Weird Oil Problem

So I fill the oil in my car right before I go away so it's right where it should be and I go away for a few weeks. I get home tonight and check it just to make sure before I go out and there is almost none. There isn't even enough for the dip to have any on it (on flat ground). I can't figure it out because the car has not been moved whatsoever and there is no big stains or puddles on the cement. I poked around the engine with a flash light for a bit and nothing looked "wet" with oil. It MAY be burning a tiny bit but not much, I'm almost 100% sure it's a leak or it's pooling somewhere it shouldn't but I can't figure out where or from what. I drove approx 400KM and lost maybe half a litre to a litre of oil, so in order to burn that much it would have to be pouring blue smoke.

Any ideas would be sweet.

It's either leaking or burning. If there are no leaks its burning, if there are leaks its leaking. Pretty simple stuff.

well you caught me. I stole it all. Yes, all of it.
But seriously, if there are no puddles under your car, then you're burning it. I would get oil drain can, and crack open your drain plug. if oil comes out, then you have oil. Maybe turn the engine over once or twice, to get teh oil pump pumping a bit of oil and see if that changes anything.

I was thinking it leaked when I was driving because I'd for sure notice lots of blue smoke if i burnt almost a litre. But then how does that explain why so little was there after just sitting for a few weeks

Maybe the oil is sitting in your cylinders

corey wrote:

Maybe the oil is sitting in your cylinders

oh god i hope not , first thing tomorrow is open them up to see if any are wet and could be burning, probably a good time for a compression test too!

Some cars have really wonky dip sticks..

At work i had a nissan morano that i swear i pulled the dip stick and it said full.. Pull it again and it was empty. Same thing happend over and over.

on those things, the nissan V6s, you have to let it sit for at least 5-10 mins...with the engine off...then check it..

Justin wrote:

corey wrote:

Maybe the oil is sitting in your cylinders

probably a good time for a compression test too!

Sometimes its best not to know...

I took out the plugs and had a look, the #2 looks like it's almost shot and has oil on it. I can't find the tool to run the compression test so I'm just gonna run out and buy one, I'll probably pick up some new plugs too.

Ah! that is the worse feeling in the world finding oil in the cylinders. Have you started the car up yet?

Yes I have it seems to run okay but I'm not going to actually drive it, I'm heading out of town again tomorrow so there's not much point taking it apart now.

Hey i have done more oil changes then i care to remember since i've been working in a garage for the last year. When you did the oil change once you drained the old oil put on a new filter and filled it with oil up to the fill line did you run the car for a bi then check the oil again? Depending on the vehicle the oil level will drop a certain amount after running since the new filter is now filled with oil. That is the only thing I can think of since you said its not leaking and you don't think its burning oil. Though there are cars out there that have really stupid dipsticks, everytime i check the oil level on any vehicle im working on i alway pull it out and wipe it off then put it back in and check it. When adding oil or running the engine oil splashes on the dipstick and can give false readings. Hopefully this helps you out.

nisrix wrote:

Hey i have done more oil changes then i care to remember since i've been working in a garage for the last year. When you did the oil change once you drained the old oil put on a new filter and filled it with oil up to the fill line did you run the car for a bi then check the oil again? Depending on the vehicle the oil level will drop a certain amount after running since the new filter is now filled with oil. That is the only thing I can think of since you said its not leaking and you don't think its burning oil. Though there are cars out there that have really stupid dipsticks, everytime i check the oil level on any vehicle im working on i alway pull it out and wipe it off then put it back in and check it. When adding oil or running the engine oil splashes on the dipstick and can give false readings. Hopefully this helps you out.

Yes. My dad actually fills the filter with oil before putting it on, and puts oil on the gasket to keep it nice and juicy.

I figured it wouldn't be as simple as that. Though that leaves me stumped, unless a mystical hobo came and stole a liter of oil from that bad boy when you were gone i've got nothing else.