engine's 'natural' oil level

M

monka

Member +
since i have had the car, if i have toppped up the oil to full with in a few days it is down to the minimum on the dipstick, yet it can be left for ever at minimum and doesnt move, i have a leak from the front and back camshaft seals, yet this remains constant and doesnt increase or decrease whether or not i fill it up, and the headgasket was done 8 months ago and was the same before that.

any one else experienced this?
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
they do seem to like to sit at a certain level. both my GTs prefere about the half way mark on the dipstick. my girlfriends ep91 preferes around the empty mark.

i tend to never fill them up to the max anyway, i go for the 3/4 between the 2 marks and try and keep it between there and half way
 
glanzanut

glanzanut

Lifer
if the leak on the camshaft seals stays constant then surely the dipstick cant remain on the minimum mark and not drop? how bad is the leak?:freddy:
 
M

monka

Member +
glanzanut said:
if the leak on the camshaft seals stays constant then surely the dipstick cant remain on the minimum mark and not drop? how bad is the leak?:freddy:
Click to expand...

not badly leaking at all, i've never seen any oil on the floor under it, sorry that seems a bit confusing now i've read, stays constant as in there isnt really any coming out, seeping at its quickest, lol. but doesnt change even after topping up,
 
whiteglanzav

whiteglanzav

Member +
but the camshaft seals are at the top of the engine,

so when the oil level is low and none is coming thru the camshaft seals then surely you arent getting enough oil to the cams

other wise it would still leak out of them .. . . . .
 
W

weakboy2

Member +
lol at this thread, my engine oil stays at wherever i fill it to, which is usually slightly overfilled as i have an oil cooler and do track work and dont have a baffled sump.
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
if your car doesnt burn a little bit of oil. you either dont use it enough or dont drive it hard enough ;)

alot of cars burn oil, some more than others. the likes of rx7's and 8's use a fair bit. most high revving performance cars like ferraris and lambos do too.

italian cars in general seem to be made to use some oil.
 
G

glanzaV195

Member +
sounds like you have problems with breathers/oil surge/pcv valve.

no other logical reason for it to do whats described.
 
W

weakboy2

Member +
dac69er said:
if your car doesnt burn a little bit of oil. you either dont use it enough or dont drive it hard enough ;)

alot of cars burn oil, some more than others. the likes of rx7's and 8's use a fair bit. most high revving performance cars like ferraris and lambos do too.

italian cars in general seem to be made to use some oil.
Click to expand...

Ok, well i'm sure my car uses a few ml's of oil between oil changes, i can assure you my car gets a hard time, its a forged engine with a td04 at 1.4bar and get taken to the track regularly and given a good rasp plenty of other times!

A well built, well ran-in engine shouldnt really consume much/any oil really. Rotary engines are different sue to the design, some ppl even go to the extreme of using pre-mix on them!
 
M

monka

Member +
glanzajoe said:
U could always call the police and have some one come out and check it for you!!!:haha:
Click to expand...

lol, i'll call them now.


tut, said they are busy. bugger.

well done weakboy your oil level stays the same, mine doesnt, i cant work out why, hence the thread, any useful input you'd like to put in? no, as per usual then.

i have a problem, so ask a question, everything has been checked that i can think, if not replaced when i did the headgasket, turbo, pcv, compression test has been done and was fine, have had a catch tank on there and that revealed no problems, both between the pcv and mani and on the 2nd breather port. only obvious leak is the crank, although that doesnt leak any more when its topped up
 
C

Corey_gt

Admin
dac69er said:
if your car doesnt burn a little bit of oil. you either dont use it enough or dont drive it hard enough ;)

alot of cars burn oil, some more than others. the likes of rx7's and 8's use a fair bit. most high revving performance cars like ferraris and lambos do too.

italian cars in general seem to be made to use some oil.
Click to expand...

Well if it keeps burning oil why are you saying it stays at the same level in your previous post it kind of conradicts what your saying. Yes a little over a good period of time happen's but using a good bit is a problem on a stock engine. As for rotarys thats a totally different engine so I dont see the point you were trying to make there.

Monka your wondering where your oil is going even though you know your cranks seal is leaking. I would think that leak would be the cause of your problem get that fixed and see does it cure it and if its still at it after that maybe there might be a point to this thread . Cheers for the neg rep dude.
 
M

monka

Member +
weakboy2 said:
lol at this thread, my engine oil stays at wherever i fill it to, which is usually slightly overfilled as i have an oil cooler and do track work and dont have a baffled sump.
Click to expand...

LOL at you, it's a problem I have heard of in some merc engines, and an apparent problem with mine.
So was asking if anyone else had experienced it on mine

Didn't realize I wasn't able to ask a question on this forum with out informing you to see if it was appropriate
 
Last edited:
M

monka

Member +
Corey_gt said:
Well if it keeps burning oil why are you saying it stays at the same level in your previous post it kind of conradicts what your saying. Yes a little over a good period of time happen's but using a good bit is a problem on a stock engine. As for rotarys thats a totally different engine so I dont see the point you were trying to make there.

Monka your wondering where your oil is going even though you know your cranks seal is leaking ffs. I would think that leak would be the cause of your problem get that fixed and see does it cure it and if its still at it after that maybe there might be a point to this thread . Cheers for the neg rep dude.
Click to expand...

That's ok mate, cheers for the helpful info in that post, and if you read the rest of thread, I have ackowledged the leaking crank seals, but have also said that I have seen that there is no difference to how much oil is there to when I fill it up to when it's empty, there is never any on the floor underneath regardless either, if ya look at my seal, you can see the leak, and see that it's been there for ages as it's dirty, but when filled/oil replaced, you can never see any new oil seeping out
 
M

Mike D EP82

Member +
when do you check your oil level? when its cold or after a run? obviously after a run the oil is through the head and the oil galleries so it needs time for the oil to run back into the sump again. have you ruled out the rear crank seal? have you noticed the clutch slipping or funny smells when warm?
 
M

monka

Member +
Oil is checked both when stone cold, and after it's been left for 20 or so mins after a run, and same results on each, after a top up will go from maximum to minimum over a few days, then sit there for weeks,

And yeah both seals are leaking, but clutch has never slipped, and no new oil appears anywhere when topped up
 
M

Mike D EP82

Member +
monka said:
Oil is checked both when stone cold, and after it's been left for 20 or so mins after a run, and same results on each, after a top up will go from maximum to minimum over a few days, then sit there for weeks,

And yeah both seals are leaking, but clutch has never slipped, and no new oil appears anywhere when topped up
Click to expand...

ok im just trying to think about this. its a bit strange. is there any leaking into the spark plug from the rocker cover. i know seapage is happening but id think there is a little getting burnt also. just out of curiousity, the dipstick isnt broken in anyway? or car parked on an uneven surface?
 
C

Corey_gt

Admin
Well if its not leaking oil its burning it. The reason I called it daft sorry if you took offence to it is there is no such thing as an engines natrual oil level its either the amount you put in it and it either stays at it for a good while and eventually goes down a small bit then top it up or it leaks/burns it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top