Getting Nervous. Where did my oil go?

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 6:28 pm

Ok not long ago my car had a service a trusted mechanic does all of the cars at home which is 4 of them. He replaced the oil

I parked it on a relatively flat surface if anything the front of the car is lower so youd expect the oil to pool there. I checked the dip stick pulled it out wiped it then put it back in. Nothing not even registering. I turned it over, running very smoothly cant hear the lifters or anything. and still nothing! i have some castrol 10-40W so ill check it again in about an hour and if not ill put some in until it registers.

But im puzzled if i do put more in where did my oil go? its not leaking on the driveway, so i can only assume if it does need oil its burnt it all.
Might check the plugs.

Post by **TOONGA** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 6:46 pm

my brumby only needs a half a litre of oil to dissapear for the dipstick not to read its really annoying

what are you driving and how many kms has it done?

and how cold has it been in your area?

TOONGA

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:12 pm

Its a 1993 Subaru Liberty Wagon i think i ahve found where it was dropping it from. So its got an EJ22 in it done almost 280 thou and still runs sweet. It went down to about 5 degrees last night but it has been a fairly warm day, even after running it till it gets warm i still reads zero.

Under the engine looking up towards the airbox area.

Top left of the engine near the airbox.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:15 pm

Sounds like you have leaky cam shaft seals and or rocker cover gaskets. but I beat its cam shaft seals.. only way to find out is to remove timing belt cover.
Cheers
AP

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:19 pm

thanks ive got work this weekend and im borrowing my brothers car so in my free time im taking out radiator and having a closer look im also going to be replacing the timing belt at the same time because it was last done at 200k and im at 280k pretty much. I also found out in service history that it had a new clutch at 200k service so sweet!

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:19 pm

You certainly have some oil leaks....but I'm not convinced that's the problem at all. For there to be insufficient oil in the sump to register on the dip stick, there would have to be a massive puddle under the car, or a noticeable trail of drips on the ground from your journey. I'd say your mechanic has forgotten to put the oil in (trusted or not, this is not an uncommon occurrence).

Try putting oil in yourself until it registers the "full" mark on the dipstick and then see how it goes.

heh....whatever the outcome, if you are confident in changing timing belts etc yourself then you should probably just change the oil yourself too. I hate trusting this to other people with my cars no matter how simple a job it may be

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:30 pm

well thats the thing it was done not 5 or 6 weeks ago.. i got it done early because i was doing country driving and before i left it had oil in it. Well im more or less confident because of the gregories and i dont really wanna pay the ridiculous price the mechanic would want. I think im just going to keep having a look into this.

All help and opinions are greatly appreciated. Thanks

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:40 pm

FYI, Remove the oil filler cup while you're checking the oil level, bec sometimes you could get incorrect reading while its under pressure/air pushes down etc have you checked the main seal behind the engine where gearbox meets, you'll notice oil leaking at the bottom of the gearbox/cross member, oil can leak while engine is running bec of pressure build up and pushes oil out of the seals, that may be why you didn't see any leaks while not running.
Cheers
AP

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:53 pm

Thanks for that ill give it a look tomoz while in the light. If i am replacing the timing belt do i need to mark it so i am aware of the placement?

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:21 pm

If you do a heap of short trips and the engine never gets up to operating temp, moisture accumulates and the oil level seems to stay constant.
If you go for a long drive, and the engine warms up fully and evaporates all the moisture, you will appear to loose all your oil.

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:25 pm

Ok, for now i have topped up the oil and taken note of the level. In a weeks time im going to check it again and depending on how much ive lost is whether or not illl do it soon or what ever. Hmm just to add thining about it every time i go for a drive and it does get up to temp When i park i always smell burnt/burning oil. I always assumed it was grease that i got on my catalytic converter when i replaced the cv oil seals.

FROG · Post by **FROG** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:29 pm

how much did you have to put in to get a level on the stick?
ej22 s are a difficult beast to get a decent reading from in my experience
and i would be checking it daily if you are experiencing this

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:32 pm

About two litres. to bring it up to between L and F

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:54 pm

Ok ive climbed under there again wipe it all off so i can see how much leaks but then i found this

and furthur up that bit of exhaust pipe is this

Note this is after i wiped it off in the dark then when i got furthur under i saw the burn trail.

I assume this is the rocker cover gaskets?

Post by **TOONGA** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:57 pm

as said moisture in the engine and oil will give a false reading when cool

from the look of those pics its the front timing seals the harmonic seal rear main and the rocker gaskets a bit of a job but fixable

a long country drive will push the motor down the under body and over the exhaust and running gear as well you should look at it all if its there your car should never rust

(it has by the look of it)

and yes you need to align the timing belt gears to the marks provided in the timing covers and on the engine and timing gears

TOONGA

edited after seeing new pictures

Kappage · Post by **Kappage** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:06 pm

First im going to start with the rocker cover gaskets jack it up high clean ALL of the grease off and go from there.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:23 am

before you start changing the gaskets give it a good power wash to make your job easier. Rocker covers is easy, but cam seals is hard, get new ones from CBC, subaru costs fortune! Its same part but prices difference.
Cheers.
AP

FROG · Post by **FROG** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:17 pm

how much are the CBC ?
cheers

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:25 pm

FROG wrote:how much are the CBC ?
cheers

Last time i got them were something like $6 to 10bucks each.
Cheers
AP

rob83ke70 · Post by **rob83ke70** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 4:04 pm

none of that looks overly fresh to me. I'd wash it, check the oil level every day and keep driving it. check again in a week for leakage.

speculate the mechanic didn't put enough oil in when he serviced it. I'm bad for slightly overfilling engines with oil

Robert.