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  #1  
Old 01-18-2013, 01:11 AM
ShaneHobson ShaneHobson is offline
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Where has my oil gone ?

Engine made an odd sound today.
Selected 3rd to overtake someone going up a hill.
Kept on going, forgot it was in third and possibly revved to about 6000 rpm.
Certainly doing less than 130 km/h (that's about 80 mph).
Heard an odd sound (very hard to describe), saw I was still in 3rd, selected drive immediately.

Noticed engine made a quiet knocking sound when revved.
Drove 5km home.
Engine made knocking sound when revved a little.

Turned it off, walked away.
Came back 3 hours later.
Engine still warm.
Checked engine oil, nothing on the dip stick.
Odd, engine oil was changed by the dealer about 5000km ago. (I'm a lazy sod and don't check oil levels as frequently as I should, valuable lesson just learned).
Tipped 2 litres of oil in (about 1/2 gallon), still nothing on the dip stick.

No oil on the ground, no sign of oil splatter under the car.

Should I keep tipping oil in the top until it shows correct level on dip stick or is it vanishing somewhere ?

This sounds like a disaster, but the one consolation is that I have parts car with approx 160,000km use. The car I'm driving has done 340,000km

cheers, Shane
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  #2  
Old 01-18-2013, 05:55 AM
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michael michael is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

I'd start from scratch, do a full oil change. If you had your oil done at a dealership you may have a dipstick from another subaru. Stranger things have happened

p.s. a warm engine will read lower on the dipstick. Get a reading on it while it's been sitting for a few hours.
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  #3  
Old 01-18-2013, 06:42 AM
dcarrb dcarrb is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Did you check the level after the last oil change? It's possible the crankcase wasn't properly refilled by the dealership.

dcb
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  #4  
Old 01-18-2013, 10:24 AM
1986nate 1986nate is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by michael View Post
I'd start from scratch, do a full oil change. If you had your oil done at a dealership you may have a dipstick from another subaru. Stranger things have happened

p.s. a warm engine will read lower on the dipstick. Get a reading on it while it's been sitting for a few hours.
It will only read slightly lower from the oil circulating through the system, only about a half quart at most though. And he said he checked it after a few hours. Even if still warm, it's long enough for it to be sitting.

That being said, the engines and cars are aging. It's not at all uncommon for it to be lost through the pcv system, seeping out of seals, etc. And all the while never leave a noticeable mark. Keep adding oil until it is near the full mark, and start it up and see how it runs. It will likely have some valvetrain noise. That may never go away now, and won't be cause for alarm/damage, just an annoyance possible. The biggest fear is if you starved the bearings at all.
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  #5  
Old 01-18-2013, 01:21 PM
ShaneHobson ShaneHobson is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Last night I kept tipping oil in until it reached the mid point on the dip stick (between the two notches).
This morning the oil was still there and not on the floor.
Started it just now and it sounds fine.
Looks like I haven't ruined the engine.
Will go for a drive later today.
Thanks
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  #6  
Old 01-18-2013, 01:45 PM
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Conn SVX Conn SVX is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Keep the Revs down for the 1st 50 or 60 miles. Let the oil work through the engine.
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  #7  
Old 01-20-2013, 12:16 PM
ShaneHobson ShaneHobson is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Drove about 20km down the road and I can hear a knocking sound above 3000 rpm. So drove it home slowly (<1500 rpm) and am assessing options.

Given that I put 4 litres of oil into it (it holds 6 litres) then it was extremely low. And it could have been like that for a while (I just completed a 350km trip on the day I first noticed it).

At the moment I'm guessing I've ruined something and am looking at options for swapping the engine from my parts car into this car.

This one has 343,000km on it, the parts engine has 167,000, so a much younger engine anyway.

Any tips for what I should be checking/replacing on the replacement engine before it is fitted would be welcome.

Thanks
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  #8  
Old 01-20-2013, 02:48 PM
1986nate 1986nate is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

It wouldn't hurt to do a full reseal including head gaskets (and don't forget the head bolts as well) while it's out. Getting parts from here in the states and having them shipped over will still end up cheaper than getting the parts from Subaru dealers there.

At the very least, rear main seal, rear separator plate, all vacuum lines under the intake manifold, I'd strongly suggest valve cover gaskets and spark plugs, and possibly do the front end service right away as well. (though this last one is still easy enough to do with it in the car.)

Edit: Have you ever had or can you get the current parts engine running before pulling it? Make sure there are no odd noises, etc.
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  #9  
Old 01-20-2013, 07:15 PM
ShaneHobson ShaneHobson is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Parts engine is in a car. I'd better hook up the exhaust again. Rear diff is out so I can't drive it, but can certainly get it running.
Thanks for the suggestions. It's going to be pricey, but at least I know it will last a long time.
Is anyone interested in shopping for these parts on my behalf and shipping to me in return for a handling fee ?
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  #10  
Old 01-22-2013, 06:09 PM
ShaneHobson ShaneHobson is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Good news. Found a trusted mechanic who does 'homers'.
Says he will swap engines for about $NZ500
+ parts + extra labour for replacing parts.

Now I just need to start parts shopping.

Has anyone dealt with any of these suppliers ?
Good or bad history ?

Any suggestions for parts sources :
https://www.subaruonlineparts.com
http://www.subarupartsforyou.com
http://www.subarupartsamerica.com

Any other suggestions ?
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  #11  
Old 01-22-2013, 07:11 PM
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michael michael is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Haven't Dealt with any of those but subaruparts.com have always worked well for me. There may even be a coupon floating around here as well.
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  #12  
Old 01-26-2013, 05:35 PM
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stiguy stiguy is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

You should put Lucas oil stabilizer in it and give it a few hundred miles. It made my lifter tick go away from running on bad oil.
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  #13  
Old 01-30-2013, 07:17 PM
ShaneHobson ShaneHobson is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

Has anyone here used www.partstrain.com ?
They seem to have the parts I need, useful online chat help and will ship international.
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  #14  
Old 02-07-2013, 12:57 AM
THE NEW GUY THE NEW GUY is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

hey guys, didn't it turn on the oil pressure light if it would run out of oil? I mean, if the oil pressure light did not illuminate, then the engine has never run without oil...
Another thing: do you know a replacement for Duralube SR3? Or milikote? I cant find any metal conditioner in the market latelly.
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  #15  
Old 02-07-2013, 01:20 AM
ShaneHobson ShaneHobson is offline
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Re: Where has my oil gone ?

I grilled my mechanic about that.
He explained that if the oil had run out and the oil pump was gulping air then the system is still pressurised and so the gauge indicates correct pressure.

I asked about what other gauges/gadgets I could fit to give me some proper warning next time. Apparently the answer is "nothing" unless I want to spend a heap of money on an oil level measurement system like they fit in racing cars.

If anyone else has some better ideas I'd love to hear from you.
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