just did oil change low on oil???

[fedyfedz]

I just did an oil change a week ago and i checked oil today and it is below the cross hairs???? i looked under neath not a drop of oil... i now it might be a quart low right before its time to do an oil change but im running royal purple and i just changed it. Any help would be appreciated. i checked the oil three times just to be sure. also read about the seal from the old filter blah blah blah but i dont see a drop of oil anywhere.(also drove 8 to 9 hours on sunday to nj and back if that matters) its also a 2002 v8

 

[trucknutz]

you probably burned some oil... my guess is that 7 or so hour drive.

..........or possibly but probably not, when you were driving oil could been pumped out but with the engine off or at idle it isnt? idk how to explain it haha :

 

[fedyfedz]

you probably burned some oil... my guess is that 7 or so hour drive.

..........or possibly but probably not, when you were driving oil could been pumped out but with the engine off or at idle it isnt? idk how to explain it haha :

that confused me a bit, thought syntheic could run for longer it hasnt been even 3000 miles yet and im almost out of oil??

 

[trucknutz]

ha yeah forget about the oil pumping i went off on a theory. well how many miles on your ex? even with synthetic you should do it every 3000 miles or 6 months.

 

[fedyfedz]

ha yeah forget about the oil pumping i went off on a theory. well how many miles on your ex? even with synthetic you should do it every 3000 miles or 6 months.

about 85000

 

[jakedrew]

Have you always been running royal purple or you just switch? That stuff is thinner. I would try some regular ford oil and see if it looses any with that stuff.

 

[fedyfedz]

Have you always been running royal purple or you just switch? That stuff is thinner. I would try some regular ford oil and see if it looses any with that stuff.

this is my 3rd or 4th oil change since i got the truck and I used royal purple every time.

 

[davidhicks16]

how many qts did you put in when you changed it? Did you start the truck after the oil change and let the filter fill up before you checked the oil?
I found a lot of vehicles post 2000 take like 6 1/2 to 7 qts of oil.

 

[jakedrew]

pull your spark plugs and take a peek at them.

 

[RickM]

Fedy, Interesting observation. I mentioned a few times (sorry to repeat myself), that I had done an oil change on my wife's 86k mile, '02 V8 and the engine seized approx a month later. I check the level every 2 weeks or so. The engine had no oil whatsoever in it. That's alot of oil to disappear in 2 weeks. There were no drips, external leaks or traces of oil otherwise. Ironically this was the first oil change using the Penzoil synthetic that touts the fact that it rids your engine of sludge......the irony?......when opened the engine was totally choked with gunk.
There's more to the story but I wonder what would have happened if you went a bit longer...would you have suffered the same result?

For the record, I used Mobil 1 synthetic since the truck was new.

 

[waskly]

how many quarts did you put in the car to start with, if i recall a 02 is 6 1/2 quarts for a v8

sorry i dont really do oil changes but i'm pretty certain.

 

[Willard]

Did you check the level after you had started it when you changed it? I've heard of a lot of people skipping this step which would explain it. Once you start it, it fills up the filter which takes about a quart of oil by itself.

If that isn't the case, check out your coolant. If it looks like chocolate milk, bad head gasket or cracked head. If you burned that much oil that quickly you would have seen smoke most likely.

 

[sean99]

ha yeah forget about the oil pumping i went off on a theory. well how many miles on your ex? even with synthetic you should do it every 3000 miles or 6 months.

Amsoil can go up to 25k miles or a year...might want to test the oil before putting that kind of mileage though. I only do around 5k a year and change the oil once a year. I burned up about a qt. over a years time on a v6 140k miles. You probably left it a qt low on refill.

 

[trucknutz]

Amsoil can go up to 25k miles or a year...might want to test the oil before putting that kind of mileage though. I only do around 5k a year and change the oil once a year. I burned up about a qt. over a years time on a v6 140k miles. You probably left it a qt low on refill.

i would never go 25k haha... even if it said it could last that long

 

[sean99]

100k miles on four oil changes does sound a little scary...an oil analysis would be the only way.

 

[muzzymaniac]

I just did an oil change a week ago and i checked oil today and it is below the cross hairs???? i looked under neath not a drop of oil... i now it might be a quart low right before its time to do an oil change but im running royal purple and i just changed it. Any help would be appreciated. i checked the oil three times just to be sure. also read about the seal from the old filter blah blah blah but i dont see a drop of oil anywhere.(also drove 8 to 9 hours on sunday to nj and back if that matters) its also a 2002 v8

It is accepted to have some oil usage in even new vehicles. My wifes Subaru uses synthetic oil like mad but not so with dino oil. I attribute it to the thinner quality of the synthetic.

that confused me a bit, thought syntheic could run for longer it hasnt been even 3000 miles yet and im almost out of oil??

Having a longer running life and getting burnt or leaked are 2 different things.

ha yeah forget about the oil pumping i went off on a theory. well how many miles on your ex? even with synthetic you should do it every 3000 miles or 6 months.

Hahahahahaha yeah, the oil companies appreciate your business.

this is my 3rd or 4th oil change since i got the truck and I used royal purple every time.

What is your normal oil change schedule? How many miles and have you noticed loss of oil before?

Did you verify the oil level when you changed it? Exactly how much did you put in?
Have you noticed any coolant loss? Worse case you could have a head gasket leak.

 

[03 Explorer XLT]

Isn't the low mark on the dip stick 1 quart less than full? I thought I saw that somewhere.

I always fill the oil filter before I put it on. It's the first thing I do so the oil can soak into it. I top it off a few times, so it full when I put it on.

 

[fedyfedz]

wow got alot of responses since i last checked...ok so here it is ive made some stupid noobie mistakes. im going to try an answer everyone's questions at once.

I do an oil change every time the computer says to and it is set to 3000 which i might change depending how this works out. Oddly enough my truck is still running ok the temp gauge for the oil hasnt moved its where it always is still havent put oil in it havent driven it going to get oil today. My mechanic friend said if i had a head gasket leak there would be viewable oil build up that i would be able to see on top of the engine or somewhere, i looked and nothing, since i bought the car in feb i started using royal purple the first couple of oil changes went fine and i still had oil in there. i cant remember yesterday so i cant remember how many quarts i put in the previous times but this time i put 5 in and i read the manual today and it says 6. so if the filter holds one then that leaves me with 4 and since royal purple is thinner and i drove about 8 to 9 hours all day bumper to bumper traffic and highway driving would that casue me to burn oil? I have also done seafoam on the previous oil change and everything seemed fine after that. any insight?

 

[matt0248]

My 02 4.6 takes closer to 7qts with a amzoil filter. go through about a qt of oil every 5000 miles or so. Maybe it just wasn't filled enough. Aclose friend had a simial issue with a new-to-him truck he bought from a dealership. He had is oil changed at a jiffy lube or something like that. He checked his oil a few days later and it was 2 quarts low. Took it to the delearship. they drained and added the correct amount of oil. He drove it for 3000 miles with no loss of oil. The oil change place shorted him oil.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Oddly enough my truck is still running ok the temp gauge for the oil hasnt moved its where it always is still havent put oil in it havent driven it going to get oil today. My mechanic friend said if i had a head gasket leak there would be viewable oil build up that i would be able to see on top of the engine or somewhere, i looked and nothing, since i bought the car in feb i started using royal purple the first couple of oil changes went fine and i still had oil in there. i cant remember yesterday so i cant remember how many quarts i put in the previous times but this time i put 5 in and i read the manual today and it says 6. so if the filter holds one then that leaves me with 4 and since royal purple is thinner and i drove about 8 to 9 hours all day bumper to bumper traffic and highway driving would that casue me to burn oil? I have also done seafoam on the previous oil change and everything seemed fine after that. any insight?

The oil pressure gauge is just an indication that your sensor is reading that you have oil pressure. It isn't a level indicator, or an oil temp indicator. It really has no bearing on how much oil you have, unless you have none that it can create pressure with.

If the book says 6, and you put in 5, there is your missing quart. It should say how much oil to refill with a filter change. If it says 6, you need to fill with 6 quarts when you change the filter. When I change mine, I pour some into the filter, attach it, then pour the rest of that quart into the oil fill, then fill with the rest.

Get the correct amount of oil in, thin or not- then address the situation if the level drops.