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The curious case of the vanishing oil...
pulliptears
Posts: 14,583 Forumite
in Motoring
Wondering if this rings any bells for anyone?
DS has an 03 1.2 Polo, 80k on the clock. Was running fine with no misfires etc until yellow oil light came on last week. He limped it home and the dipstick was showing no oil at all.
OH decided to do an oil change as the car is reasonably new to DS, but he discovered he didn't have the correct tool for getting the sump plug off, so in the interim he topped it up. It took a litre and a half of oil.
DS is averaging 50 miles and having to top up a litre and a half. The car is still running well, aside from a small puff of smoke on startup its not pouring out smoke as I'd expect to see with such big oil losses and we cant see oil dripping down anywhere under the car.
With the damp road this morning we have found a rainbow like patch on the road that shows a reasonable loss of oil but where the heck is it coming from? The car has stood on the dry road all week with no evidence of oil underneath, only with the rain can we see a patch. I wondered if this was due to the Polo using a fully synth oil? Is it thinner on the ground so not immediately noticeable?
Our first thoughts went to valve seals and piston rings, but the amount of oil loss coupled with this morning's road discovery seems to discount this.
Its going in to the garage on thursday but anyone read anything there that jumps out at them? Bit baffled to be honest!
Other relevant points:
Its running well (other than eating oil)
Temperature is normal
No smoke other than startup
Head appears normal, no mayo etc to indicate Head Gasket Failure.
DS has an 03 1.2 Polo, 80k on the clock. Was running fine with no misfires etc until yellow oil light came on last week. He limped it home and the dipstick was showing no oil at all.
OH decided to do an oil change as the car is reasonably new to DS, but he discovered he didn't have the correct tool for getting the sump plug off, so in the interim he topped it up. It took a litre and a half of oil.
DS is averaging 50 miles and having to top up a litre and a half. The car is still running well, aside from a small puff of smoke on startup its not pouring out smoke as I'd expect to see with such big oil losses and we cant see oil dripping down anywhere under the car.
With the damp road this morning we have found a rainbow like patch on the road that shows a reasonable loss of oil but where the heck is it coming from? The car has stood on the dry road all week with no evidence of oil underneath, only with the rain can we see a patch. I wondered if this was due to the Polo using a fully synth oil? Is it thinner on the ground so not immediately noticeable?
Our first thoughts went to valve seals and piston rings, but the amount of oil loss coupled with this morning's road discovery seems to discount this.
Its going in to the garage on thursday but anyone read anything there that jumps out at them? Bit baffled to be honest!
Other relevant points:
Its running well (other than eating oil)
Temperature is normal
No smoke other than startup
Head appears normal, no mayo etc to indicate Head Gasket Failure.
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Comments
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Thought it may help to show you the road, DS tells me that he is responsible for the drips around the side from the funnel he's used. He swears up and down he didn't drip oil at the front of the car where the large patch is...
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Well OP I don't know the answer but if you ever find out then please tell me!
I have exactly the same problem but with a different car - a Toyota Avensis 1.8GTi 11 years old. My car does the same "vanishing oil" trick with no leaks and no burning off, I have to keep a very close eye on the levels and top it up every 3-4 weeks depending on how much mileage I've done. I've had it checked over but nothing amiss found. I Googled it and found that I'm not alone - THAT model with THAT engine from THAT year causing the same issue with several owners. I have found that when I stopped using supermarket petrol it did improve, but that may all be in my imagination. :cool:£2 Savers Club 2016 #21 £14/£250
£2 Savers Club 2015 #8 £250£200 :j
Proud to be an OU graduate :j :j
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain0 -
Hezzawithkids wrote: »Well OP I don't know the answer but if you ever find out then please tell me!
I have exactly the same problem but with a different car - a Toyota Avensis 1.8GTi 11 years old. My car does the same "vanishing oil" trick with no leaks and no burning off, I have to keep a very close eye on the levels and top it up every 3-4 weeks depending on how much mileage I've done. I've had it checked over but nothing amiss found. I Googled it and found that I'm not alone - THAT model with THAT engine from THAT year causing the same issue with several owners. I have found that when I stopped using supermarket petrol it did improve, but that may all be in my imagination. :cool:
Its all exceptionally strange. I know VW engines can 'eat' oil, but not this much surely!
I'll update the thread when it's been into the garage.0 -
Need to wait for a dry day and lay some cardboard underneath it to figure out where the leak is occurring.
Remember.......
"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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Even if he "just" admits to causing the smaller puddles of oil, it's quite a careless thing to do on a public road. Frankly I wouldn't trust him when he says he didn't spill it at the front, as it seems to trail around, as if he spilt it at the front and then spilt more as he was walking away...
Park the car somewhere else with some weighed down cardboard underneath and check for leaks overnight, then with the engine running.
You need to confirm it's leaking oil first and then you can get an idea where from.0 -
What oil are you using? With an older car that eats oil might be worth trying a thicker grade0
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Check the spark plugs and see if oil is leaking around the seals.
I had a 1.4 Golf and it was the valve seals. The car ran fine, couldn't see any noticeable difference in performance or driving, only that the spark plug holes gradually started to fill up with oil.0 -
pulliptears wrote: »Thought it may help to show you the road, DS tells me that he is responsible for the drips around the side from the funnel he's used. He swears up and down he didn't drip oil at the front of the car where the large patch is...
Next time tell him to stop pouring as he walks away from the car.0 -
Check the spark plugs and see if oil is leaking around the seals.
I had a 1.4 Golf and it was the valve seals. The car ran fine, couldn't see any noticeable difference in performance or driving, only that the spark plug holes gradually started to fill up with oil.
Oil round the plugs would more than likely be a leaking rocker box gasket.Be Alert..........Britain needs lerts.0 -
Even if he "just" admits to causing the smaller puddles of oil, it's quite a careless thing to do on a public road. Frankly I wouldn't trust him when he says he didn't spill it at the front, as it seems to trail around, as if he spilt it at the front and then spilt more as he was walking away...
Park the car somewhere else with some weighed down cardboard underneath and check for leaks overnight, then with the engine running.
You need to confirm it's leaking oil first and then you can get an idea where from.
To be fair to DS he did say that the side drips were probably from the funnel. I do believe him when he says he didn't spill anything other than when he was returning funnel and oil to the boot. He has no reason to lie to us. The road is now completely dry and all traces of oil are gone, not a patch to be seen so looks like the fully Synth may not be visible as first thought.
Tonight he is putting it on the drive with cardboard underneath so we can see whats happening. He's also assured me when he gets home from work he will scrub the road.jimbo_the_jetset wrote: »What oil are you using? With an older car that eats oil might be worth trying a thicker grade
Its on a 5w30 Fully Synth as recommended by both our local VW and the local Motor Factor we use. Probably is worth trying a thicker grade, at almost £30 a bottle this stuff is like liquid gold so it pains me to see it on the street!!!Check the spark plugs and see if oil is leaking around the seals.
I had a 1.4 Golf and it was the valve seals. The car ran fine, couldn't see any noticeable difference in performance or driving, only that the spark plug holes gradually started to fill up with oil.
Checked the plugs yesterday, OH said they were the worst looking plugs he'd ever seen in his life, but by the time he'd discovered this it was too late to do anything other than clean them up. DS should be picking up a new set on his way home from work. OH didn't see any oil, but will double check when the new plugs go in later.Sgt_Pepper wrote: »Next time tell him to stop pouring as he walks away from the car.
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