[Guest]

check it weekly as stated above. theres no visible smoke from mine and none on the drive but it still does 1/3 - 1/2 a week depending on how i've thrashed it

 

[norbert]

2 litres is a hell of a lot of oil to be without in an engine that only takes 4 & a bit litres. As said on here many times, check 'em weekly. I bet your variators will be goosed now

Can't believe this guys are letting their bellas get 2 litres short on oil!

 

[zulu ferret]

Not wishing to appear at all rude, but if the basic requirements of an internal combustion engine are unknown/not adhered to, wonder what your car ownership in general is all about. Mainly the easy bit of driving I suppose. Get the bonnets up frequently 'peeps'.

 

[Cravatekid]

I was concerned as I do regularily check my oil, and previously the car has not been thirsty, this time it has been considerably so with no visible signs of a leak. Hence my question.

BTW I manage to run a number of vehicles, and have once or twice had to get my hands dirty - try riding over 10 miles on a 40 year old Lambretta or a 30 year old Triumph without having to pull over and stop to fix something!

 

[norbert]

Not wishing to appear at all rude, but if the basic requirements of an internal combustion engine are unknown/not adhered to, wonder what your car ownership in general is all about. Mainly the easy bit of driving I suppose. Get the bonnets up frequently 'peeps'.

I guess there just isn't a culture of opening bonnets any more, that is partly the manufacturers fault, they increase service intervals endlessly for instance. I guess the average car owner doesn't think that you have to check anything.
A colleague always says ''I have it MOT'd don't I'', she doesn't realise they don't pull the dipstick out for that!

I don't want to sound holier than thou but my dad brought me up tinkering with his Dolomite/Marina/Austin 1100 etc on a saturday morning, OK I am no mechanic but I still do all the checks, oil and filters etc. Don't see why I should pay someone else to do it, and you know it's been done properly if you do it yourself.

ZF I concur with your thoughts on oil changes, have always done the oil on all my previous cars every 6 months.

Cravate, I wasn't having a go btw..I noticed you have a classic Porsche there anyway, one of my all time favorite cars. Is the 911T the 2.2? Coupe or Targa? Not the fastest Porsche but a beauty nontheless.

 

[Cravatekid]

Sorry for sounding churlish earlier on, but I've played with cars for over 20 years and fully apreciate Alfas with regards to checking oil as my Dad had a 75 that drank litres of the sticky stuff!

I've got a 2.4 litre 1972 911 T Targa, I had it imported from the States 10 years ago, it's got mechanical fuel injection which I've had completely re-built by Machtech (Big , big job) and now helps the car deliver 170 BHP.

That puts it in 911S territory which is the car I'd love to own but at over 35k, is out of my reach.

By the way it's finally for sale and if anyones interested I'll happily PM more details.

 

[zulu ferret]

Wasn't being spiteful, or personal, just a general open comment. Sorry if it seemed so. Sounds like you were also a bit of a pioneer in past times with your two wheeled escapades.Just that I feel Alfa's suffer a bit for being driven hard, with not enough regard to the basics. Mucky hands? Try track repairs on a 65 Ton Conqueror Tank, after that day's work, a 15 mile ride on a 6 day's trials machine, Francis Barnett 197 villiers engine, mid winter,direct lighting,no battery, to relax with a sweet Fraulein! Where did I get the energy??

 

[Cravatekid]

Cheers Zulu, no problem, I suppose I didn't want to come across too Virginal being new to this forum.

Sounds like an interesting life you lead...not new to swarfega I imagine?

 

[zulu ferret]

No, cracked Winter hands a bonus! Never had the stuff when working on the Panzers, so the cracked hands probably ensued from paraffin washing with soaked cotton waste, think that came from the old Lancs. Mills? 'E' By, Gum. Boring History now tho' C Kid.

 

[Cravatekid]

As a pen pushing naval gazer I love to get a bit of dirt under my fingernails!! Makes me feel human

Anyway - back to the subject in hand is there such a thing as normal oil consuption for a 2.0 147?

 

[zulu ferret]

Stange one this CJ, some folks seem to suffer from oil consumption problems, some apparently, never have to top up even! We seem to be in the latter group, fortunately. Remember Jaguars years ago, not accepting claims for excessive oil consumption, as they would if driven hard! Rumour had it they were designed so, and if the owners paid attention to this, the engine would receive a reasonable amount of fresh oil. The manufacturers put the onus on the driver in those days, I reckon!

 

[Cravatekid]

We used to have a MK11 Jag as our family car in the 70's

Had to sell it as the cost of oil got excessive - shame now as it was a beauty - 3.4 MK 2, Grey with Red Leather seats.

I can still smell it.

 

[zulu ferret]

They were a real prestige machine in the 60's. Although someone said quite rightly, criminals had them as well. Mind you, so did the Police, black 'S' types in the Met. to catch'em. Regarding oil consumption, back on thread, reckon Alfa's like the Jag's, when thrashed, sup a bit of oil. Engine protection, because most like to rev the motors just for the sheer hell of it. Not quite the same in more mundane machines.

 

[muli]

so the reason why i use so much oil is cause i hammer it too much?

 

[jammin]

so the reason why i use so much oil is cause i hammer it too much?

Not too much, just more than the average "dropping the kids off at school" kind of driver

 

[mo 156]

why do some of us get 2 diff levels on both sides of the dipstick?!
the 'front' (lower) side shows max still.
the 'rear facing' higher side of the stick shows 2-3mm below max mark.
so what do i take from that?

 

[zulu ferret]

Inclined block?:

 

[David C]

Yep and/or dipstick entering at an angle.
Don't twist the dipstick, read the side closest to the engine (the side that reads lowest).

 

[zulu ferret]

What DavidC says: