Where's my oil going?
Discussion
It takes about 500 miles to drop the oil level from 'full' on the dipstick to the bottom line.
How much oil is that (I'm guessing about a litre)?
Is this sort of consumption normal?
Where is it going, given that the exhaust is clean and the water (coolant) is fine and I'm not seeing any evidence of major leaks?
Seems a lot to me - especially given the price of Mobil 1!!
How much oil is that (I'm guessing about a litre)?
Is this sort of consumption normal?
Where is it going, given that the exhaust is clean and the water (coolant) is fine and I'm not seeing any evidence of major leaks?
Seems a lot to me - especially given the price of Mobil 1!!
The pre serp engines loose oil down the valve guides, and they modified the head with better sealing on the valve stem to try and reduce it. Id agree with David, these engines where designed to run a 20 - 50 grade oil, not the ultra thin Mobil one and considering the avarage TVR cam lasts about 55-80k miles you have to ask why bother with ultra expensive oil, that obviously does not prevent this problem. You can now get good synthetic thicker oils for older engine designed from companies like Millers, although you will get 100 different answers for preferred oil from this forum!.
cormorant said:
a litre every 500 miles is about normalconsumption, I use mobil1
It sounds quite a lot of oil to me! You'd be checking and topping up with every fuel refill at that. I use one of the Silkolene oils from Opie with good Growl discount! 
My engine barely uses any but it's had a V8D rebuild. In saying that, I'm sure even pre-rebuild (after slipped liner) it was well over 1000 miles before I had to bother putting any more oil into it.Ruari
I am using ~1 litre every 500 miles, combination of w weeping sump and a leaking oil seal at the rear of the engine.
Havent got around to having these fixed yet (warren @ topcats calls it my built in chassis corrosion protection) , just been topping up as and when. Funny enough hardly used the chim over winter, but now the decent weather is here I've just put in 500 miles over a few days and the oil level hasnt moved. Im sure this wont last....
Havent got around to having these fixed yet (warren @ topcats calls it my built in chassis corrosion protection) , just been topping up as and when. Funny enough hardly used the chim over winter, but now the decent weather is here I've just put in 500 miles over a few days and the oil level hasnt moved. Im sure this wont last....
Thanks to all for the info.
Seeing as I'm spending so much on Mobil 1 I've decided to save that money - by going for a Taraka Plus upgrade!! If that doesn't sort out the problem (and an oil pressure problem I'm also experiencing) then I don't know what will.
It will be getting new Nitrons and a set-up as well as fast road pads and braided hoses and de-pre-catted and ceramic coated manifolds.
Have I over reacted???
Just driven 1000 miles in the last two days; from Hungary to Kent. It behaved itself all the way even in an hour-long traffic jam (temp never went above 90). BUT if I opened it up on the autobahn then above 100 mph (4000 rpm in 5th) the oil pressure guage would drop from 30psi to the zero stop, depending on how long I kept it floored. Never got the oil light on and I'd been keeping an eye on the level (obviously!)
I suspect its a problem with the sender, but I wasn't going to take any chances in the middle of Germany. So I had to keep it at around 100 max, which detracted from the experience somewhat - especially having to move out the way from the BMWs blazing past.
It will all be better when Dom's worked his magic I'm sure.
Seeing as I'm spending so much on Mobil 1 I've decided to save that money - by going for a Taraka Plus upgrade!! If that doesn't sort out the problem (and an oil pressure problem I'm also experiencing) then I don't know what will.
It will be getting new Nitrons and a set-up as well as fast road pads and braided hoses and de-pre-catted and ceramic coated manifolds.
Have I over reacted???
Just driven 1000 miles in the last two days; from Hungary to Kent. It behaved itself all the way even in an hour-long traffic jam (temp never went above 90). BUT if I opened it up on the autobahn then above 100 mph (4000 rpm in 5th) the oil pressure guage would drop from 30psi to the zero stop, depending on how long I kept it floored. Never got the oil light on and I'd been keeping an eye on the level (obviously!)
I suspect its a problem with the sender, but I wasn't going to take any chances in the middle of Germany. So I had to keep it at around 100 max, which detracted from the experience somewhat - especially having to move out the way from the BMWs blazing past.
It will all be better when Dom's worked his magic I'm sure.
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