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Ran 3000 kms with just over a litre short of oil

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Old Apr 29, 2023 | 02:37 PM
  #1  
canuk's Avatar
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From: Canada
Ran 3000 kms with just over a litre short of oil

Not sure what happened, but some of my previous issues I was having with the engine appear to be related to the fact that my 2015 was short a little more than a litre of oil. There was nothing showing on the dipstick, and it took about a litre to get it to the low oil line marker.
My question is, how much damage do you think I did to my car?
 
Old Apr 29, 2023 | 09:49 PM
  #2  
Drew21's Avatar
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From: MA
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No idea what previous issues you're talking about, but driving with low oil is never a good idea. Is your engine going to lock up tomorrow? Probably not. Did you shorten the lifespan? Probably.

Obviously, you didn't just lose a liter of oil one day and then drive 3000 km, so you had more (but still low) oil for most of the period in question. That's a (small) positive in your favor.

Where is the missing oil going? Leak? Are you burning oil? How often do you check your dipstick? It sounds like you check the dipstick once/3000 km, which is clearly not often enough.

I'm not sure how you would check for engine damage without disassembly/inspection. If you're not a DIY person that would probably cost as much or more as a replacement used Fit engine, so I think you're probably looking to maintain what you have and get a general sense of the condition of your engine without delving into the internals.

1) If it were me, I would change the oil immediately. Running with low oil is going to work the oil you do have in the engine pretty hard. Get all fresh in there.
2) Clean the engine if it's at all dirty/oily. You need to figure out if you've got a leak. Park over some cardboard so drips are easy to spot. A leak isn't great, but it's better than if your engine is burning oil because it's generally easy to fix (although not necessarily cheap).
3) Check your dipstick more often. At least once/week. If the level is dropping and you're not seeing oil on the ground, you know you're burning oil. How much/how quickly? Some folks drive that way for years and just add oil between oil changes to keep the level correct.
 

Last edited by Drew21; Apr 29, 2023 at 09:51 PM.
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 04:37 AM
  #3  
nayov's Avatar
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Joined: Sep 2022
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From: ME
Hopefully the oil pressure light never came on.

At work, I've seen cars (all makes) come in running on 1 or 2 quarts total of oil, absolutely insane, but they drove out fine in most cases after the oil change.

If it makes no unusual noises, I'd not worry about it.
 
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 12:04 PM
  #4  
canuk's Avatar
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From: Canada
Thanks for the responses. I do not believe there is a leak at work here, moreso the low oil was my doing - I believe I probably had a brain fart when I changed the oil last and didn't start the car after filling the correct spot on the dipstick and then checking it again.
And yes, I changed the oil and filter immediately yesterday. I even cut the filter in half for an inspection. The oil itself was quite black, but not out of the ordinary. The filter had some very small flecks of metal, but not what I would call an alarming amount.
 
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