Noob oil question
 

Ok this is going to sound stupid but...

For every day I've had when I check oil, I turn off car, take out dipstick, wipe it, stick it back in, take it out, and voila I see the oil level.

But when I do this on the civic, it comes up dry. Like empty. And I checked like 2500 after getting an oilchange so I HIGHLY doubt it's all somehow compeltely burnt, the car has less than 200 k on it.

So is this like a Civic thing where it for some reason doesnt show oil, or wtf is happeneing? Obviously if I wipe it, put it back in, turn car on, then off, the look there is oil on it, but I thought you're supposed to check with it off.

Thanks.

well add oil till the marker says there is oil...but first make sure u have the correct dipstick

The correct dipstick eh...explain?

Check first thing in the morning.

oh and u'd be suprised how much oil u can burn in 2500km...a good 2L can be gone on cars where the rings and seals need replacing

for argument sake, match your dipstick up with another from another civic (same generation as yours preferably) check if they are the same length...not all dipsticks are the same

Why would my dipstick not be the right one though? that's kinda weird.

And you think I burnt off all my oil and 2500 km? that kinda blows..

What do you recommend? Just add oil every fillup? or should I replace rings and seals? how much willt hat cost ?

add oil untill it shows up on the dipstick.

and keep your eye on it.

on a side note, would a usdm dipstick be interchangeable with a JDM dipstick for the same engine?

I've seen some of those greddy dipsticks and other aftermarket ones be too long and end up hitting internal engine parts (crank, oil sump etc) and thats not a good thing.

but it is possible somebody lost the dipstick and just threw a new one in there and it happens to be too short...BUT if when u do an oil change with your 3.5L or so the stick shows it to be full, the stick is right...and if after 2500km there is no oil showing up on the stick that oil is goin somewhere

change your PCV lately?

You would be suprised how much oil a Honda can burn. Especially if you are constantly redlining the car. 2 litres is a bit much for 2500km though.

I don't redline, this is my beater, I drive it like a granny to save gas. I put in a little less than a litre of oil, and it shows full now. THe thing I don't get is why does it show ZERO oil? I obviously didnt' have zero oil in there, just a bunch got burned off...so shouldn't it show like half or wahtever? help me out here..

My engine has not even 200 k according to old owner, so why would it burn so much oil? Don't cars with 250k+ burn oil?

How much would it cost to fix the seals? is this something I can do myself?

I'll throw in 10w30 instead of 5w30 next time and hope it doesnt burn it off, is this a good idea?

Ok wtf... liek I said last night i put list about 750 ml of oil, it was full... I checked this morning and it came up dry again. I put the rest in (250 ml ish) and it said it was full.

This can't be right. I drove like 20 km last night, there's no way it burned off THAT much oil in like 30 mins of driving is there? Oh and back to my other question WHY doesn't it show actual level, it only seem to show full or dry... :S help please

Edit: I checked, and no there are no visible leaks...

check your pcv valve like mentioned...hell just replace it its cheap and measure ur dipstick to ensure its the correct length...you may be over filling the oil and its all gettin blown out the pvc system

i can prove it its possible to have that much oil burnt in 20-50km of driving! haha

my first car.. a 91 hatchie... the engine has 2 bad piston and seals were messed, gaskets need replacement... damn that thing... almost 3L burnt in a roundtrip of 80-100km... i remember i was so ghetto, i had like 24 quarts of motor oil in my trunk... coz i drive into london a lot, each trip in, and out, use about 10L of motor oil.... that's about 400km of driving... so yeah! its possible to burn that much oil if you have engine problem

my car was an auto, i drive even more granny back then... 100km/hr on the middle lane along 401! hahahaha :thumbup:


and why isn't it showing the correct level depends on length of dipstick (like cyn.mindset speak) your previous owner might just put another one in too short, so its not getting to the oil even when the oil is actually full... a typical honda 1.6L engine takes roughly 3.5L... so if you poor in 3.5L, run it for a minute, then see where the mark is on your dipstick, that will get you a general idea... and if things still don't look right to you, i suggest you try finding a mechanic to check it out for you =)

good luck

If your car is burning that much oil cause of bad rings, you should be able to see white smoke coming from your exhaust.

actually it would be blue

it might still be leaking, hell, the drain plug gasket might be causing a leak, or maybe the filters a bit loose or something?

but it is possible to burn lots of oil, and get that dipstick checked

just cause the dipstick has no oil on it doesn't mean theres no oil in the motor