[.:Liquid Reality:.]

I think my car may be burning oil. the oil light came on after only 2000 miles after i changed the oil and the filter. I don't think it is leaking, it doesn't leave any spots in the driveway. Exhaust seems to be burning clean, no smoke or anything. The oil was Castrol GTX.

+ What causes oil to burn, and how can the problem be slowed, or stopped?

 

[.:Liquid Reality:.]

and i forgot to mention, the dipstick reads at almost nothing, and the car knocks during idle when you start it up.

 

[anarchyx34]

Dude, I hate to break it to you, but it sounds like you have a serious problem. The oil light isnt an oil level indicator, but rather an oil pressure warning. The light generally only comes on when the oil pressure is, well, almost non-existant. The fact that you now hear a knocking noise when you start the engine tells me that you've damaged a rod bearing or due to oil starvation (it might only be a collapsed HLA though). As far as where the oil can be going, if it's not leaking, its either going through worn valve stem seals, or worn rings. The former is the most common. Regardless, you should be looking for a new engine right now. If I were you I'd take it to a competant shop, and have them perform a leakdown test and see where that oil is going and to see if you damaged anything by running the oil so low.

 

[.:Liquid Reality:.]

Alright, that really sucks.

 

[.:Liquid Reality:.]

What could have caused each of the problems you mentioned?

 

[.:Liquid Reality:.]

Sorry in advance for the multiple posts...

The knocking goes away after a few minutes of driving, and the light only flashes the first start of the day.

The reason i ask what could have caused the problem is that this car was previously owned by a female driver, so i am assuming it wasn't beat on. When i got the car two months ago it had 105k on the engine, and ran great. Scince then i have put over 5 thou on it, and it still runs without any indication that there is a problem.

I also put a crack in the air intake pipe on a REALLY cold winter night dropping the clutch in second, which i have sealed with electrical tape for now, and i slid sideways into a snowbank/curb at about 25 mph.

That's about all the abuse it's seen as far as i know.

There is nothing that can be done short of a new engine?

 

[anarchyx34]

Ok, things may be different now that you're saying the light only comes on when you first start the car. Does it do this even if the oil's filled to the proper level? What kind of oil filter are you using? The knocking noise I'm starting to believe is HLA noise, which is a common occurance in our cars which is also aggravated by low oil pressure. You need to check the oil pressure with a pressure guage to find out what the problem could be. On the dipstick, the distance from the full mark to the low mark indicates 1 quart, so if you were only a quart low, that's not really a big deal. From your first post I thought the light came on while you already had been driving for a while. That's why I thought your engine was screwed. So check the oil pressure at startup and under normal temp. The oil pressure is supposed to be high at startup, if it isnt, then maybe your oil pressure switch is bad.

 

[anarchyx34]

Also, have you actually gone underneath the car and looked for leaks? It wont necessarily leave oil drops where you park the car if it's leaking. In fact the more I think about it, the more I can imagine the oil filter's gasket having a leak, and it only happens when the car is running, so check that out. That also might explain the slow oil pressure build up.

 

[.:Liquid Reality:.]

No it doesn't, i added two quarts today, and it's stopped, i am going to see if it lights tomarrow when i start it.

yeah, it's a ****ing cheap ass filter from NAPA, what can i say?

So shit, that's only one quart? I was wondering why the indicators were so close, i think that is kinda stupid personally... So i'll get my ass under there and look for leaking oil, check the pressure, and i'll get back to you.

Thanks for all the help btw, i appreciate your quick replies and detailed advice and explanations.

Also, i mentiond how i slammed my 6 into a snow bank. it makes a rubbing noise, and as far as i can see, there isn't any contact with the wheel or rim. The noise gets a bit louder during steering, and there is a slight shaking in the steering wheel when steering and braking, so the caplier or disk might be bent or some shit? I am making an appointment for that tomarrow actaully...

 

[magik8]

I would say to get used to the burning oil thing. My car burns about a quart a month or so. I'm not sure exactly what's wrong, because mine does noticebly burn oil for a few seconds only sometimes after cold startups... probably a valve stem seal or some sort of seal in the motor. Just check your oil often and make sure you're not running it out of oil.

Also, you mention the "knocking sound" when you start the car sometimes... this is normal, because when your car is not running, all of the oil settles to the bottom of the oil pan, and when you start the car, the oil pump must pump that oil up to the top of the engine, making the tappets rattle for a short time.