scrappydoo

Had a really bad day today. Got up really late, rushed to my car.Tried to start it. It wouldnt start. Great!! bloody typical. It took me about 1-2mins to start it. Ive just recently had it serviced at CVC cardiff. Checked the oil today and BANG, totally empty. So i wacked some in straight away. Now im worried.Might i have caused permenant engine damage,since i only drove it for 5mins, the sensor light didnt come on either beforehand. I used Mobil 1. Is that ok to use, since i havent a clue. What engine oil do you lot use? and my last question, Do you think i will have trouble starting it tommorrow now after newer oil has been introduced?

Thanks guys

Scrappy

Hunk

Oops... my my01 doesn't use a drop of oil. Almost nothing. Where is yours gone?!

CraigD

How much oil did you have to put in?

Beemer_Deano

There's got to be a problem - how recent was the recent service?

They should have replaced the oil, so if it's missing there must be a leak or it must be burning it. If it was low enough to make the car hard to start there could well be wear, although it'll hopefully only shorten the long-term life of the engine a little rather than knack it immediately. Aren't you covered under warranty or by the garage that did the service?

Hope it's OK,

Dean

scrappydoo

I used about 3 quarters of the mobile1 bottle then stopped. It seems to be starting and running ok now. The service was about 6k miles ago and i just checked the receit they gave me and they had put 5 litres of synthetic oil in. Begs the question, 'Did they really put any in to begin with'? Either that or theres something wrong.

Scrappy

555 BOY

The first thing I do when collecting off a service is dip the Oil:-

a, To check it's there & correct amount
b, To check it's clean(new)

To be honest I do this cos I don't trust these places who pay their muppets about £4.50 an hour and expect them to have some dedication and commitment towards their job.

555

p.s Check theres a sump plug washer on it.........thats a classic mistake !

scrappydoo

cheers 555. I will make sure i do that next time. Cant bloody trust people these days anyway.

scrappydoo

Right guys now im wiping out.I was just reading on some power engineering webpage that imprezas should run on 15W-40 grade oil not 0W-40 which i bloody put in the other day. They say its to thin. Your veiws please, urgently.

Thanks guys

scrappy.

Caronte

The difference between 0-40 and 5/10/15/-50 cannot refer to a complete oil burn. In fact te first number refers to the viscosity the oil has when cold, the second when it's hot. Therefore a 50 grade will be more resistant to high engine temperatures than a 40. However this is not sufficient to explain your oil consumption. The first thing I would check is if you have oil leaks somewhere, observing the ground where you parked after one night., If you don't see anything you should check the compression of your engine. This is done by pulling away your sparks and replacing with a suitable instrument that measures the compression inside each cylinder. If compression is lower than normal than the elastic rings( sorry I don't know the translation, but I'm referring to the rings around the piston) could be damaged and the result could be a leak of oil from the base of the engine to the chamber of burns. I suggest to take your car to a mechanic office to check this out. If it doesn't work let me know.
Bye Caronte

M4

Where did you get 0W40 from!? I'd be inclined to drain it all out (you can do it this weekend) and refill the engine to the top mark on the dip-stick with new Mobil-1 or any other top quality synthetic oil (I like that Selenia 20k myself).

Then keep an eye on the level by checking it every week until it moves. I guess you'd spot the oil stains on the floor if it leaked that much so I think you're burning it.

Check how much oil it takes to re-fill it when the level's dropped and then how many miles it took to use that much oil. That'll tell you if your oil consumption is abnormal or not and therefore if the engine's broke.

I wouldn't worry that it didn't start one day - that happens now and again.

M4

M4

Where did you get 0W40 from!? I'd be inclined to drain it all out (you can do it this weekend) and refill the engine to the top mark on the dip-stick with new Mobil-1 or any other top quality synthetic oil (I like that Selenia 20k myself).

Then keep an eye on the level by checking it every week until it moves. I guess you'd spot the oil stains on the floor if it leaked that much so I think you're burning it.

Check how much oil it takes to re-fill it when the level's dropped and then how many miles it took to use that much oil. That'll tell you if your oil consumption is abnormal or not and therefore if the engine's broke.

I wouldn't worry that it didn't start one day - that happens now and again.

M4

Mal K

Mobil 1 motorsport is the one to use, not everywhere stock it though. Mal

Tim Skerry

It seems pretty unlikely that it was hard to start because the oil was low. That would not make it unable to fire. Did you touch the accelerator in your haste to get going? That will usually mess things up, and take a couple of minutes of sitting about to clear.
If the low oil was a problem, then the car would be likely to start, then stop when it got hot.