Car oil going down
Discussion
Hi
My car seems to be drinking oil I bought a 1 liter bottle of engine oil in April just finished the bottle on Sunday so 3 months all gone in that month about 350 to 400 miles I can't see any oil on floor or dark smoke from exhaust any ideas what it could be at it's a Vauxhall Corsa 2010 has 80,000 on the clock.
My car seems to be drinking oil I bought a 1 liter bottle of engine oil in April just finished the bottle on Sunday so 3 months all gone in that month about 350 to 400 miles I can't see any oil on floor or dark smoke from exhaust any ideas what it could be at it's a Vauxhall Corsa 2010 has 80,000 on the clock.
Edited by Tommy68 on Friday 28th June 08:10
The cost of fixing the issue vs the cost of the ongoing perpetual oil change may see you stocking up on 5w30 or whatever it eats 
Oil consumption will be because it's burning it off, or it's leaking out. You've said it's not leaking out, if you're that way inclined it might be worth getting under the car, spraying a lot of brake clean etc. about the place and wiping it down as best you can to get as much gunk off as possible, drive it another few months and see if an obvious new trail of oil has appeared.
If it isn't leaking, it's burning it off. If it parps out blue smoke out when you start it up, it's potentially valve stem seals. Cheap parts, expensive labour. If it's just generally burning it off it's more likely piston rings letting oil by into the combustion chamber. Slightly more expensive parts, much more expensive labour.
Or if it's turbocharged and the turbo is oil fed, something in that general area, I don't mess about with turbos so no experience with that
but likely expensive parts, moderately expensive labour.
I'd get some oil in bulk from Amazon, you're going to be cycling a lot of fresh oil through it so the cheap stuff won't be in there long enough to matter
Oil consumption will be because it's burning it off, or it's leaking out. You've said it's not leaking out, if you're that way inclined it might be worth getting under the car, spraying a lot of brake clean etc. about the place and wiping it down as best you can to get as much gunk off as possible, drive it another few months and see if an obvious new trail of oil has appeared.
If it isn't leaking, it's burning it off. If it parps out blue smoke out when you start it up, it's potentially valve stem seals. Cheap parts, expensive labour. If it's just generally burning it off it's more likely piston rings letting oil by into the combustion chamber. Slightly more expensive parts, much more expensive labour.
Or if it's turbocharged and the turbo is oil fed, something in that general area, I don't mess about with turbos so no experience with that
but likely expensive parts, moderately expensive labour.I'd get some oil in bulk from Amazon, you're going to be cycling a lot of fresh oil through it so the cheap stuff won't be in there long enough to matter
BenS94 said:
Jordie Barretts sock said:
BenS94 said:
They're s
t engines sadly. Head gasket issues, timing chain issues, overheating.
It's time has come, clearly. Find something else.
Bit extreme! t engines sadly. Head gasket issues, timing chain issues, overheating.It's time has come, clearly. Find something else.
But yeah, a litre per 1000km is the standard issue get out of jail card for all car makers, which basically means yeah mate, your friday afternoon engine is within tolerance, so do one.
It's using 3 to 4 litres a year.
That's about the same as an oil change.
As the car is worth so little and is clearly suffering from neglect or just the fact its a Vauxhall I think the best course of action is to just keep topping it up until it fails an MOT.
You might as well forego the actual oil change assuming you regularly serviced as it's effectively getting fresh oil every year anyway.
That's about the same as an oil change.
As the car is worth so little and is clearly suffering from neglect or just the fact its a Vauxhall I think the best course of action is to just keep topping it up until it fails an MOT.
You might as well forego the actual oil change assuming you regularly serviced as it's effectively getting fresh oil every year anyway.
ChocolateFrog said:
You might as well forego the actual oil change assuming you regularly serviced as it's effectively getting fresh oil every year anyway.
Absolutely do not follow this advice.The oil that is burning off is filtered.
The filter is still full of crud as is the oil in the sump.
SturdyHSV said:
The cost of fixing the issue vs the cost of the ongoing perpetual oil change may see you stocking up on 5w30 or whatever it eats
Oil consumption will be because it's burning it off, or it's leaking out. You've said it's not leaking out, if you're that way inclined it might be worth getting under the car, spraying a lot of brake clean etc. about the place and wiping it down as best you can to get as much gunk off as possible, drive it another few months and see if an obvious new trail of oil has appeared.
If it isn't leaking, it's burning it off. If it parps out blue smoke out when you start it up, it's potentially valve stem seals. Cheap parts, expensive labour. If it's just generally burning it off it's more likely piston rings letting oil by into the combustion chamber. Slightly more expensive parts, much more expensive labour.
Or if it's turbocharged and the turbo is oil fed, something in that general area, I don't mess about with turbos so no experience with that but likely expensive parts, moderately expensive labour.
I'd get some oil in bulk from Amazon, you're going to be cycling a lot of fresh oil through it so the cheap stuff won't be in there long enough to matter
This 100%, if it is not leaking it means the engine is worn and burning oil. It will not be economically viable to get it replaced so the best thing to do is to just keep an eye on the oil and keep topping it up until it dies.Oil consumption will be because it's burning it off, or it's leaking out. You've said it's not leaking out, if you're that way inclined it might be worth getting under the car, spraying a lot of brake clean etc. about the place and wiping it down as best you can to get as much gunk off as possible, drive it another few months and see if an obvious new trail of oil has appeared.
If it isn't leaking, it's burning it off. If it parps out blue smoke out when you start it up, it's potentially valve stem seals. Cheap parts, expensive labour. If it's just generally burning it off it's more likely piston rings letting oil by into the combustion chamber. Slightly more expensive parts, much more expensive labour.
Or if it's turbocharged and the turbo is oil fed, something in that general area, I don't mess about with turbos so no experience with that
but likely expensive parts, moderately expensive labour.I'd get some oil in bulk from Amazon, you're going to be cycling a lot of fresh oil through it so the cheap stuff won't be in there long enough to matter
It'll kill the catalytic converter fairly quickly burning a litre of oil every 400 miles, but I concur that it's just a car to be run in a state of "managed retreat" now.
What I've found usually kills off crap little hatches that burn loads of oil is being run low on oil because nobody checks and tops it up until the pressure light is flashing!
Mind you if you're barely using it and when you do it's short gentle trips it will do it the absolute world of good to take it for a long couple of hour drive and rag the ever loving crap out of it.
What I've found usually kills off crap little hatches that burn loads of oil is being run low on oil because nobody checks and tops it up until the pressure light is flashing!
Mind you if you're barely using it and when you do it's short gentle trips it will do it the absolute world of good to take it for a long couple of hour drive and rag the ever loving crap out of it.
E-bmw said:
ChocolateFrog said:
You might as well forego the actual oil change assuming you regularly serviced as it's effectively getting fresh oil every year anyway.
Absolutely do not follow this advice.The oil that is burning off is filtered.
The filter is still full of crud as is the oil in the sump.
You'd have to be stupid to waste money doing oil changes on an engine that's burning a litre every 300 miles and in a car worth no more than scrap value in its current state.
And if he's anywhere near the point that the filter is being bypassed it's been abused already.
The oil is the sump is getting replaced every 1200 miles, explain how it is full of crud?
Edited by ChocolateFrog on Wednesday 17th July 14:22
Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff