Engine oil problem/question
08-04-2002, 05:56 PM
#1
Racer
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Engine oil problem/question
Today on my way out of Walmarts parking lot I noticed my Engine Oil light was on, so I pulled into a parking spot and popped the hood and sure enough it was at the bottom mark. But about 2200 miles ago I did an oil change and filter and made sure I topped it off to the very top mark. I don't drive my car rough, other than at the ride around yesterday (great fun). I've got a couple questions:
1. How much oil are these (89 944NA) supposed to burn?
2. If this isn't normal what could be the problem/solution/cost?
3. If this is a problem how urgent is it?
1. How much oil are these (89 944NA) supposed to burn?
2. If this isn't normal what could be the problem/solution/cost?
3. If this is a problem how urgent is it?
08-04-2002, 08:11 PM
#3
Three Wheelin'
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Uh, Andy, it'll be helpful if you tell us how many miles the car has on it, and what weight oil you're running...
Anyway, a quart or so in 2200 miles is not that bad. ISTR that the factory considers anything up to one liter (or is it quart?) per 600 miles (?) to be acceptable. In town driving generally burns more oil than steady freeway cruising. Lots of stops & starts, running up thru the gears...
First, check for leaks. Drop the undertray and look closely at the bottom & sides of the engine for fresh, wet oil. a few minor seeps are pretty much the norm on these cars at their age.
Second, this is a 13 year-old car; check your oil more often! It's not a gas-and-go Toyota or Honda...
Jim, occasionally guilty of the same failing....
Anyway, a quart or so in 2200 miles is not that bad. ISTR that the factory considers anything up to one liter (or is it quart?) per 600 miles (?) to be acceptable. In town driving generally burns more oil than steady freeway cruising. Lots of stops & starts, running up thru the gears...
First, check for leaks. Drop the undertray and look closely at the bottom & sides of the engine for fresh, wet oil. a few minor seeps are pretty much the norm on these cars at their age.
Second, this is a 13 year-old car; check your oil more often! It's not a gas-and-go Toyota or Honda...
Jim, occasionally guilty of the same failing....
08-04-2002, 08:24 PM
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Just hit 70,000 miles and i'm running 10-W30 super syn in the engine. I havn't run low on oil the last 2 times before my oil change. Guess i'll just check it more often. Thanks for the help
08-04-2002, 09:25 PM
#5
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Andy, two thoughts...
One, depending on where you are climate-wise, you may want to go to a higher viscosity oil in the summer... 10-30 is maybe a little thin for hot weather, and thus gets past the rings & seals slightly quicker when hot. Thinner oils are good for cold weather, where ease of starting is needed.
Locally, we see summer highs in the upper 80's and lows in the mid sixties; I run Castrol Syntec Blend in 20W-50 in the 968 with similar miles to yours; changed every 3-4K miles. Winter, I'll use something lighter for our typical mid-40's days and occasional near-zero nights.
Two, depending on what you or the PO ran in the car before:
There's a school of thought that holds that switching from dino-based oil to synthetic may cause more leakage at seals. This seems to be more of a problem on older cars. This is still a debated issue, with lots of anecdotal evidence on both sides, and not a lot of hard proof either way that I've seen. Similar comments apply to the question of improvements made by changing back to dino after running synthetic...
Hope this helps; there's a ton of info on the web on oil election, some of it very contradictory.
Jim, "Where are we gong, and what's with this handbasket?"
One, depending on where you are climate-wise, you may want to go to a higher viscosity oil in the summer... 10-30 is maybe a little thin for hot weather, and thus gets past the rings & seals slightly quicker when hot. Thinner oils are good for cold weather, where ease of starting is needed.
Locally, we see summer highs in the upper 80's and lows in the mid sixties; I run Castrol Syntec Blend in 20W-50 in the 968 with similar miles to yours; changed every 3-4K miles. Winter, I'll use something lighter for our typical mid-40's days and occasional near-zero nights.
Two, depending on what you or the PO ran in the car before:
There's a school of thought that holds that switching from dino-based oil to synthetic may cause more leakage at seals. This seems to be more of a problem on older cars. This is still a debated issue, with lots of anecdotal evidence on both sides, and not a lot of hard proof either way that I've seen. Similar comments apply to the question of improvements made by changing back to dino after running synthetic...
Hope this helps; there's a ton of info on the web on oil election, some of it very contradictory.
Jim, "Where are we gong, and what's with this handbasket?"