[metanoia507]

I'm at about 6500 miles since my last oil change, just hit 15k miles. Checked my oil today and noticed it was rather low, pretty close to the fill mark. I haven't noticed any leaking, but has anyone noticed their car consuming oil? I'm getting an oil change soon, but I'm a bit concerned that the levels are a bit low...

 

[Jburks]

that does seem like a lot to be low. i could understand it buring a little bit, maybe a 1/8 quart but the low line is equal to a quart gone. i'd just top it off and then bring it up when you take it in for an oil change and have them look for leaks.

 

[metanoia507]

that does seem like a lot to be low. i could understand it buring a little bit, maybe a 1/8 quart but the low line is equal to a quart gone. i'd just top it off and then bring it up when you take it in for an oil change and have them look for leaks.

Yeah, I'll definitely bring it up when I take it in for service. I was gonna let it go to 7500 miles before I took it in again, but the low oil levels are worrying so I'll be taking it in next week.

In fairness, I never verified the oil levels after my last oil change and I hadn't checked it for months (bad practice), but I'd like to assume that they actually filled it all the way up lol.

 

[sailor]

Easy to let it slide when you expect it to be fine. Most do at one time or another 'bad practice" or not.

Are you using the "pull/wipe/reinsert/check" method? Many of these tend to give a false reading when just pulled after sitting, something that worked fine for me on most others in the past.

 

[metanoia507]

Easy to let it slide when you expect it to be fine. Most do at one time or another 'bad practice" or not.

Are you using the "pull/wipe/reinsert/check" method? Many of these tend to give a false reading when just pulled after sitting, something that worked fine for me on most others in the past.

Yeah, I always pull/wipe/reinsert/check. Checked with both hot engine and cold engine, same low reading. However, my parking lot is not an even surface, I don't know how much that could affect the reading. It was parked on a slight incline and slight lean to the right when I checked today.

 

[Jburks]

you might expect a slight change with it being not level but if it's reading at the low mark then i would suspect you are in fact low.

 

[sailor]

^^^ yup.

Just wanted to throw that out for a double check, your reading was exactly what I get when FULL by just pulling the stick after it sits overnight. Looks durn near a quart low.

Confirmed here to be common, so I always ask the "silly" question.

Note the issue for sure, and start tracking in case it continues or gets worse. I know you mentioned not being able to confirm now, that makes future tracking all you can do for certain.

More have drips than use oil, drips seldom are bad enough to affect levels much. Excess consumption HAS happened, so just keep an eye to make sure you're OK.

1 qt. between changes falls into 'normal" range, even though most use much less, so you need to track it well (and have it get worse) to have a case for repair unless leaking.

 

[metanoia507]

Thanks for the advice folks. I'll be sure to start checking more frequently and monitoring it. I drove a car that would burn through a quart of oil every 500-1000 miles for 8 years, so the habit shouldn't be too hard to get back into lol.

Good to know that excessive oil consumption is a known thing to have happened. I quite like this car, I hope it doesn't end up being anything major.

 

[wavsine]

In fairness, I never verified the oil levels after my last oil change and I hadn't checked it for months (bad practice), but I'd like to assume that they actually filled it all the way up lol.

There is simply no way to state with certainty that you have an oil consumption problem because you have no baseline. Your mechanic may have underfilled your crankcase on your last oil change.

You need to add oil and check your dipstick on level ground to get a baseline. Then periodically check your oil on level ground and note the mileage at each check. My experience is it is best to let the 2.0 Duratec engine sit for some time to let the oil drain down before you check the level.

I change my own oil but even then I double check the oil level the next day to verify that I adequately filled it.

 

[metanoia507]

There is simply no way to state with certainty that you have an oil consumption problem because you have no baseline. Your mechanic may have underfilled your crankcase on your last oil change.

You need to add oil and check your dipstick on level ground to get a baseline. Then periodically check your oil on level ground and note the mileage at each check. My experience is it is best to let the 2.0 Duratec engine sit for some time to let the oil drain down before you check the level.

Yeah, I'll definitely be monitoring and verifying that the dealership actually filled it up correctly. For now, all I know is that the oil is low, whether or not it has been low since my last service is anybody's guess due to my lack of checking.

 

[sailor]

FWIW - the serious problems tend to show up early, so this could be a combination of use & low fill.

Check but don't panic (grin).

 

[DougC]

Keep a close eye on it. Mine started out using just a bit of oil between changes. By the time Ford decided to replace my short block it was consuming a quart every 800 miles. That was with 30,000 plus miles on the clock. Once the repair was made it used no oil between changes.

 

[Tigeo]

You have to have some data. Start full at your next change, check weekly or similar. Do the check in the same place at the same time (i.e. before you drive it the first time [cold] on level ground). Once you have that you can see what your consumption is. Cars "use" oil..its normal to end a OCI with less than you started. IMHO, if it drops but remains in the "normal" range on the stick, you have no issues...remember...there is a range of normal.

 

[sanford12]

Sorry to say but even if it is burning that much in 6500 miles that falls into the acceptable range and is even at the high end of acceptable. I would bet that if you took it in to a oil change place they just threw in 5 quarts and called it good. I really try to avoid them. My son took in his 2012 Beetle. It has a cartridge oil filter. It was obvious that they never changed it. It was so plugged it started to collapse and the low oil pressure light came on. That's the worst case but there have been quite a few others. It's just simpler to do it right myself.