Silvia Club of NSW

Goddamn,

Heard a tappity at mild load from my engine, checked the oil and it was damn low. 4 litres of Mobil 1 shut up the noise, but I can't understand how a totally stock engine can lose so much oil without showing drips, oil sprays in the engine bay or blowing blue smoke.

The car and engine is totally stock, had it since about 2002 from new. Driven spiritedly but never on the track.

Should this kind of oil loss between service intervals be expected from a middle-aged engine that often visits the redline?

Uh, no...

thanks for the reply..

So W(here)TF has the frikken oil gone? My driveway is perfectly clean, and so is the engine bay. Is it going so gently up the exhaust that it's not showing blue? I guess a few ml per day like a bloody two-stroke wouldn't be too noticable. That would imply a bit of blow-by, a bit of cylinder or ring wear

Do you service your car yourself?

a 4L top up the total fill is only like 3.5L


maybe lots of blow by getting pumped into your intake

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RE service myself - no. Nissan rockdale.

RE 3.5 litre fill: wellll, looks like I over-estimated how much I poured! It also points to how low the level was. I was pissing myself, now I'm worried the noise has only taken a rest and will be back to get serious soon.

When was the last time the engine had an oil change?
if it was from 2002 it would be right lol

Aug '08, about 7000 k ago.

I bloody hope they changed the oil... I checked the dipper when I got it back, looked all shiny.

Now it's time to drive home, hope I get there. Think I'll climb inder with a torch and try to find any sign of leakage. Maybe the door-ding gremlins are draining it, little bastards.

my guess is the tappity you heard was your hydraulic lifters being supplied sludge instead of oil and you've probably done a head gasket or rings if theres no leaks


have a proper look underneath the car for oil leaks
check your coolant for oil and bubbles
take off the intercooler piping that goes to the throttle body and check for oil stains
have some else start the car and you watch the exhaust for smoke

I wouldn't let my oil go past 6 months or 5000K's.

If its the dealers oil its probably mineral, and, after that period of time it would be breaking down with polutants and changed its structure. Evaporation would also be part of the loss. I experienced this with a car my partner owned which had gone into the 8 month without a change but had only travelled 6000ks the oil level had dropped a far bit even though the car had only 30 thousand on it.

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Light travels faster than sound.....thats why some people appear intelligent until they speak.

I've had a look, there's not a single spray of oil in the engine bay or underneath. The driveway is totally clean.

Coolant - ok, didn't think of that.

piping - ok, that's to check for blow-by, right?

If the lifters have been slimed, will they recover with fresh oil or does it need a flush or clean?

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I like my coffee how I like my women: cold, pale, weak and bitter.

hmm - i thought the Nissan 5W-20 is synthetic. I'll check on that. I've been sort-of thinking through the life of the car that I should use the 5000k rule on the oil and filter, better start now.

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I like my coffee how I like my women: cold, pale, weak and bitter.

7K is too long its ment to be 5K.

What oil do you use and what viscosity?

You could have a leak, fucked tubo, fucked rings...... there are a few things that will burn oil in a engine.

some cars that have all ways used mineral will burn synfetic (mine dose, mineral fuck all oil gets burned, synfetic burns in no time, i have 130K and heaps at high revs)

You will have to look into it more.

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Disclaimer: If you have'nt worked it out by now I CANT SPELL FOR SHIT.

The Nissan brande oil. I thought it was synthetic but can't say I've seen the words printed on the bottle. Someone told me they get it from Castrol. I've never seen anything as low as 5W-20 on a shelf anywhere except nissan parts shops.

Some service dood questioned why I was doing the services every 5000, and i said it was in the book, he said nahh, that's more for japan where the winters are freezing, salted roads to clear the ice, etc, or hard driving. I guess I've moved into the hard driving now that I've gotten close to the limits on the beast.

Anyone know a good service center around Mascot? our company moved office 6 months ago. Rockdale is no longer convenient since it's still 20 minutes away. There's plenty of shops around there, but how do you judge them?

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I like my coffee how I like my women: cold, pale, weak and bitter.

I'm in bondi junction in a small garage if you want to bring it to me. pm for details.

the only other place I recommend to people is in ryde - Pro concept.


it's most likely that the oil is getting burnt,and is disappearing out the back in a cloud.
if it's coming from a dealer,and they use a castrol supplier for their oil (no dealership uses genuine factory oil btw)it's most likely a 5w/30 or a 10w40 they've been putting in it. the latter is fine,the former is too thin,and will get burnt.

I suggest you put an oil flush through the engine ,drain it and start fresh with a 10w/40 synthetic and watch the consumption over the next 5,000km.


Justin...

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STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.