I bring my car in to have them check on the check VSA/Check emissions lights i got last sunday...
service rep calls me at 4pm today and asks where i get my oil changed, and when did i have it done last.
I told him i DIY w/ Mobil1 and they can check the service record in the glove box for the date- Why?
Your car was 4qt low, but we don't see any signs of leaks, nor are your plugs fouled / emissions messed up- so it's a mystery. they put 4 qt of dino oil in, and are going to leave it overnight and run it in the AM to see if there was any damage due to running low...

Car is '06 6MT w/ 8k miles. the car was running fine, the garage floor has no stains. last oil change (5qt of mobil 1) was at 5600 at the end of november, MID had oil life at 40% last week. Oil pressure indicator never came on.

WTF could have happened?

 

Couple of things. First off, generally it's not great to use synthetic oil until the rings are fully seated in. I'd have waited through a couple more oil changes before using synthetic. Also, repeated hi engine RPM will increase oil consumption, esp. if the rings aren't seated in fully (and contrary to popular belief, VTEC has nothing to do with oil consumption besides the fact that you have to have the engine RPM's up high for the cam lobe profile to switch).

Did you check the level before you changed the oil at 5600? How low was it then? I'd refill with conventional oil and drive the car while checking the level every 1K miles or so. If it continues to consume that much oil with no extenal leak, there's likely an internal problem in the engine.

 

i think it was down about a qt before that oil change- but isn't 4 qt excessive for "normal" consumption?

 

Yes, that's excessive. You might be burning a lot of oil -- check the exhaust finishers for soot and look at the bumper area as well, right above the exhaust finishers. My car was burning a ton of oil (1L/1000km or 1qt / 600 miles) and this was the ONLY sign that it was burning. I eventually had my engine block (and pistons, etc...) changed for a 2006 one (new) and everything has been fine since. Search for "Rebuilt Engine - Got My Car Back" as a thread title and you can read about my entire saga.

 

Yes, if true that is excessive consumption. I wonder if they are not overstating how low it was, as I've seen an engine with more oil than that cause the VTEC solenoid to starve and trip the check engine light. Best you can do now is put it back to "stock" and monitor the level.

 

Isn't 4 qt like almost ALL the oil that you drain when you do a change?

 

I wouldn't believe everything the dealer say's. I have never seen an honest mechanic when it comes to warranty work.

 

Don't you check your oil level every month?

 

Unfortunately the car was just at the body shop where it got a full detail...

i'm leaning that way, but we'll see what they say when i talk to them later...

Unfortunately i stupidly assumed that a virtually new car wouldn't be burning that much oil....

 

How many miles should be on a car before you switch to synthetic oil?

 

At least 10,000 miles.

 

Using the synthetic oil is NOT the problem. Myself and a few friends have run Mobil 1 since the first oil change breakin at 5k miles. I am now at 43k miles and my engine does burn a drop between the 7500mile oil change interval. I run the car hard and also stop and go.

To be down 4qt without some kind of serious leak or problem is simply not gonna happen. There is really only one possibility:

You have a busted piston ring and oil is being burned. If the tailpipes are really black this may be an indicator, but a compression test is the only real way to know. Make them run a compression test on all cylinders and do not accept anything less.

 

Thanks for the input- unfortunately until i can prove it's burning oil they maintain that i messed up re-filling it. They topped it off with dino oil and marked the drain plug, and i'm going to monitor the oil level on a daily basis- when it gets a qt low again, i'll bring it back to them and have them do a compression test unless i can find a leak on my own. I had to pay a $90 diag. fee since they couldn't find anything wrong other than the low oil, but they'll reimburse me for it when i bring it back for a warranty repair.

 

Compression test will not reveal a damaged/missing oil control ring. All you can do is visually look for deposits in each combustion chamber to get an idea that a cyl. is pulling oil up from the crankcase.