I recently went to change my oil, Everything went as planned until I left and was driving home when my check light came on and I immediately notice the engine oil light came on my overhead. I pulled over and check it out and the stick read 1 qt. When I completed my oil change before all this happened I looked under the car to see if any oil was leaking I found none. When I started my car there was no smoke or anything unusual coming out of my exhaust. There is no oil in the coolant. I dont know where it is all going. I lost 3.5 qt in a matter of an hr. I dont know what else to check for. Please help thanks
-
sigpic -
The stick reads 1 qt? Maybe I missed the memo but I have never heard of a mark on the dipstick saying that there is only 1 qt of oil left. I have heard some people say that on some cars, the difference between the max. and min. mark on a dipstick is 1 qt. which may be what you are refering to however I don't take this to be fact. ( please inform me if I am wrong though, I am here to learn as well). During my last oil change, I filled it up with the capacity stated in the Bently manual. Started it up, and the check panel "Oil Level" light was on. Strange. I ended up adding nearly a quart more than the Bently suggests for an oil change just to get it to the correct level. For my situation, my theory is that I let the car sit all winter and hadn't started it. So all the oil from the head and other parts had a chance to drip down to the pan and more oil drained than usual.
I do not have any leaks either and I had to add an extra quart to be at the right level so I know where you are coming from to some extent. -
Whatever the minimum mark on the dipstick is.....The point is I lost 3-4 qts of oil in am hr time frame my car started fine...drove fine but there was next to no oil in it. I need to find this problem fast. Someone help me outsigpicComment
-
the minimum mark on any dipstick is just the minimum amount of oil recommended to run the motor. it should be fine.
top it off to the max mark and see how long it lasts.Comment
-
It won't even read on the dipstick if you're down 3-4qts.Originally posted by GrueliusComment
-
also
I don't know about e30s specifically. but I know on some other cars I've done, when you first start it up right after changing the oil it will seem to "lose" some oil, but it's really just moved from the oil pan to the heads an oil filter.
My practice is to start a car up after finishing an oil/filter change and let it run for a minute, then re-top it off.Comment
-
you're only 1 qrt low
I mean, top it off with fresh oil, but if it's touching the stick, you didn't loose 3-4qrts1989 cirrisblau-metallic 325iComment
-
If you're checking it hot, it will read low because a lot of oil is in the filter and head still.Originally posted by GrueliusComment
-
The oil sensor light came on. I have checked it hot and cold and still cannot find where all my oil went. There is no oil on the ground where I did my oil change and I did not see any leaking anywhere. Where could it have gone?Its not a qt low. I put the recommended 4.5 qts in it and drove a dew miles back to my house and the light came on. I pulled over and checked it to find most of my oil was gone. The bottom of the dipstick and a small amount of fresh oil and that was it.sigpicComment
-
If it helps at all I put sea foam into my engine before the change and ran it a few miles then drained my oil. But I wouldnt think I would need to use excessive amounts of oil on a changesigpicComment
-
So far a gallon of oil went into my car and still the overhead light came on checked it cold and hot and still the oil i JUST put in from that oil change is missing.sigpicComment
-
There is a chance the light is wrong...go back all the way at the begining...when you pulled the dipstick was the car hot? cold? on level ground? You pulling the right stick? Now you have the 4.5 qts plus another gallon in there? Where is it on the stick now?Comment
-
I wouldn't trust the light.
Let the engine cool all the way down (COLD), then drain all the oil into clean pan to measure it.
It's also difficult to understand you when you don't use any punctuation.Originally posted by GrueliusComment
-
It is disappearing along with the oil.Originally posted by KenC View Post
Just be sure you are not running too much oil. running 1 qt too much is worse than running 1 qt. lowComment
-
so you put 5 quarts in and then another gallon? no leaks and no oil on the dipstick?! umm...are you putting it in the oil fill hole?'87 325ic, powered by S50.Comment
Comment