Oil Problems - Am I the Dipstick?

[Rook]

Now I'm just confused, and whatever happens I need to do something at this stage, so I'll tray and make this as digestible as possible, if you guys would be so kind as to give me your thoughts!

 

- 07 RevUp DE

- Daily commuter, 400 miles a week

- 103k miles on the clock

- Always run on super. As far as myself and the previous owner know, at least.

- Last serviced about 6k miles ago by a Nissan dealer

- Bought earlier this year and serviced about 7k miles before I serviced it, also by a (different) Nissan dealer

- A friend of mine did the service at Nissan and was particularly thorough, he's confident that as far as you can tell by inspection, it's mechanically great for the mileage

 

Over the summer, I was on my way home on the motorway, doing about 50 in a 50mph zone on the M3 (bloody average speed cameras). 2K rpm, engine barely ticking over, just rumbling home. Windows up, heater off, stereo off, so the cabin's (relatively, haha) quiet.

 

I hear a buzzing fade in from silence - it's quiet even at its loudest and slightly muffled. Sounds like an electric motor.

 

Keep listening and realise the oil pressure needle moves down as the noise engages, and also notice that changing the throttle at all makes it immediately stop.

 

I then came off on the slip road, a hard left with some (unnecessarily) hard braking at the end, and I see my oil pressure drop all the way to zero.

 

I got what I thought was a sensible reading off the dipstick later that evening, decided I needed a top-up, and all was fine, I got the car serviced a week later, including an oil change and new filter.

 

Didn't hear the noise again after that day, so assumed it was a result of low oil, and therefore the oil pump.

 

Not a single problem, including occasional oil level checks (though I do mean very occasional) since.

 

Then last week, I hear the noise again. Ah, I think, I need to check the oil.

 

Try repeatedly to to get a sensible reading off the dipstick, indication seems to be that I need to top up, so I top up.

 

Not wholly convinced and with paranoia quickly setting in, the following day, I made extra sure I put the car somewhere level in the road outside my house. I let it warm up, turn it off, and dip after 15, 30 and 60 minutes. All indications are now that I'm about 3cm past the H on the dipstick.

 

I jack it up, open the plug and let I'd say about 0.7l out, now I appear to be about 0.5-1.5cm too high. Running the engine though for a couple of miles around the block, my oil pressure seems low, and when braking, the oil pressure goes right down - something I'd never noticed before. I can't say I'm usually watching my oil pressure when I'm braking.

 

Now I know the dipstick can be unreliable, and I know the oil pressure gauge can be unreliable.

 

My questions are:

1. Any guesses what that noise might have been that I put down as being the oil pump?

2. How risky is being 0.5-1.5cm above 'H' on the dipstick? This may seem a dumb question, but a lot of american forums seem to think it's fine. I was convinced enough to run the car long enough to warm it up and check pressure, but not enough to continue to run it.

3. Do other people's oil gauges drop right down on braking? I know it's because the oil's all running to the front, but is this indicative of a *low* oil level? This is part of the reason for all my confusion here...

4. Does anyone know how much oil L to H is on the dipstick?

5. If my RevUp burns oil, how much do we commonly expect to see burnt per thousand miles?

 

Sorry for all the words, but my brain hurts now. I basically don't know if my dipstick is showing a false high, if I have an oil pump problem, or if I just need to drain a little bit of oil and forget about it - or indeed if I don't need to do anything.

 

Help!

[SHEZZA]

Maybe easier to drain the lot then stick the right amount in, then you know the oil level is right.

[HEADPHONES]

I can't offer any help with the noise I'm afraid.

 

The oil pressure does increase with the revs and drop again when you take your foot off the gas.

However, once warm the lowest my DE will drop to is a touch under the 1/4 marker.

 

I'm also quite sure running with too much oil is not good.

To get an accurate oil reading it's best to leave the car for several hours or overnight.

 

If I remember correctly from L to H on the dipstick is almost a litre.

 

Hope everything works out.

[Juggalo]

If it drops to zero you should hear the engine rattling as it's starved of oil.

I'd probably be paranoid enough to drop the oil sump and check the pick up isn't clogged up.

[ZEUS]

Best way to check the oil is to leave it on level ground over night then check it. If your doing 400 miles a week then I'd be checking the level every week just to be on the safe side. These engines don't survive well on low oil.

As for the noise I cant help but I'm sure Alex or another expert will be along to advise you.

[Ekona]

You need to empty the sump and see what's actually in there. Anything else is just a guess at this point. It sounds like you have the ability to do that without any trouble, so I would do that as a priority.

 

Once dropped, you'll know how much was actually in there and whether you were reading the dipstick correctly.

[HaydnH]

Also its a revup... they drink a bit of oil so check regularly.

[Rook]

So I ended up draining the sump - car unused up to this point.

 

I drained a rather shocking 3.5l after leaving the sump to drain for a good few minutes.

 

Looks like the oil pressure gauge saved the day, I'd have gone on believing my ridiculous misreading of the dipstick had it not been for that.

 

I put some new oil in, starting with the sump plug off to make sure oil was getting all the way from the top of the block to the sump unhindered, which it was. Plugged the sump, ended up putting 4.5l, or thereabouts, in.

 

Reading off the stick now, the collection of oil on the L-H strip is more dense, and sitting pretty well bang on at the moment. I'm just going to have to be more conscious of the thick mystery blobs appearing around that area that created all this drama in the first place.

 

Engine's running perfectly, oil pressures looking much more sensibly, and the pressure doesn't tank anywhere near as much as before.

 

In a separate note, somebody made a claim that Esso's synergy premium unleaded impacted their idle, I've filled up with it today, how long does the system take to make adjustments to new fuel?

 

Thanks all, glad I got it sorted, will sleep much better tonight...

[HEADPHONES]

Good to hear things are running better now.

Just regular oil level checks now to make sure things are ok......best done overnight from now on

Edited January 14, 2016 by HEADPHONES