Outer Limits 4x4 Board

last weekend i was checking all of the vitals of my roza and found that the oil didnt register on the dip stick!, I had only done a service 5000kms ago, so i checked the underside and all around of the motor for leaks but none were found, i also checked the radiator for oil in the coolant, the car dosn't blow smoke and dosn't smell oily so where the hell did my oil go???
Help!!!

have you checked your dipstick? what i mean is has the top shifted? or has the part that fits the cover come loose?

is the stick still straight... but the best question... is it the right dipstick, who did the service?

5000k's is quite a distance to check your vitals - especially something easily checked like the engine oil. I'm assuming that your chosen service interval is 10,000km. It could be that your oil was very low, (could have burnt off within 5000km?). How many km is on the motor? Also possible that the oil level was low right from the service centre - usually it's not an A grader that performs low return service items like oil changes - that's what they have apprentices for. Sad to say, but it would not have been the first time that an apprentice has not completed the assigned job.

Sounds to me like the dreaded "previous owner ran crap fuel and didn't notice her pinging" syndrome.

A few questions:

1) Do you have a knocking sound at startup from cold?

2) Have you checked your compression?

3) Does your oil stay relatively clean, or is it black, between changes?

4) How many kms has your truck done?

5) What sort of driving do you do mostly, city or country/highway?

Unfortunately, this is a common problem with Ferozas, long term pinging eventually stuffs the bottom end of your motor. The colour of your oil will be the best indicator without further investigations...if it's black, it's time to start thinking about a rebuild or a replcement. If you aren't doing long trips on the highway, you should find it'll still last for quite a while, so long as you keep the oil topped up and ONLY run premium unleaded, preferably Shell, Mobil, BP or Caltex.

Cheers,

Philby I wouldn't be too concerned about the oil use, but would recommend that you check the level every 1000km maximum!

If your Feroza's done over 100000km then it will use oil, any car will. Mine's done 170000km and uses around 300ml/ 1000km- but when the sump only holds four litres it doesn't take long for the level to drop on the dipstick. If I only checked it every 5000km then it would have used 1.5 litres of oil- or nearly half the capacity of the sump.......

Just check it more often and top up as needed.

PS: Brand new Gen III V8 Commodores are considered normal if they use more oil than my Feroza does!!!

ok i'm concerned... my oil gets pretty dark after every oil c hange... but so does every car that i've done oil changes.... so wtf...

OK- you should be worried if your oil doesn't get dark - because that means its not doing it's job. Your oil should carry away any contaminants (that's why it looks darker)- otherwise they get deposited in your engine and it fills up with gunk.

Don't panic its nothing to worry about.

Thanks for replying guys,
My roza has done 132000ks, i do check my oil levels every 1000k but it took a sudden drop from the level that it was at last time i checked. my oli goes dark but i wouldn't say black, as i change oil every 5000k, my dip stick seems to be ok too. I havn't done a compression check, and i do country highway driving. I think that has answered all of your questions.
Cheers Philby

If your Feroza's done over 100000km then it will use oil, any car will

I don't believe any car will, my datsuns I have had have done more that 100,000K's and not used a drop still or if they did they were hardly noticeable every 10,000ks but then they were renowned for it. And I used to drive them hard although I did look after them, good warm up etc etc

I mean technically every engine should use a little oil.

PS: Brand new Gen III V8 Commodores are considered normal if they use more oil than my Feroza does!!!

They originally had the wrong sized pistons in them which didn't help

There's all sorts of excuses for the GenIII's using oil including out of round bores in the block, problems with piston rings, people revving them too much when driving.....

Yeah they have copped some flack, just need to find a flogged one cheap and drop the camaro motor in
No oil probs with them beuties

yeah I have had the same problem mystifying me for a year or so too....

WHERE DID MY DAMN OIL GO!

My engine only has 102K on it now - but it has done it since it had 65k on it. The previous owners took care of it too - I know this.

No smoke, no leaks - where does it go??

ANyway, from the sounds of it it just has to be accepted and kept filled up - but why then will other petrol rigs of similar weight for age use little or no oil compared to my feroza which basically just does country kilometres?

Anyway, at least I know others have this issue also .

That's interesting that yours did it from 65000km- I bought mine at 161000km with no service history and from a dealer. So I naturally assumed it was due to the unknown service history and number of km's mine's done.

yeah - mine was bought from a professional couple from hong kong - no offroad pr anything with full dealer service history.

DUDE, WHERES MY OIL?!

well guys. i talked with a friend today who really has his hands into this mechanical stuff and what he has told me has made sense. he told me that the roza engines seem to like runnin hot. and he means HOT! that heat tends to break the oil down pretty quick. so you have to be careful. check your head cover for any dry/ baked on oil. my roza goes through quite a bit of oil and she runs hot. for a little 4 cyl with only 3 quarts of oil.... its amazing the oil even stays in there period.... jus thought i'd share what i found out with you guys.

I have the same problem...

I use heaps of oil, no leak, no smoke... It blows black smoke when I give it some but no blue or white... I will just keep topping it up until it breaks I guess.

Out of interest what viscosity and brand of oil is everyone using? Perhaps also include the number of km's and amount of oil consumed.

Mine: Mobil 1 5W50; 170000km; ~ 300ml /1000km.