A very MANLY engine oil question!

[Mrs Coach]

I had my car serviced five weeks ago. Charged for the usual including change of oil. Car now playing about so looked at the oil level as the plugs aren't easily accessible (not like me old Fords, gawd bless em!). Not one drop in it. Literally dry as a bone.

To my manly type friends on here - is it at all possible that the beast of the car ate 5 litres of oil in five weeks? There's no leak as not a drop on the drive. Or is it likely that it was drained and they forgot to put the oil back in again?
Not being the 'oil putter inner' in the household, I dont know what an average car consumes in oil in a month.

Cheers for any (sensible) advice!

Mrs Coach.

 

[scooter1]

If there was no oil in it at all then the light would have come. Old VW's and Alfa's burn a lot of oil, and its possible to do 5 litres in as many weeks

 

[vegster]

Sure you are not looking in the screenwash reservoir ?

 

[Gazwag]

Have you had one of these pretty lights come on

 

[Mrs Coach]

Its very pretty. And orange. Which is a bit of a shame, cos I like green better.

 

[Icy Gull]

Top it up immediately and then run the car for 10 mins or until it gets hot. get someone to stand behind the car and rev it hard. If it's burning oil you will see blue smoke

Edit, before you do any of the above check the oil again. There should be a min and max mark on the dipstick and generally to get from min to max will only take a litre of oil. Chances are you've only used about a litre not 5!! Best only put half a litre in 1st just to see if it shows on the dipstick afterwards. If you stick 5 litres in you'll lay a smoke trail like a ww2 destroyer if it only needed a litre.Overfilling is a bad idea!

 

[Mrs Coach]

If there was no oil in it at all then the light would have come. Old VW's and Alfa's burn a lot of oil, and its possible to do 5 litres in as many weeks

It's 11 years old, not a spring chicken now, so it sounds like it could be possible then. An oil burner is not good. Looks like I'll be trading in then. Any suggestions for a cheap car that likes a lot of mileage? Friend has bought one of them i10 or i30 thingies and she seems quite happy with it. Dont think Mr Coach would be too happy to borrow it off me though!!

 

[Mrs Coach]

Top it up immediately and then run the car for 10 mins or until it gets hot. get someone to stand behind the car and rev it hard. If it's burning oil you will see blue smoke

Thanks, will do. x

 

[scooter1]

Does it have to be a big car? Peugeot 106 diesel's are pretty hard wearing and cheap to run

 

[Icy Gull]

Thanks, will do. x

You did see my edit before you put in 5 litres didn't you


Please tell me Mrs Coach is not outside putting 5 litres of oil into her car.....

 

[Easy 10]

Some good dipstick advice from Icy.
Something else that just occurred - are you parked on a really really steep hill ?

 

[algie]

Leave it on a dry surface over night.If This way you can spot oil patches on the floor if there are any.Whats the millege? Doesn't matter how old the car is,if it is regualrly serviced,maintained they will run.To drink that amont of oil in a week you do have some sort of problem.

 

[Icy Gull]

Something else that just occurred - are you parked on a really really steep hill ?

Good point, you should only ever check the oil when the car is on a flat surface

 

[Gazwag]

You did see my edit before you put in 5 litres didn't you


Please tell me Mrs Coach is not outside putting 5 litres of oil into her car.....

Even worse was you didn't mention its ENGINE oil

 

[Mrs Coach]

Heheheh dont worry Icy, it was on a flat surface and it was completely empty. I think it took about 4l and I topped up slowly leaving it five mins each time till it reached the max mark. It really was bone dry, the oil that appeared on the dipstick was golden, no black stuff at all, so it was going into an empty oil container thingy.
Gazwag, it's alright it was EXTRA VIRGIN olive oil, so it hadn't been used before.

 

[Mrs Coach]

Algie, 158k. Regularly serviced. I think it's bye bye to Vicky the Vectra!

 

[algie]

Algie, 158k. Regularly serviced. I think it's bye bye to Vicky the Vectra!

Personally i would get rid of it.Vectra's are awful cars.You want a reliable car with low maintence the Jap cars cannot be touched.

 

[Icy Gull]

Algie, 158k. Regularly serviced. I think it's bye bye to Vicky the Vectra!

Does it sound like a bag of bones and puff LOADS of smoke on the over run (when you take your foot off the accelerator as you coast and then put your foot down again?) That would definitely be happening if it has got through 4 litres in 5 weeks. If it's not blowing smoke and it's not leaking anywhere I'd check it daily before you drive off just to be sure it wasn't underfilled at the last service.

Unless of course you are driving 1,000 miles a week when it would be just about an acceptable oil consumption

 

[Man of Harveys]

Sounds like oneof the gasket's gone: I had an ancient Ford Fiesta that consumed more engine oil than petrol. Age is no excuse: my beloved 11 year old Volkswagen barely consumes any lube oil for months and months at a time and runs like a dream.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Personally i would get rid of it.Vectra's are awful cars.You want a reliable car with low maintence the Jap cars cannot be touched.

...apart from by the Germans, generally. But I may be biased.