing, transmissions consume oil too, and so do differentials (but at slower rates)


It's good to get in the habit of checking all your fluids once a week, I do it on my car "just cause". I check CV boots on every oil change (front and back, inner and outer), as well as a full suspension inspection.

[Psychoreo]

ready for this one? i did an oil change on my dad's cougar and it only had .6L of oil in it... lol

[Manarius]

My thing is though..it never used to use oil and I think I now have a tapping lifter

[Fishy]

ready for this one? i did an oil change on my dad's cougar and it only had .6L of oil in it... lol

I can believe it. My buddy's old dodge spirit 3.0 v6 used to be damned near dry by oil change time. It took 5L to fill and he usually got 1 or 2 litres out of it.

My turbo legacy, on the other hand, seems to use very very little oil. maybe half a litre between 6000kms changes.

[SP-Boxer]

My car, N/A, doesn't use a drop of oil! I never have to fill.
When change every 15000km (say 10000 miles) always have the same amount of oil.

You shouldn't watch at the difference between oil you put in and get out of it.
When you check your oil, remember that the difference between min. and max. is only 1 liter! (Don't know how much it is in amerika... )

[tahiti350]

3.8 ltr to the gallon, so 1 ltr is slightly more than 1 quart

[206er]

so no one adds oil between changes? I usually end up putting in a quart or so. my car goes through a bit of oil, really wish I had done the rings on my ej25 block before the install.

[93forestpearl]

My oil pump leaks a little so I go through some oil between changes. Nothing major, I can just smell it sometimes. I'm not gonna get into the oil pump when I have a new engine going in a couple months.