Mine car is a 2000 Civic EX 5-speed stick and has a unique issue.

The story: I was driving home from school today and as I was getting on the freeway, I noticed the oil pressure light come on for a couple seconds and then go out. I got a little scared and pulled over at the nearest McDonalds. I popped the hood and checked the oil immediately. There wasn't any!!!

Extremely worried, I decided to call my dad for help and he brought some oil to fill me up. We started the engine and checked for leaks and a burning oil smell from the exhaust. The drain bolt and oil filter were clean and the exhaust didn't smell of oil. What's really bugging me is that I park this car in the same spot every night and there are NO OIL SPOTS. Where is this oil going?! I last changed the oil a little over 2500 miles ago and I'm planning on changing it soon.

 

It's leaking or burning

 

I just said there are no oil spots at all and I couldn't smell any oil in the exhaust.

 

What kind of oil, and what weight? Also do you ever notice blue smoke at start up, or moderate to heavy acceleration?

To burn off 3 or more quarts in 2500 miles is a bit much. I'd chage the oil and filter, Fill up with Penzoil 5w30 high mileage, if you can't find that use Valvoline max life high mileage 5w30. Keep an eye on it weekly and see if it's burning it off.

With that much of a loss I would think the blue smoke is noticable.

 

Have u had a chance to get it up on a lift yet? I was leaking oil from my oil pan gasket but would have no spots in the driveway but if u look under the car u could see oil seeping out.

 

I have Penzoil 10w-30 in it now, but I used some slightly cheaper oil when I did my oil change. I've never noticed blue smoke from it ever. But then again, I'm always in the car so I can't see the exhaust. Still, I think I might have smelled it. I think I'll be using Penzoil from now on and keeping a much closer eye on my oil.

 

It wasn't on a lift, but I did look under my car with a light and didn't see oil seeping out anywhere.

 

^x2
Indeed
I have a similar leak on my car; it only leaks at highway running speeds, ergo, no spots on the ground.
But not nearly as much as your situation. (more like 1/2 every 4000 miles)

Sounds like it's leaking and dripping onto your exhaust and burning off, which would result in no spots or really visible leaks

And +1 on the Maxlife
Stuff is awesome
^^

 

Are those some special oils?

 

why those oils?? i use mobile super and it runs fine...

 

I'll take a look at the exhaust when I get a chance. Where on the exhaust should I be looking?

Because I'm a student working part time and my company hasn't exactly been doing the best lately. Never again will I buy cheap oil.

 

its not the oil its your car you are most lilkely burning oil.... have someone take into high RPMS while u stand and look at the exhaust u probably floor the crap out of it and never check oil...

 

When was the last time you checked it before the light came on?

I would have someone stand behind the car and start it see if you see blue smoke.

Drive the car and have someone follow you and see if they see smoke, sometimes you will not notice it yourself through the rearview mirror.

I am burning a hell of a lot of oil, and do not really see smoke either, but it is going.

 

because his car is either burning or seeping oil. maybe both. those oils have an additave package to slow or stop that.

check out bitog. there are better off the shelf oils than others. penzoil is top rated. thats great that you use mobil super and have no issues. his car has issues.

 

using thicker oil helps that as well more expensive oils will not do anything until he figures out whats happening if he has a burning problem than no ooil will help him out except laying off the throttle

 

its not more expensive. also these motors have tight tolerances. thicker oil puts more stress on the oil pump, takes longer to circulate. if his engine is burning off that much oil it needs to be replaced anyway. as i said earlier if its minor seepage or burning the high mileage oil will help it. penxoil high mileage is $16 for 5 quart jugs at wallmart.

op- get the car on a lift. check for leaks\seepage. also do aompression and leakdown test on the engine

 

I don't floor the crap out of my car. I actually do all I can to be fuel efficient. Rarely do I go past 4000rpm.

Last time I looked at it (before today) was when I changed my oil all those miles ago.

 

I would check it more often, say once a week and watch it.

 

^THIS I will start doing from now on. Hell, I'll even do it when I fill up my gas (like the owner's manual recommends).

So far, theories are:
-leaking onto exhaust pipe and burning off
-burning oil but never noticed

However, I would think that if it was leaking onto an exhaust pipe it would still spill off onto the concrete that I park on every night. I could be wrong and could have something like what Texas4Door said or RT_NEWYORK said.

One thing I thought was a little odd was that the exhaust always smelled like my girlfriend's 1992 Civic LX. Hers is OBD 1 while mine is OBD 2. I always thought that was a little odd, but never thought much of it. Should I have taken a hint? I mean, it smelled like exhaust.... I don't know how to describe it really, it just smelled like it always does to me. That said, on my dad's 2000 CR-V, the exhaust always smelled a little cleaner....

 

Like I said burning or leaking. If it leaked on your header you would smell it.

 

Just because it burns in your exhaust doesn't mean it'll drip out
More than likely it's burning up in your cat
Check your O2 sensors for evidence of burned oil and that'll give you your answer

 

Oh, burning IN the exhaust. Burning in the cat.... that could be. If my O2 sensors sensed something then I would get a check engine light, right? Or do you mean that they would get gummed up with oil?

 

Not always. Your CEL might not even work. If its that your car is burning oil, you just don't see it. Check your o2 sensors like he said. Your oil just can't disappear, it's leaking someplace but you said no spots on driveway then more than likely your burning it pretty bad. Do an oil change an check it daily see how much your actually burning

 

another thing not sure if it was posted yet, and this correlates to getting ur car on a lift, once u get it on a lift you need to clean all the oil and gunk off the engine. Then drive it around a couple times put it back up and see where the leak is coming from. If you STILL cant find it get some DYE and do a dye test, basically u put this stuff in ur engine and look for where its seeping out. Also if ur losing this much oil u should check it EVERYDAY.

 

The oil is going somewhere, it's leaking or burning. Period. There's no way that if it's leaking that much that it's burning on the exterior of your exhaust piping. Just doesn't make sense.

Have someone watch you pull away in the car. Rev it a bit, and drive away. $10 says blue smoke.