Okay, you recently changed your oil and suddenly your oil level warning indicator suddenly lit up. What seems to be the problem? You top up some oil and after a few days, your engine oil level has dipped further to the point that your engine might get damaged.
Sounds like you? If yes, then you are not alone! Most of my viewers are asking me why their engines are always running low on oil. Whenever they check their oil dipsticks, the level has decreased dramatically!
So in this blog post, I’ll tell you the common causes why some car engines burn more oil than the others. Read on!
Reasons Why Your Engine Oil Level is Low
Unlike my previous posts where I discussed heavily on electric vehicles which doesn’t require any motor oil, internal combustion engines especially the modern ones requires to hold large amount of oil.
The oil helps coats all components inside an engine, all of its moving parts which acts as a lubricant to help protect all metal to metal friction, allowing these components to rotate and slide against each other preventing wear and damage.
So if your engine is burning oil at a faster rate than usual, then your engine may have several issues that needs to be fix as soon as possible.
Okay, without further ado, the list below are some of the common reasons why engines lose oil faster than usual.
Engine Oil Leak
Okay, the most common reason why engine oil level decreases is of course engine leak. A leak can be caused by several reasons and your mechanic should be well versed on where to look for oil leaks.
First, check underneath your car in the morning (where the engine is cold) and see exactly where the oil drops are coming from. The oil may come from the top and just crawled downwards so pinpointing the location is quit a challenge.
Look for your oil drain plug, see if it’s just lose and tighten if necessary. Next is to check your oil drain pan, does it have any damage from debris like rocks hitting them while driving? Touch the side of the pan and check for oil. If positive, then remove the drain pan and put a new gasket or a silicon gasket maker to fix the issue.
There are leakage that oil may not even reach the ground. This include oil seals which are found in many areas on your engine. Some are located on the side or front of an engine. If your engine has a turbo, then check if the oil seals of your turbo are still good.
Next thing to check is your valve cover gasket. Overtime due to heat and vibrations, the valve cover gasket (which is commonly sealed using a gasket maker) gets degraded which allows oil to seep out. You will need to dismantle the top cover of your engine to be able to fix this issue.
Excessive Blowby
Read this post to learn what blowby is.
Okay, blowby is one of the most underrated reasons why an engine loses oil overtime. If your engine has a severe blowby issue, then you can lose up to 100ml of oil in just an hour of driving.
A blowby is a normal process of engine combustion as it comes directly from the combustion area. Overtime, piston rings wears significantly allowing fuel, air and oil to reach the crankcase which creates pressure.
This immense pressure is released through a breather in diesel engines, and through a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) in petrol engines. If the pistons can’t prevent excessive gas and oil from escaping the combustion chamber, then more oil and fuel are going to wasted.
This excess oil will reach your turbocharger, intercooler, throttle body, EGR and intake manifold, creating severe carbon build up and sludge to your entire air intake system.
There are two ways to fix this. One is to have your piston rings fixed. You will need an expert mechanic to have your piston rings replaced. But before you do this, you should have your engine to undergo compression test first.
And two, a mild to moderate blowby can be corrected by using an oil catch can. You will still lose some oil but your system will be protected from getting too much carbon and sludge.
Engine Oil Burning
Okay you’ve checked that your engine has no leaks and has not piston rings issue, what’s next?
The next logical reason why your engine runs low on oil is a phenomenon called “oil burning”. Again, all metal parts do degrade overtime which allows oil to seep into the combustion chamber. So how to diagnose if your engine is burning oil?
Number one indicator is a blue smoke coming out of your exhaust. However, this isn’t always the case especially if the amount of oil being burned is just in small amounts which are considered normal.
The best thing to do if you suspect that your engine is consuming more oil than usual, is to prevent further damage to your engine. This means topping off the engine periodically between oil changes so your engine will have complete protection. This is true especially if your engine is not that oil and has less than 100k mileage.
Low Oil Pressure
One thing that I learned from my mechanic friend is that, a low oil pressure issue can spell disaster to your engine. So you have to prevent this from happening or if you have this issue, fix it right as soon as possible.
Oil pressure is detected by the oil pressure switch (or sometimes called oil pressure sending unit). If there’s a significant changes on oil pressure inside the engine, the sensor will trigger the oil level warning light on the dashboard.
If your engine’s oil level is significantly low, this warning light will lit automatically. However, if the reason why your engine is running low on oil is oil leak, then it also affects the oil pressure inside the engine. But of course, there is another reason why your engine has low oil pressure level.
One reason is having an old motor oil. Yes, your oil’s lubrication capacity simply deteriorates overtime, as it breaks down and becomes thinner. This endangers your engine components as the oil can’t provide proper lubrication, and will result to low oil pressure.
So this means that, you should regularly change your oil according to its PMS schedule. Fresh oil will help keep your pistons in good shape while having the right pressure it needs. You should also consider the right oil viscosity for your engine. So always check your owner’s manual for the recommended change oil interval and viscosity.
Summary
There you have it guys! These are the common reasons why an engine may run low on oil. Do you have additional information to share in this topic? Share it with us by commenting below! Until next time guys!
