meangreenEG

I went to go see an Integra LS, and the owner has all records of oil changes and service done. It was showing that the oil change was done in September 2008. Me and my friend checked the oil today (Jan. 12) and from looking at the dipstick it seems that there is no oil in the car.

The car has been driven approximately 2000 miles since the last oil change... what is the problem here? It seems to be that the car isn't leaking oil either. Anyone have an idea?

vietnamezerice

what year is the integra and how many miles does it have? does it burn oil that you know of?

meangreenEG

1998 integra with 75k miles. Everything is mint, except the whole oil ordeal made me suspicious... the car was sitting in his garage for a whole week... and it also struggled when starting.

steveo135

i hope you didnt start it with no oil in it...

if i were you i wouldnt buy it unless the price is really right and you know that your going to have to fix something...

as far as not having oil it either had to leak out or the car is burning it.. both of which can be a pain in the as to fix

vietnamezerice

lets hope he's buying it for cheap :p

meangreenEG

Other than checking the ground to see if oil has leaked, what other ways can I see if oil is actually leaking out?

vietnamezerice

visually looking the the engine at the prone areas fro leaks... valve cover gasket, cam seal plug, vtec solinoid (if you have one), distributor o-ring.... someone tell me if I'm missing anything else

meangreenEG

I see. What do you guys think is a reasonable price? He is asking for $4750.

90_EX_Civic

the car might be a quart low. it was sitting for a week, and if it was a quart low, that could be one reason why. did you check the dip stick after you started it? try putting in a little oil in to see if it shows on the dip stick. if you put half a quart in and it reads on the dip stick then you should be okay.

as for the weak start, it has been sitting for a week. maybe the battery is old and not holding a charge well(or something like that)?

90_EX_Civic

oh, just noticed that you also live in NY, it's cold now which doesn't help ether. charge the battery or get a new one. but do try out the quart of oil thing i said above.

steveo135

This is the way I see it... If the owner actually let the car get down below the dipstick on oil, and their trying to sell the car and didnt even top off the oil before they had you come look at it... the car probably wasnt taken care of very well...

90_EX_Civic

true, but do you check your oil every time you fill up your gas tank like you're supposed to?

mrdeadman

Work him down a bit. That is a good deal for that teg as long as everything (exterior/interior) is nice. Is the engine bay clean?

nsxtasy

I keep damn well sure I don't run out of oil! You have to check your oil as often as you need to, to make sure the level is between the two hash marks on the dipstick AT ALL TIMES. This owner clearly isn't doing that.

Our high-mileage GS-R was using a quart of oil every 1100 miles, and at that point I was checking it every 300-500 miles, and topping it off. As I kept track of oil consumption, I noticed that it increased to the point where it was using a quart every 500 miles, and so I was checking it every 200-300 miles, and topping it off. Then I had the engine rebuilt, and now it's using a quart every 5000 miles, so now I'm only checking it every 1000 miles or so.

I would be really, really leery of buying a car from someone who clearly is not maintaining the car very well. At a minimum, do a compression and leakdown test.

Chances are that this car is using oil pretty regularly, as much as a quart or more every 1000 miles (if the dipstick is dry, that means it's down TWO quarts). The rings are probably going, which means it may need an engine rebuild in the near future. That can cost $2500-3500 at an independent mechanic, $4-5K at a dealer. You can also shop around for a used engine, but they are hard to find, expensive to buy, and don't give you the assurance you get with a proper rebuild.

steveo135

^ agreed

actually back when my car was using oil I was checking it as often as every other day and topping off as necessary which was more frequent than I was filling.. now that my engine isnt loosing oil I check every other week and havnt had to top off yet

To the OP i personally wouldnt buy the car but my advice stays the same..

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

You will not get an accurate reading on the dipstick if you do this. Reason being is that right after you shut off the engine, there is still lots of oil stuck to parts up in the engine, instead of down in the oil pan. This is also why I do not care for those "10-minute oil change" places. Sure they drain your oil pan, but alot of that used oil is still up inside the engine.

I check the oil and tire pressure in both of our cars once a week, usually on Saturday morning. I always check before the car is first started that day. That way most all of the oil is down in the oil pan, and the tires are cold (to get the proper tire pressure reading).

I actually last changed the oil in my GS-R back on Thanksgiving weekend. After putting in 4 quarts, the oil showed just above the top hole on the dipstick. I checked the oil 3 days ago (Saturday) and the oil still showed just above the top hole on the dipstick. Pretty good for a 273K mile engine if you ask me.

vietnamezerice

i always keep my motor at full level (second mork on dipstick) even when my motor is hot and oil circulated through out my motor

LSracing94

you should be at the second dot when ur car has been sitting on a flat surface for a while, not after the motor has been running and hot..too much oil is realllllly bad.

vietnamezerice

it can't be that much more...

TunerN00b

True, but some of us have learned the hard way that "slightly too much" is significantly worlds better than "just enough".

Dipstick showed full oil (to the top line), yet my DC2 has oil starved during hard cornering maneuvers during auto-x, throwing a CEL and locking the car out of vtec. Suddenly having a 3.5k rev limiter in the middle of an auto-x run is not an enjoyable experience. After the 2nd time this happened, I now auto-x with 1/2 qt over the top mark.

(And before someone states it, yes a baffled pan would help the issue, but I have never dropped the pan on this car, I'm cheap, and so is just adding a little extra oil.)

meangreenEG

I didn't notice any leaks. Sorry for the stupid question, but how do I do the compression/leakdown test?

Also, the engine bay is very clean, and so is the interior. I just hope it doesn't burn too much oil...

vietnamezerice

as far as doing a compression test, they sell compression test guages that screw in and take place the spark plug in which ever cylinder you're testing... there's alot of tutorials on here just type in "compression test" in the search