Where'd my engine oil go??

[minivan]

Was on my way back from the ofis yesterday, and at a long sweeping corner (toll exit) my engine oil check light went on... so i thought to myself 'minyak hitam kurang'. Got back home to top up. To my suprise, it took a whole freakin 2 litres (half the 4 liter bottle)!!? Last time i checked was only abt 2 weeks ago and it was fine. Checked the combustion, no prob. No smoke (blue, white, whatever colour) came out. Even when pressed. No funny smells. No sign of leaking anywhere. So, where did the engine oil go??The machine is 97' 328i. No so familiar with the engine codes u guys use yet. So guys, is this normal or what?? any insights??

 

[DiNAN.328i]

yeah it's normal. must check oil level regularly...

 

[Lionel_Koh]

Drop 2 lit within 2 week ?????

Then must be somethin wrong ......

Better send to ur mech for inspection....

 

[OSFlanker]

Hope it's not the engine block............

 

[ALBundy]

If there is no leakage, then the engine must have consumed the oil. As to why there is no white smoke, the catalytic converter is probably clogged by now. Similar thing happened before to a friend who owns a 328 as well. Ask your mechanic to do a wet and dry compression test.

 

[Schwepps]

No way it's normal to consume 2 litres in 2 weeks bro! If there's no leak as you say, then it's not something simple like a busted oil filter or drainplug seal. It's probably an engine problem and you gotta check your compression ASAP. My cars never even need a single top-up between service intervals of 6 months (in fact 10 months for the Merc this year)

 

[pussy]

okay.. check your breather-round- cone shape thingy below your trottle/manifold.. this where the oil return/ catchment is..

 

[K.M.]

Maybe ur piston ring worn out already...

 

[minivan]

Clogged cat... hmmm... doubt it. Performance has not dropped and the engine does not feel short of breath at all...

OK... would whacking the car kaw-kaw have anything to do with it? I had a deadline i had to catch last week and had to be in seremban pronto. So, had to like push it all the way to seremban. Bangi - PD/Rasah toll in 15 mins... but still, 2 Litres??

Does this engine eat up oil when pushed??

 

[K.M.]

Clogged cat... hmmm... doubt it. Performance has not dropped and the engine does not feel short of breath at all...

OK... would whacking the car kaw-kaw have anything to do with it? I had a deadline i had to catch last week and had to be in seremban pronto. So, had to like push it all the way to seremban. Bangi - PD/Rasah toll in 15 mins... but still, 2 Litres??

Does this engine eat up oil when pushed??

Yes, if your piston ring and valve seat gone bad, where with high revv more oil will be burn and escape thru the leakage as blowby gas. See ur exhaust got white smoke or black smoke?

 

[daan]

I think your oil went to the enviroment already.

 

[bal3056]

yeah it's normal. must check oil level regularly...

No way normal for oil to be consumed in 2 weeks ... something must be wrong somewhere.

Minivan :
1. What is the mileage of your car?
2. If nothing is the matter with your engine, try using 20W-50 for just one time and see if it improves. Don't worry nothing will ever happen to your engine ... any mechanic will tell you that. Worth a try.

While on this matter, I had an imported Honda Inspire (95k kms when I bought it) some years back and at the begining I started using fully synthetic oil, then semi but the oil still finished sometimes at critical level ... checked all in order. The Honda Specialist told me to stop using full/semi synthetic oils and I started on 20W-50 and the problem ended, never had it again even during oil intervals. So I continued to stick to the old school 20W-50.

Same thing happened with my E34 (mileage 150k kms) and my brothers Satria 1.6 (65k kms) and after changing to 20W-50 ... solved the problem with no decrease in eng oil level.

Just my experience ... !

 

[K.M.]

No way normal for oil to be consumed in 2 weeks ... something must be wrong somewhere.

Minivan :
1. What is the mileage of your car?
2. If nothing is the matter with your engine, try using 20W-50 for just one time and see if it improves. Don't worry nothing will ever happen to your engine ... any mechanic will tell you that. Worth a try.

... !

It does make sense. Higher viscosity engine oil will lessen engine oil burn. Worth trying.

 

[Schwepps]

That's an old trick, to use a more viscous oil in an old engine to mask the problems. It works, but it doesn't solve the problem. If Minivan's car is not having a simple mechanical failure causing a simple leak, such as a broken seal or improperly installed filter, then it's a case of an old engine signaling that it's time for an overhaul. His car is almost 10 years old and parts will get worn.

You can use a mineral oil to mask the problem but if you don't fix it, it will get worse and worse, and cause more problems and costs. Eg, the cat converter and exhaust system will get clogged up and burn through. Eg, if the piston rings are worn, the cylinder lining will start to scour. Eg, if the valve seats are pitted, the valves will deteriorate and your top-end will get ruined. Not to mention that your consumption will get poorer and poorer, and you'll be adding partially combusted petrol and oil to the haze.

Minivan, if you intend to keep the car, get it checked, and if it's the engine, overhaul early rather than late. The costs will climb the longer you wait.

 

[K.M.]

I agreed with what Schwepps said. Worse come worst, change the engine la...if the total cost of repair = the price of half cut engine. Before drop-in get the engine done properly.

 

[minivan]

Thanx guys for all the input and insights..

Anyway, went to my old man's mechanic (Steven, Milan Auto, Sg Besi). Checked out a couple of stuff and he says the car is absolutely fine. Except for dirty heads (some signs of rust). He said that this was due to the last onwer not servicing it at regular intervals and because the last owner also rarely used the car (cars milage is 113K kms, no kidding. Last owner worked in Indonesia, so usage was minimal). It'll get cleaned up after a couple more regular services. Anyhow, he said to keep it under observation first for a couple of weeks, and we'll see from there.

I'm starting to think that during my last service (somewhere else), they did'nt properly check the oil level and after that, i myself kinda wrongly read the oil level a couple of weeks back.... hehehe.... thanx anywayz fellas...

 

[Schwepps]

Oh, so you just recently took over the car? This incident must have given you a bit of a scare then Anyway, all's well that ends well.

If you misread the level and dump in oil over the max limit, you'll be creating a different kind of problem in the engine buddy! Learn more about your 328 and have fun with it Cheers!