Dry Dipstick story

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I was out working on my brakes
My neighbor comes home in his 13 year old BMW

The engine sounds horrible. As he runs inside, I yell to check the oil, then instead just decide to go over and check it myself.

After I pop the hood he comes out with a rag and we check it together. The dipstick is dry.

He has some valvoline5w-40, so i dump that in.

Dipstick still dry.

We dump in a quart of formula shell 5w-30.

Now level barely touches the dipstick.

We about a mile from a AP store, downhill, and he drives there.

He just pulled back in, engine nice and quiet again.

He just told me it took another 1.5 quarts to the to full line.

6000 since last oil change

A quick search says the vehicle has a 6.5 quart sump.
 
He's got an oil burner!

Last summer my brother was following me in his old Lexus that burns oil from Montana to Phoenix, AZ. We skipped checking the oil on one fill up at the gas station and then the oil pressure light flickered. We pulled over and it was 2 quarts low lol. Only had been 5-600 miles since we last topped off...
 
I love it I was able to retire at 50 because of the brilliant people that own internal combustion engines.
 
Originally Posted By: wirelessF
So much for that M54, probably has a bad crankcase separator valve or CCV that causes the engine to eat oil though the CCV.


I just relayed this info to the owner. THX
 
Hahaha. When I was 16, I had a 1975 Thunderbird. Oh yeah, 460 cubic inches of gutless power. Anyways, like a lot of teenage kids back then, I ran the dog [censored] out of that thing. I knew when the lifters started chattering, I had to dump in two quarts of oil. Those were the days....
 
Your in California have him move up to Mobil 1 15w50 if you can find it in jugs or the 5w50.

Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w40 is another option if you want to try that before going extreme.

Hopefully he learned his lesson here, sounds like he was very close to seizing the engine had he kept driving and burned any more if it was already making racquet.
 
had a similar thing happen to me today. A friend who also has an 08 silverado that he recently bought with 130k miles on it was showing me it. while we were looking under his hood i pulled the dipstick and it was dry. i told him i have a qt of 5w30 synpower in my tool box. i put my qt in and waited a couple mins and pulled the stick. still dry.

Long story short we took my truck to walmart and he bought 6 qt's and a filter and changed it right away. he does all highway mile and his OLM was at 8% which was 9400 miles. I lost a Qt of synpower, but at least he knows now to keep an eye on the oil. less than 4qt's drained when he pulled the plug, and that was counting my fresh qt. I was surprised the sump wasnt sucking itself dry under acceleration with only ~ 3qt in the 6 qt sump

I told him he better check his oil every time he fills up so he doesn't keep running it low.
 
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You glad that that bimmer had a dipstick.

New ones don't have it anymore

Btw

57.gif
 
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Your friend need to lease the new electric i8 BMW. The manufacturer does not want you to even open the hood. If you want to see under the hood you are advised to go to the BMW service department. It will take 2 technicians to do the job.

Link.
 
Originally Posted By: Stewie
You glad that that bimmer had a dipstick.

New ones don't have it anymore

Btw

57.gif



The newer ones are better for idiots because they get low oil warnings on the dash.
 
In the early 1980's Yamaha stopped putting oil pressure warning lights on their motorcycles and went with a low oil level light.
So few engines are lost to oil pressure compared to low oil level that they made the change.

Makes me wonder why autos don't do the same.

Smoky
 
A guy I work with started to get lugging and knocking... As stated above people just don't think to check their oil anymore.

Now that I am starting to think of used cars in advance, I will pull the dipstick first thing when I go to see a vehicle.

Such a shame...
 
My latest saturn had about 3/4 of one quart of oil combined in the sump and thimble filter. Ran fine, no noises.

The dipstick just had some black, coke-like condensate on it. I decided it wouldn't be worth topping off, and drained it to start over fresh.

It's happy as a pig in poo on some Peak 10w40 I got for $.60/quart, and hasn't consumed anything noticeable in 400 miles.
21.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Smoky14
In the early 1980's Yamaha stopped putting oil pressure warning lights on their motorcycles and went with a low oil level light.
So few engines are lost to oil pressure compared to low oil level that they made the change.

Makes me wonder why autos don't do the same.

Smoky


They have had them off and on over the years. 80's Ford's had them depending on trim and model. My '89 Town Car had a low oil level light, as did my '87 Mustang GT. Both had a little amber light on them that came on and said to check oil level. It would come on when you were down a quart.

My M5 has one as well, comes on when you are down 1L.
 
An old BMW using a quart every 2K or so?
Nothing unusual in that.
Shame that the owner doesn't check the oil level every so often, before half of the oil is gone.
IIRC, the oil capacity is 6.5 liters, or 6.9 qts.
 
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