General using a small amount of oil

[Brettob]

Hi
my 2010 1.2 4x4 panda was serviced in september 2013 by local garage and they put 5w30 oil in . Manual says 5w40 but was assured this would be ok . There wasnt any oil use over the winter but last time i checked it was about 1/3 up from minimum line. Could this be because the oil is too thin now the weather is warmer and 5w 40 should be used or has it just used a bit of oil for some reason ? only done 3000 miles since september and car has done only 26000 in total and never had to top up before.
Thanks

 

[Goudrons]

I think there's a lot of confusion regarding which grade of oil.
I believe
5W40 is what is recommended generally.
5W30 is what is recommended in colder climates.

All engines use a bit of oil and manufacturers usually state a tolerance of what's acceptable, these amounts can sound quite frightening when whole litres are stated, but your small difference shouldn't be too worrying.

I don't think there's more than around 750ml difference between top and bottom mark and a little use usually shocks those that don't check the oil often enough!

A worn engine can use oil quite heavily, not only drawing the oil past the piston rings and burning it, but blowing exhaust gases back the other way past the rings will tend to blow oil out of the crankcase breather as well.

A cold engine will tend to do the latter to a small extent, piston/bore and rings are machined with a tolerance to allow for expansion when hot, otherwise it'll heat up, expand and sieze, so lots of cold start/short trips will effect oil usage.

There's a few other things apart for burning oil that can effect the level.
The car being not quite level when dipped
A leak
Comparing a cold reading to a hot one (hot oil will expand)
Comparing a level that's had time to settle to one that hasn't.

It's always best to try and check when the car is parked on the level (parked in the same place if possible) and 20 minutes after turning the engine off, this will give you a good base to compare similar readings over time.

 

[Brettob]

Thanks for the reply very informative. Think i will top up for now but do a oil change with 10w 40. when the sump guard is removed i will be able to see better for small oil leaks but not expecting any to be honest as no drops on drive etc.
thanks again

 

[varesecrazy]

worth looking for leaks,
unlikely it's "burning" it at such a low mileage..unless it's had a hard life..!!

 

[The Beard]

A neighbour of ours has a Peugeot 207 petrol which seemed to be using a bit of oil. According to her, the handbook says the car could well use up to 1 litre per 1,000 miles. I suggested she have a look on some Peugeot forums and see what they say and, according to her, the forum backed up what the handbook says.

That kind of consumption equates to around a gallon between services!

 

[zanes]

Or, another way of putting that, a full oil change between services!

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

My 1.2 4x4, which I bought with 18k on the clok and now has 130k has always tended to 'use' oil -- I guess in part because I tend to work it hard. With modern cat cars, you can't see the oil being burned off as the cat hides this -- teh tell-tale blue exhaust of years past is long gone. But I know its getting into the cylinders as sometimes it runs rough after starting, owing to oil on the plugs. I've not worried about it, and top up with a couple of litres of oil or more (spread over time of course!) between services -- as I say, been like that all the time I've had it.

The numbers on oil - the '5W' is how thin or thick the oil is when cold (w=winter), and the 30 for when its hot. Thinner (so smaller number) is better in our 'average' climate, reducing drag and so being more efficient after starting. (My Volvo uses 0-30 oil as part of their 'DRIVe' eco-spec to be super efficient at cold). 30 or 40 are also both fine here -- in really hot climates you'd need 40 to avoid oil getting too 'thin' in really hot weather. No need to change to 10W-40

 

[JD82]

My car burned a bit of oil when new, around 1 litre per year (4000 miles) it seems to have settled down now (almost 17,000 miles). I phoned FIAT and they say that 1 litre per 1000 miles is acceptable so mine at 250ml is not too bad.

I put my use down to all the constant short stop start journeys my car makes.

 

[The Beard]

Mrs. Beard's Alfa 156 2.0 Veloce with (now) 97,000 miles on the clock hasn't used more than a couple of litres per year and she covers around 10,000 miles every 12 months. It's never below just above halfway on the dipstick at the next service.

As a timely contrast, in issue 197 (this month) of Evo magazine the Editor Nick Trott was commenting in the final update on their BMW M6 GC which costs, wait for it......£118,050, and he commented that he had concerns over its oil consumption and asked M5 & M6 owners to get in touch about that matter.

".....and it would appear I wasn't the only one getting through a litre every 1,000 miles....."