Hello again,

Tell me I didn't just ruin my engine.

'96 850 Turbo wagon, 99k miles, Mobil 1 oil for 50k miles. This summer, I started to smell oil. Pulled the top plastic cover off the engine, pools of oil on top of the engine. Replaced the oil cap gasket & left cover off to monitor for awhile. Kept checking oil, no problems.

I've since put maybe 3k miles on it; on the way home, I filled up with gas(was at 1/2 tank). While driving, I floored it & it runs beautifully till about 4300 rpms, then it totally bogged. Seems like it has fuel starvation. It still accelerated, but not nearly as strong. I thought I've noticed lately that when it hits high rpms, it cut out just slightly, but figured it was my imagination. Not any more.

It only does this under load; ie just free-revving, it's okay. Here's the clincher: I checked the oil & it was just over 2 QUARTS LOW. No signs of leaks ANYWHERE; garage floor, driveway, engine, nothing.

Car runs perfectly otherwise; idles fine, no CHECK ENGINE lights, no problems.

If memory serves, it holds about 6.5 quarts of oil, or maybe 5.5, which means I still had 3-4 quarts of oil in the engine. Not great, but shame on me for not checking the oil sooner. I've covered 3k miles in about 5 weeks; my fault for not checking.

Questions: where in the hell did the oil go? Assuming the gasket was leaking some, do I now have a PCV blockage? Is it possible the fuel pump is puking only under high load? . I'm hoping that's the case, and I was simply low on oil too? I would think that if I damaged the engine, it would run poorly across the whole rev band. Tell me it's just the fuel pump & I'll keep the car. Love the car (it's my 2nd one) but I'm being challenged by the usual stuff: tailgate trim, broken cupholders, heated seat wires, O2 sensor just replaced, heated mirror broken, fan will need replaced soon, PNP switch going out (reverse lights not working). A rude awakening indeed from a guy who switched from Honda/Acura, unfortunately. But still love being able to carry 8' 2x4's & 10' galvanized pipe in it. And carry it quickly, no less.

As always, your thoughts are appreciated. Also, where's the fuel pump, if you think that's it. On the top of the tank or ? Nothing on Bay 13.