Errrr ... My oil has gone!!!

Arrrghhh .... why is it that when one thing goes wrong (in this case my amps/subs), a load of other stuff screws up at the same time!

 

Driving home just now, my orange oil light flicked on . Luckily I was RIGHT next to a petrol station, so I dived in and checked the dipstick. The result ... NOTHING ... NADA .... NONE!!! . The only oil on the dipstick was the residue from the side of the chamber! The most worrying part about this is that I had a FULL service (cam belt, all fluids etc etc) no more than 600 miles ago! I have had no oil leaks, the driveway is totally clear, so where has all the oil gone? Thirsty turbos?

 

I panicked and went into the petrol station shop to buy any oil that I could get my hands on. I ended up with Castrol GTX Magnatec 10w-40. It was about the best stuff that I could see in there. I know NOTHING about oils, so is this any good? It's not going to destroy my car or anything ... it really was an emergency oil purchase?? It better be okay as it cost the best part of £35!

 

Cheers! J

J, you may have a slight leak from one of the oil seals (front or rear crank) that is not necessarily 'dripping' visible oil when you are parked, but when you are driving is 'weeping' oil, which is then getting sprayed around underneath.

 

It could also be that the garage didn't fill the oil to max level to start with. If the light has only just come on, then it will have just reached the min level (it is very sensitive). You may not see much on dip stick, but there will still be oil a lot of oil in the sump (end of dipstick doesn't reach all the way down to botton of sump.) How much did it take to fill back up to the max level again; one litre?? If so, keep monitoring the level and check for drips underneath the car when stopped.

 

Check on start up and on gear changes, to see if you get a puff of blue smoke out of the exhaust, if you are burning a lot it should be visible. If you are not getting blue smok it must be leaking out somewhere that is not necessarily visible.

Not sure if it's a comfort or not, but mine used to go through about a litre in that sort of time before I had the turbo's reconditioned?

theres no way thats an oil leak. the garage who done your service has not filled up correctly. magnatec will not kill your engine,

J, you may have a slight leak

If you've lost a whole sump-full, you have a big leak or there wasn't any oil. If the light has just come on but there's no oil in the sump...

 

1) You've dipped it incorrectly

2) Your oil light was very late telling you

3) You've lost litres of oil quickly

 

I hope it's 1.

 

Fill it up again and keep an eye out for leaks/smoke (tons of it) and an ear open for bearing rumbles.

LOL TonyHawk ... Not a great comfort no! But any excuse to go single will do me

 

I'm thinking that it just wasn't filled up very well during the service? There have definately been no noticable leaks, puddles etc etc. No smoke on startup at all, and no puffs of blue smoke when changing gear. I get the odd cloud of black smoke when I first mash the 'happy pedal' on a drive .... but I know that I am running slightly rich at the moment.

 

Need4Speed - Definately dipped it correctly. Did it myself about 10 times as I couldn't believe what I was seeing - LOL. I then had my bodywork/mechanic look at it, and he agreed!

 

Fingers crossed all is cool

theres no way thats an oil leak. the garage who done your service has not filled up correctly.

I don't see how you can say that for sure Lee.

 

 

James, where did you get the work done?

Dude, you have to remember *exactly* how much oil you've added.

Then drain the whole lot, measure it in a jug and subtract the amount you've added.

What is left is the amount of oil that was in the engine for a few hundred miles.

If it is too low, you could be looking at serious engine damage, rods, crank bearings, that sort of thing.

 

The dipstick doesn't go all the way down the sump, so it could be dry and there could still be 2-3 litres in there.

Hope you've got no bearing rumbles!

If you didn't get the red light then you maintained oil pressure - probably you're OK, hence the orange oil light before the red one!

James, where did you get the work done?

I don't think it's really fair to mention this publicly unless I am 100% sure there is any wrong-doing on their part. There's every chance that this has nothing to do with the work I had done, and my engine is just chewing up oil. I'll tell you via PM if you want

 

JohnA - When you start to mention things like rods and crank bearings I start to get nervous. To be honest, after I drove away from my guys, the light didn't come back on until I got to the garage ... about 5 mins away. There probably is plenty in there kicking about in the sump. I will try the whole 'drain the system' thing at the weekend .... although oil is damned expensive stuff (although I guess not as expensive as a blown engine!!)

 

Cheers, J

If you didn't get the red light then you maintained oil pressure - probably you're OK, hence the orange oil light before the red one!

Yep, I agree. If you didn't get the pressure warning light then you didn't run low enough to uncover the pickup pipe and suck air into the system. Keep an ear out for new rattles and knocks but I reckon you'll be OK.

The oil level warning light will usually come on first, if you are sat on/going down a slope.

 

Agree it should be fine, as long as you topped it up shortly after the light came on, that is what the light is there for it is an 'amber' warning light, to tell you you are getting low on oil, there will still be sufficient oil not to do any damage. Toyota wouldn't put a warning light to come on to tell you 'sorry you've run out of oil and your engine is now fc*ked, sorry' That's what the red light is for

 

J, you didn't say how much oil you had to fill it up with, as this will tell you how low you actually were.

I just went out and checked properly.

 

I used EXACTLY 1 litre of oil to get it 3/4 of the way up the dipstick. I'm not sure if that's good or bad?? Certainly not hearing any new rattles or funny noises .... although I have been running in TTC for the past week which pretty much drowns out ANY noises at all ... LOL

 

Cheers, J

I just went out and checked properly.

 

I used EXACTLY 1 litre of oil to get it 3/4 of the way up the dipstick. I'm not sure if that's good or bad?? Certainly not hearing any new rattles or funny noises .... although I have been running in TTC for the past week which pretty much drowns out ANY noises at all ... LOL

 

Cheers, J

 

1 litre is fine, no worries, stop worrying and start enjoyng

 

Just keep a regular eye on the level and for any signs of oil drips/blue smoke. Next time it is in for a service, or on a ramp get the underneath checked for any signs of oil leaks from the seals.

Heh heh ... Yeah ... I'm sure I'm worrying too much. I do tend to check the levels fairly frequently, and I was just worried as I've never seen it go down that fast!

 

Oh well ... I'll keep enjoying it then!!

So the engine all that was recently put in at the service, was this different to what you had used before? If it is then it may be that the oil is thinner and getting burnt/passed seals easier than the other oil you used before, which would account for the sudden difference in oil useage.

Ahhh! LOL ... I didn't even think of that. I guess that would explain the 'faster than normal' useage that I have seen this time. To be perfectly honest, I can't remember what I put in the car before!! No idea what was put in during the service either! Heh heh, I'm crap at this!

I just went out and checked properly.

 

I used EXACTLY 1 litre of oil to get it 3/4 of the way up the dipstick.

That's fine then, I wouldn't worry too much.

As others have said, the dipstick only shows the top 1 litre and the amber level warning light comes on when the level reaches the minimum mark so you were only just below that.

 

The engine takes a smidgen over 5 litres from empty, but I have seen a spares book in my local parts shop that says the Supra takes 4.5 litres, which would leave it quite low on the dipstick if the shop followed that guideline? Just a possibility.

what is a more dangerous practice, is when muppet garages fail to fill the new oil filter before fitting it.

The turbocharger is then left with no oil pressure at all for a few seconds, as the oil filter fills up. This *does* hurt turboshaft reliability, this sort of damage is cumulative (you can see it if you happen to dismantle the turbo right afterwards)

 

Instructions always stress not to fit the filter empty, but some grease monkeys think they know better...