Bought a zed recently with the usual 'rocker cover' leak, so i'm losing oil. I get totally different readings on the dip stick depending on how long i wait after switching off the engine. If i wait a minute or two it's not even on the scale, if a wait 10 or more it's half way between full and low. I get why this happens, but i'm not sure how long is the right time to wait before checking. Don't want to run too low ( maybe already) but don't want to overfill either. when checking engine oil how long do you pplz wait ? cheers niven
Your experience is diferent to mine. If I chack the oil, it may vary slightly immediately after I've stopped the engine to, let's say 10 mins later, but not heaps. Can't understand the not register to half full. Dipsticks can be buggers to read 'though. Cheers, Peter
Thanks for replying Peter. i've done the oil changes on most of my cars - one was a turbo deisel - and never had this sort of huge difference - a bit of a difference between sitting overnight and straight after turning the engine off, but nothing like this. I've checked quite a few times now, and its the same difference in level each time. One of the posts that came up in a search mentioned something about 'clogged rails' - might have another look - maybe the oil isn't returning to the sump fast enough, maybe deposits on the internal surfaces. Oil pressure is ok as far as i can tell from the intermittent pressure sensor . thanks for your help cheers niven
You say you bought it recently. Have you changed the oil and oil filter yet? I'm no expert but I guess if its gunked up it'll take time for the oil to flow back to the sump without the oil pump working. Smell the oil, does it stink of petrol. If it does and its quite black and feels thin between your fingers thats not good. Another idea maybe previous owner put that oil thickener additive stuff in to hide the oil leak so your oil is viscous like golden syrup. Don't you hate it when you know people don't maintain the car when they are gonna sell it. and on a perfornace car... oh dont get me started!
Oil Level I would be quite concerned, oil shuold find its way to the sump quickly, particularly when hot... You could try adding an oil flush before draining and refilling your oil this may remove any blockages.
OIL check in the morning and go from their. oil has to come back down after car is turned off. IF RIGHT level in morning then it is ok.
Thanks for the good advice. BigBaz helped me out with an oil change on my trip back down the coast - within hours of picking the car up. The oil that came out was thick as, Baz put in some good stuff which i can't get here so i'm about to change it for Motul - only done 2000km since that change so i was hoping it would serve as a flush. It's getting daerk now but it was light brown for a long time so i guess the rings are pretty good. In the morning it's at the FULL mark, so i guess there's enough oil. ( that's a relief - althoug it probably means i had overfilled it last time) I hope the fact that it's taking a while to get back to the sump doesn't also mean that the crank and turbo's a getting starved ? Might also explain why it's pouring out the rocker cover - too much pressure up top. Still gonna do a plenum pull anyway and replace the camshaft cover gaskets and D seals. Thanks for the advice re flushing. Goin now to buy the right stuff and hopfully clean out the innards a bit with it. thanks again. any more advice or similar experiences greatfully received cheers inven
The oil turns dark which means its doing its job... There has been some tests done and showed that even when the oil is dark colour its working 100% still... But yeah like what was said check in the morning when the oil is in the bottom of the sump... Fix the rocker cover leaks if its bad and go from there... Good luck with it all
Get some of that Oil flush and run it as per packet. Sounds to me like clogged up chunky bits in the galleries... Maybe even buy some of that really cheap oil and do it twice before you put the good stuff in.
Correction: Black Baz not BigBaz. BTW, those 'rocker cover leaks' we found can be fixed with a plenum pull & reseal of exhaust cam covers and half-moon seals.
Oops.... Thanks Rob ! Thanks also for your help that day with plumbing and electrics etc. Did another oil change today still had nearly 4litres in after leaking all over the exhaust, the pacific hwy and all over the driveway for 6 weeks - i guess the odd drop here and there doesn't really amount to much. Didn't impress the motor vehicle registry though. But the smoke from under the bonnet really isn't a good look, so yes i'm up for a plenum pull. Going to check compression first in case the heads need work. Still haven't sorted the aux fan out but i now have a spare ( quite unexpectedly ) although pretty sure the fan itself is ok. I did an oil flush. Still find that it takes ages for the oil to settle into the sump - maybe all will be revealed when i get the plenum and covers off... also hoping to try some of your recipes soon from the Zed CDrom cheers mate niven
