Missing oil
BK
to work and do about 80 miles per day.
Service engine light came on several times over the past 7 months,
each time the dealer replaced an electronic module and changed the oil
(which was due to be changed). Finally,when the light came on again,
they noticed that the engine was virtually without oil. They now
believe that this lack of oil is what caused the light to come on.
The car seems to run fine. There is no obvious oil leakage though,
since I live in an apartment, I cannot park in the same space each
day. The car passed an emissions test so it does not appear to be
burning a lot of oil. Car gets good mileage (26.2 mpg according to the
car's computer). I am assuming there is a leak, but no one can seem to
figure out where it's coming from. Dealer seems to be giving up on
this. Could use advice.
TIA
willshak
Find it fast. Do you see white smoke behind your vehicle when driving?
If so, it's burning it, and fouling your catalytic converter at the same
time.
Check under your car for oil puddles whenever you go to drive it.
Check your dipstick regularly, and especially after anyone services it.
--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @
willshak
One more thing. Check your radiator to see if there is oil in there. If
so, you have a blown head gasket.
BK
No white smoke. No obvious leak (I park in a different place, but no
leak after parking overnight). Filled up with oil 2 days ago, and
light now has gone out! Will check radiator.
John Henderson
From what you say, I understand that the oil level isn't becoming
critical until the car is due for an oil change anyway.
That would be a lot of miles to have travelled without checking
the oil level and topping up (if required).
Manufacturers often quote normal oil consumption figures up to
a maximum of something like a litre per 1,000 km (in the order of
a quart per 600 miles in imperial measurement).
While some cars don't need topping up between regular oil
changes, it's not unusual for any car to need topping up
several times in that period.
Given your mileage, I'd suggest checking the oil level every
week. What does your owners' manual say on the subject?
John
AS
Many manufacturers consider some oil usage normal. I think that is a
lousy excuse to avoid having to repair a bunch defective engines; e.g.
VW continues to have issues with oil consumption in their engines (as
per the CarTalk guys).
As far as BK's problem, oil either gets consumed by the engine or goes
somewhere else (leaked, water system, exhaust pipe, etc.)
Just make sure that you are getting a level reading right after the oil
change or topping.
Good luck!
AS
C. E. White
"AS" <mia...@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:VuOdnT8aZrZpOQ_Q...@earthlink.com...
> John is right:
>
> Many manufacturers consider some oil usage normal. I think that is a
> lousy excuse to avoid having to repair a bunch defective engines; e.g. VW
> continues to have issues with oil consumption in their engines (as per the
> CarTalk guys).
Some oil usage is normal....it has to be given the nature of piston engines.
Some small amount of oil is routinely left on the cylinder walls to be
flashed off during the combustion phase. Other minute amounts of oil are
carried on the valve stems into the intake air stream and some portion of
this is carried on into the engine with the intake air. All engines consume
some oil. Those that appear to consume none are making up the lost oil with
unburned hydrocarbons and combstuin products that escape past the rings on
the compression and power strokes. If stuff wasn't getting into the oil, it
wouldn't change color over time. Send a sample off for analysis sometime.
On my farm we had a very old tractor with weak rings that "made" oil. As
long as you didn't work it very hard, the oil level would actually go up. If
you worked it really hard, the level would drop rapidly since you were now
getting the oil hot enough to flash off any unburned hydrocarbons and water.
Ed
Jim Yanik
news:VuOdnT8aZrZpOQ_Q...@earthlink.com:
MAYBE the OP should try GOOGLING "Altima V6 oil consumption" before asking
questions here.
DAGS.
--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com