Hey Everyone,
I wanted to know if your engines oil being lower is a normal thing in rather extremely low temperature weather?
It is currently around 20 degrees in my city right now, and I checked my oil on rather flat ground and it is lower than when my car was warm(er) than it was earlier on equally flat ground.
I drove to a diner earlier and ate and came back out and checked it and it was a little down. And now it's even lower down. I've NEVER had issues with Oil Leaks. It's a 2006 Jeep Commander with the 4.7L v8 engine. If you have any ideas please let me know. I would hate to have it get low enough to where I'd want to put in another quart of oil and have it be over filled because the oil just lowers in the cold.
This is the engine oil that i put in my last oil change roughly 1000 miles ago. I've heard fully synthetic oils expand and contract more than regular oils. So that could be it?
I've heard fully synthetic oils expand and contract more than regular oils. So that could be it?
Nope.
It's one (or more) of these possibilities:
- engine is leaking oil.
- engine is burning oil.
- you don't drive it enough. The engine isn't getting hot for long enough to evaporate moisture. Cold temps cause water to condense in the engine. Oil gets frothed up and doesn't drain into the pan like it should. This will eventually corrode the bearings and destroy the engine.
Yeah I don't drive it enough. I think I've had it since August and I've maybe put 1800 miles on it. And when I drive to work in the morning, it's barely warmed up unless I specifically go outside and warm it up before leaving. Which I have been doing.
Because I've done two oil changes and checked it probably 20+ times previously before winter and I NEVER had an issue with the oil going anywhere. And I can't imagine an oil leak just starting out of the blue.
Add some oil if it's low. Accidentally going a half quart over the full mark isn't going to hurt anything. Modern engines take 6 quarts or more of oil, my '79 Pontiac has an old V8 that only needs 4 quarts of oil. A half quart's worth of overfill is much more significant in the Pontiac. The biggest danger when overfilling engine oil is the level getting high enough that the crankshaft repeatedly slaps the oil, aerating it like a smoothie. oil filled with air bubbles doesn't lubricate the engine and it will destroy itself. Beyond this danger, extra oil can push out seals and cause leaks, but it still takes a reasonable amount of excess oil to do that.
I can't imagine an oil leak just starting out of the blue.
It's not unheard of. Something can hit the oil filter, or you pop an oil cooler hose, etc..
It's not a bad idea to inspect for leaks.