[AdamV11]

Morning all,

When starting the alfa this morning I noticed the LCD display had lost one bar in oil level. I put this down to me parking downhill on the drive whereas I usually face uphill. After my commute I switched off and tried again. Still one bar missing. I checked manually with the dipstick and it was a about 4/5 full. I'm worried because I didn't think the JTDs used oil. I'm more worried because I've already had a new turbo, inlet manifold, intercooler hose, oil cooler and pipes. I really can't afford to fork out more money on it no matter how much I love the car. Obviously I'll check for leaks in daylight but after people's thoughts. Car was serviced by my indie about 5000miles ago.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jiberson1]

You're worrying about nothing, you will use some oil during normal driving and such a small amount over 5000 miles is nothing to worry about.

 

[joeymannero]

top up and keep on driving......

its an alfa!

they use oil, in fact all engines use oil but the alfa's a bit more so.

you must keep on top of the oil and coolant, weekly check on both takes two minutes and oil and coolant are cheap compared to the consequences of an overheat/or low oil...head gasket or replace the engine.

 

[scottyf]

The petrols use oil but the Diesels don't use much at all.

 

[t3yls]

Usually towards service time, i'll drop one bar. Keep going and don't panic ..............yet

 

[joeymannero]

adam,

this is why its worth doing things like the oil change yourself...you can't know for sure unless you watched your indie work and supplied the oil and kept the remainder exactly how much went in,

it could be that your indie assumed the old oil wasn't fully drained when in fact it was and under filled by a small amount to compensate, you have used say half a litre in the last 5000km and then you get a low oil reading.

i'm not saying this is what happened but its well within the norm for something like this to occur hence always check the oil the next day before driving after a change.

IMO for the sake of peace of mind DIY is the way to go, you can then drop the oil on a regular basis say every 6000 miles....I have a good mate who runs 3 audi's one is on 216,000 miles and has only ever had plugs,oil, ht leads and coolant, but he does do the oil every 6k and flushes the engine as well.

on my GT I dropped the oil on purchase as a precaution and then when I got to my first 6k.

will drop it every 6k and keep a record of consumption between.

 

[AdamV11]

Thanks for the responses guys! I'm not going to worry about it. I've had a good few months trouble free so I was due a panic!

 

[joeymannero]

good stuff!

better you are wary and have an eye on it than driving around oblivious till the engine blows up...:lol:

 

[hdseven]

mine uses none.........if its going down and you have no leaks....its either leaking into exhaust via turbo or into inlet again via turbo.....if turbo is leaking id be sending it back.......easy to check..is there blue smoke? is bottom hose from turbo full of oil?

 

[gtv160]

My 1.9 does the same. It appears that a bit of oil from the breather system finds its way to the inlet manifold and is burnt off on these engines so I do not think it is any surprise that there is a small amount of consumption. There is no sign of blue smoke from my engine. (I did have the oil filter come slightly loose after an oil change recently-first time in many years of oil changes that this has happened-which gave rise to a small leak and was difficult to see due to the small cover) Just change the oil frequently, keep an eye on the level and don't worry too much about it.