Saw a poor 1.6l Gamma engine go to an early grave today, check your oil people!

[PWMDMD]

That’s it. After owning several cars that have been fine with even 10k oci and no oil usage, I rarely check oil level. I should, as sometimes oil usage can seemingly start overnight. But cars today sure seem like appliances, gas and go.

Every vehicle burning oil on the road today initially came out of the factory not burning oil and at some point after that started burning oil. Some of these vehicles not for tens or hundreds of thousands of miles and so I still think the regular check is prudent.

 

[JavierH19]

When I first bought my Soul with the 1.6L GDI engine (it had 12k miles on it then 26k now) I would check it every time I got gas, so every 100-200 miles. Now that I know it’s not consuming oil, I’ll check it every other week and it’s always “full” and it only takes a minute to check.

Even that shouldn't be necessary. You should get a warning saying check oil level or add oil once it gets low enough to become a concern later on but well before anything bad happens at that point. Unless the gauge cluster was completely dead I don't see how this isn't purposely negligent.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

…….You should get a warning saying check oil level or add oil once it gets low enough to become a concern later on but well before anything bad happens at that point……...

I never had a car with a low oil level light. These cars just have a low oil pressure warning light and by the time that comes on, it might already be too late. This person probably ignored the low oil pressure warning light and I’m sure it was making a racket, and kept on driving till the engine locked up.

 

[Shel_B]

Even that shouldn't be necessary. You should get a warning saying check oil level or add oil once it gets low enough to become a concern later on but well before anything bad happens at that point. Unless the gauge cluster was completely dead I don't see how this isn't purposely negligent.

Maybe that's part of the problem. People are waiting for a warning light to tell them what to do. Not all cars have such lights. My Camry certainly doesn't.

 

[supton]

Maybe that's part of the problem. People are waiting for a warning light to tell them what to do. Not all cars have such lights. My Camry certainly doesn't.

Never understood why Toyota etc didn’t add a level sensor, not when they were going through oil drinking engines. I guess it would have been an admission of guilt.

 

[Donald]

Customer came in for a no start on a 2013 Veloster, checked battery, battery was good, checked immobilizer key and clutch safety switch, those checked out good. Checked the oil and....uh oh, dipstick shows nothing and is covered in burnt smelling varnish. Grab a 22mm socket and ratchet, engine is locked solid. Customer wants to try an oil change anyways so I oblige, drain out what was probably 1/2 quart of oil and refill with 4 quarts, I can already tell the engine has been starved of oil because nothing comes out when pull the vertically mounted filter. The smell reminds me of that time I tried lighting a bonfire with motor oil as a kid (didn't work well), that oil had to have gotten 3-400°F to be cooked like that.

After filling the oil I try again to turn over the engine, not budging, it is completely locked up.

What I think happened is this guy was burning oil and never bothered to check it, the little bit of thin 5w20 got super hot and lost it's ability to keep the bearings apart along with starving the engine of oil, and the engine literally welded itself together.

I know most of us here are more on top of maintenance stuff than your average driver but I just have to say, check your oil, this did not have to happen.

My Subaru has an oil level indicator and an oil pressure indicator. I thought most new cars had that today?

 

[aquariuscsm]

She was driving a black Ford Escort GT.

Those were neat little cars!

 

[aquariuscsm]

People are waiting for a warning light to tell them what to do.

I remember back in the day people called them the "idiot lights". Once the light comes on, you're screwed.

 

[Astro14]

Even that shouldn't be necessary. You should get a warning saying check oil level or add oil once it gets low enough to become a concern later on but well before anything bad happens at that point. Unless the gauge cluster was completely dead I don't see how this isn't purposely negligent.

Really?

How many cars actually have an oil level sensor?

Most* cars have a pressure light and that’s it.

You get no warning for low oil level.


*Some cars do have an oil level sensor, they’re mostly high end, very expensive European cars.

 

[edyvw]

Really?

How many cars actually have an oil level sensor?

Most* cars have a pressure light and that’s it.

You get no warning for low oil level.


*Some cars do have an oil level sensor, they’re mostly high end, very expensive European cars.

And if they added oil sensor, than we would have 10 pages of: why they made it so complex?

 

[Lubener]

Let's say that they had put that oil in and the engine started just fine, would it have been wasted then?

If that happened, just how long do you actually think it would have stayed running after a bearing seized on a crank journal?

 

[Ignatius]

If that happened, just how long do you actually think it would have stayed running after a bearing seized on a crank journal?

My point had more to do with the notion of "wasting" oil. Oil that is used for a purpose is not washed, in this case it was used to determine whether or not the engine would operate at all if added and thus it was not wasted

 

[MCompact]

I was on another site where there was a discussion of a Car and Driver long term test. The car in question consumed one quart of oil every 10,000 miles over the 30,000 miles of the test- oh the humanity!
One dimwit referred to it as a 2 cycle level of oil consumption(!), but my favorite comment was from a guy who posted:
"My Tacoma with 244k miles and my Civic with 160k miles haven’t burned four quarts of oil in total. I did have a ‘64 Dodge that used that much."
I replied:
"I want to deny that I'm extremely envious, but I simply can't."

 

[Spyderman24_7]

My car doesn't burn or leak oil. I just put 4,000 miles on the last change, and the level is right where it was on day one. I know the engine is good in that respect.

Still, I check it frequently. Takes but a moment in the morning. An engine can spring a leak, a hose become disconnected, maybe the coolant is low ... frequent underhood checks just make sense to me. It's not just the oil level that gets checked.

I want to stay ahead of problems, not fix something that might have been prevented by a simple peek under the hood.

Yep same here... I go by mileage more than time and check all fluids at least every 1,500 miles and tire psi even more often. Use the Trip B to reset with every oil change and just glance it now/then to track it. Also use a fairly bright cool white LED light to give things underneath a quick check... I log the date/mileage of any service, issues found/addressed, etc. in my phone 'keep note' app and it's great to know my daily ride inside/out. A vehicle for many is quite a bit of investment and that's one thing I like to pay for and maintain/use it as long as possible.

 

[walterjay]

My neighbor had a Dodge Caravan and she only added oil when the oil light came on. I have no idea how that thing kept going. Pity anyone who got a hold of the thing after her.

 

[MCompact]

Yep same here... I go by mileage more than time and check all fluids at least every 1,500 miles and tire psi even more often. Use the Trip B to reset with every oil change and just glance it now/then to track it. Also use a fairly bright cool white LED light to give things underneath a quick check... I log the date/mileage of any service, issues found/addressed, etc. in my phone 'keep note' app and it's great to know my daily ride inside/out. A vehicle for many is quite a bit of investment and that's one thing I like to pay for and maintain/use it as long as possible.

I keep a physical maintenance log for every one of my cars; I even track the fuel economy at each fill-up.

 

[Spyderman24_7]

I keep a physical maintenance log for every one of my cars; I even track the fuel economy at each fill-up.

Of course everybody has a different train of thought, importance of preventive maintenance, etc. and I'm not bashing too much. I say that as I drive on Interstate 85/40 in the middle of this state quite often and can't begin to count how often I see cars disabled/abandoned on the shoulder with flat tires, bottomed out suspension, etc. Of course some things do happen quickly in transit, but I would bet most of those issues could be avoided with regular preventive maintenance. To each their own I suppose...

 

[OVERKILL]

Every vehicle burning oil on the road today initially came out of the factory not burning oil and at some point after that started burning oil. Some of these vehicles not for tens or hundreds of thousands of miles and so I still think the regular check is prudent.

Some engines consume oil right from the factory, hence the note in the owner's manual about checking the oil and some consumption, within a given mileage, being OK. BMW's S62 was notorious for consumption in its first iteration before the 03/00 update, but there are many other examples.

And of course if we are being pedantic, all engines consume some oil. Oil will invariably make its way past valve seals and the rings into the combustion chamber, as well as through the PCV, none of these systems are perfect in their ability to prevent oil from being consumed. Typically though, the level is small enough that it is not apparent to the owner.

 

[Jetronic]

Every vehicle burning oil on the road today initially came out of the factory not burning oil and at some point after that started burning oil. Some of these vehicles not for tens or hundreds of thousands of miles and so I still think the regular check is prudent.

Plenty hyundai engines burn oil from day 1. If you're lucky the burn slows down after running in

 

[addyguy]

We get a lot of Hyundai 1.6 engines at my shop that are very low on oil.
Most people look at you blankly when you tell them about checking their oil.
My lead tech bought a car off someone who smoked the engine bc they ‘gave up’ checking the oil, rest of the car was fine.