AE102R 96 Losing engine OIL?

[layzie]

Hey guys, im having some problems with my AE102R 96 corolla. It seems to be losing oil and the oil light is flashing because theres only half oil left.

Iv checked everything and there is no leak whatsoever. Its not burning oil aswell as there is no smoke coming from the exhaust at all. Ive also checked the spark plugs and all 4 are clean and not flooded with oil.

THe last time i topped it up with oil was about was about 1 month ago. I drive the car everyday and use about 500KMs a week. I also fill up Premium petrol.

Would anyone know what could be causing the problem?

[Hiro]

Hey guys, im having some problems with my AE102R 96 corolla. It seems to be losing oil and the oil light is flashing because theres only half oil left.

Iv checked everything and there is no leak whatsoever. Its not burning oil aswell as there is no smoke coming from the exhaust at all. Ive also checked the spark plugs and all 4 are clean and not flooded with oil.

THe last time i topped it up with oil was about was about 1 month ago. I drive the car everyday and use about 500KMs a week. I also fill up Premium petrol.

Would anyone know what could be causing the problem?

Whatever you do, don't drive the car with the oil-light flashing. It is a low-pressure warning, and starving the oil pump and big-end bearings of oil for even a fraction of a second can cause major engine damage.

You said that it's not burning any because you can't see any smoke, but do you sit behind your car whilst someone else drives it? Not all smoke is visible from the driver's seat, and not all smoke will appear at idle in the driveway either. My car almost never smokes once it is warm, but I will still get low-pressure warnings if I don't top up or do an oil-change every 6-7000km. A-series engines (especially 7As) are renowned for burning oil later in their life (either valve-stem seals or rings), best thing to do is to step up to a thicker oil and see how it goes from there. Speaking of which, what viscosity oil are you using at the moment?

[Rocketeer1]

heya

Sounds like you may be running something a little too thin for the age of the motor- losing oil and pressure. 500ml in 2000 k's isnt terrible, but can be controlled a little better.

As mentioned, what are you running? Consider something like Penrite HPR10 or 15, or their 20w50. You may find benefit changing every 5,000k's, but would be interesting to see what it does both using oil and low pressure warning light.

[layzie]

I was using either Castrol or Valvoline 20W-50. I just topped it up last night. Ill change oil and filter next week. Its about 5000-6000kms since i last changed the oil.

[layzie]

I drove the car today with full oil. When i started the car still parked on the driveway, the oil light started to flash again!!

Why is this happening. I checked the dip stick and its still full

[Hiro]

I drove the car today with full oil. When i started the car still parked on the driveway, the oil light started to flash again!!

Why is this happening. I checked the dip stick and its still full

Sounds like there's a problem with the pressure sensor then...

[123R-Prozak]

either electrical problem, sensor, or mechanical, oil pump

[layzie]

Ok im going to change oil this weekend, going to use 20W-50 castrol gtx2 and add some additive to see if that will stop my car from losing oil.

I also noticed that when the car is idling around 700RPM or less that is when the oil pressure light begins to flash

[Keisari]

Ok im going to change oil this weekend, going to use 20W-50 castrol gtx2 and add some additive to see if that will stop my car from losing oil.

I also noticed that when the car is idling around 700RPM or less that is when the oil pressure light begins to flash

I think the general consensus here is that oil additives should be avoided. There'd be a possible argument for using one if you were sure the oil loss was due to excessive smoking (it works by making the oil even thicker), but still it's inadvisable.

In your case, you say that the oil light is on even though the dipstick says there's plenty in the sump. There's no reason whatsoever to use the additive then, since the problem isn't oil loss but most probably an electrical problem. Oil pressure switches are generally fairly easy to diagnose or replace. There are other things it could be too that are less trivial, like the oil pump (possibly indicated by low oil pressure at low idle. I don't think your car should be idling that low anyway?)

If it were me - yes to the oil change, no to the additive.

Edited March 22, 2010 by Keisari

[layzie]

I changed oil to Penrite HPR 30 20W-60 oil today. Lets see if that would stop the disappearing oil