The Dark Wob

Or not consuming it at all?

Well if I'm continuously putting oil in and the dipstick is continuously going down, then it's not staying within the confines of the engine bay! So either out the exhaust or out the bottom of the engine bay...

SiC wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:07 pm then it's not staying within the confines of the engine bay!

Don't be so sure. Used to be BL's engine bay rust prevention system!

I'm going to appear to be a patronising idiot by saying this but is there a chance that the previous dipstick reading was wrong, so that you thought it was full but in fact wasn't?
I don't see how this can happen but ....

Check it again now, is it still full? A little bit of an angle to the ground where it is being checked can make a big difference.

It was checked on my in-laws drive and on the same place both before and after the drive. Their drive is completely flat.

The top hasn't come loose on the stick has it? Had it before with a pinto, depending on how it was pulled out it could slip causing an oh dear I'm low on oil moment...or push further in with the opposite result.

It's not all getting stuck up top of the engine, is it? If you've got a blocked drain return the rocker cover and valve area can hold a large volume.

My old man said his Midget did that from high speed runs on the motorway, all the gunk "clogged the veins", as it were. Plenty of oil flow up but not much back to the sump.

--Phil

DodgeRover wrote:The top hasn't come loose on the stick has it? Had it before with a pinto, depending on how it was pulled out it could slip causing an oh dear I'm low on oil moment...or push further in with the opposite result.

It coming out of the top of the dipstick was richardthestag thought at shitefest as it bounced up and down. I've now tightened up the seal and also wedge the handle against the heater valve to stop it moving.

PhilA wrote:It's not all getting stuck up top of the engine, is it? If you've got a blocked drain return the rocker cover and valve area can hold a large volume.

My old man said his Midget did that from high speed runs on the motorway, all the gunk "clogged the veins", as it were. Plenty of oil flow up but not much back to the sump.

--Phil

Interesting theory. Maybe, but I have left the engine for a good hour or two after a run and checked then. Hasn't moved in-between. Also if I put fresh oil in on the top, it drains to the sump pretty quickly.

Then it's not that, it was just slow to drain and would burp out the filler cap on his. A-series but the A and B aren't that far off in terms of design.

But yeah, if it's using that much, it'll smell blue out the exhaust and you'll definitely see it in your mirror, particularly after pulling away from a set of lights, for example.

It can only go out the exhaust, into the coolant or onto the exterior of the engine. Or your neighbors have a Pela and are stealing your oil as you sleep.

--Phil