3.0si oil question

M

MartynFrancis

Member
 Norwich
Not the usual which oil, but I recently acquired a 56 plate 3.0si about a month ago, which gave me an oil warning when I turned off the car. So I checked the level (electronic... Much prefer a dipstick! :x ) and it needed 1lt of oil. Topped it up and away I went. I've had the car about a month now, and today I had the same thing, checked it and it came back with top up with 1lt.
My old 2.5i didn't need anywhere near that amount. Could it be a blip in the matrix or could I have something a bit more sinister going on? I don't rag the car, and probably do about a 200 miles or less a week going to and from work.
Is it a bit more of an oil thirsty beast?
 
a litre in 800 miles sounds a bit excessive, some cars drink more than others but that does sound a bit extreme to me...one of our resident experts may offer a different opinion though
 
Mine uses a litre about every 6 months or 5k miles, but it's a high miler on 138k. I do drive it pretty hard at times though.
As mr.tourette says, sounds a bit excessive.
 
If oil use is excessive and it does seem to be you first need to check there are no leaks. Have a look around the engine bay in particular rocker gasket and oil filter housing, then you will need to look under the car. If you establish oil is not leaking then it must be burning it. Does car smoke or exhaust smell oily. Its not nessecarily a knackered engine as they are resilient. It could be emission controls are blocked or air filter clogged etc.
 
Mike6 said:
If oil use is excessive and it does seem to be you first need to check there are no leaks. Have a look around the engine bay in particular rocker gasket and oil filter housing, then you will need to look under the car. If you establish oil is not leaking then it must be burning it. Does car smoke or exhaust smell oily. Its not nessecarily a knackered engine as they are resilient. It could be emission controls are blocked or air filter clogged etc.
Click to expand...

There is no way that this sort of amount of oil is leaking. An eggcup full of oil would cover the engine bay or leave significant drops each time you parked even with an engine cover.
This is either burning off or not a correct reading by the e dipstick, I'd say burning so needs investigating.
 
the engine breathers on these cars seem prone to gunging up, the engine inhales its own fumes when this happens & oil usage goes through the roof :cry:
Rob
 
It's done 83k, it may have had a blip. I'll see tomorrow, but there's no oil that I can see, and there's nothing dumped on the driveway. It's very odd. No smells, no smoke.
Other than that she purrs like a kitten!
 
If it helps, mine tends to get through the top up litre pretty quickly but then just sits on the bottom marker for ages and says OK. Don't know if it's normal but I'm more wary of over filling than it being a bit low. Maybe faulty sensor?
 
That sounds thirsty - I had my first E86 from 54K to 62K and never had to top it up!

Not sure if the N52 engine has a CCV system like the one on the M54, but it seems they can cause a bit of a consumption issue if they get bunged up!

Hope you get it sorted. :thumbsup:
 
Mine was using a good liter of oil every 1-2 thousand when I got it. Was like this for a year or so. Didn't touch it and now probably gets 10,000 miles per liter of oil. I've had this on other cars aswell though
Only thing I can think of is if it's not full of oil, that oil gets abit hotter and thinner which allows it to pass past the piston rings. only my theory like
 
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