I have an M42 with 82,000 miles, it's VERY well maintained by me and the previous owner. Never overheated, no oil in coolant, nothing, runs like a top and the timing components are mint. I have 5w-20 Mobil synthetic oil for the winter. Driving to my buddies house today in Vermont, I had to drive on a pretty steep slope, I had one passenger and about 130lbs of cargo. It had to be in the powerband of 2nd gear, if I put it to 3rd I'd just slow down even at WOT, so yeah it was really steep. Anyway this road lasted for 2 miles and then I reached my friends house. I noticed the scent of burning oil however, which is really unusual because I've never smelled it, my engine always runs flawlessly with zero problems. I checked the dipstick immediately and it's definitely closer to the first line of the dipstick than usual, it was at the top line of the dipstick and now it's at the halfway point. Is this unusual?
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Originally posted by TSIOEM+ -
Might not be too unusual after 22 years and only 82k miles. I would think now would be the time for components to wear out from age.
You should of course try to figure out where you are losing oil. I would start with the easy check, take off the intake boot and see if the TB is coated in oil. If so you are losing it through the PCV system and should replace the seal on the oil separator and maybe add a catch system. Of course you should look for obvious leaks, but I imagine you wouldn't have asked if you saw any. Otherwise you are losing it from the rings or more likely from the valve stem seals. Either way I wouldn't be too terribly worried unless consumption goes up to needing to add a quart every week. -
Change your oil grade waaaaay to thinStrategic nw e30 commandOriginally posted by bmwm42Comment
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Realized I forgot to comment on this part! Most probably run 10w-40 or 20w-50, I generally run a bit of each for that perfect ~15w-45.Originally posted by bmwm42 View PostComment
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Were you on a level surface when you checked it? Sounds to me like you're just in need of a cam cover gasket set.
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