Hi, I have a 91' Coupe. I had the oil changed and a tune up about 3k miles ago. I believe I have added about a quart or less of oil since the initial oil change. Since I knew it was due soon for oil change, even though the manual says oil can be changed at 5k intervals for highway driving, I knew it had been a few weeks since I checked the oil so I did. It did not even measure on the dispstick, so I added a quart. This was with a warm engine.

I drove it to work and checked the oil immediately, and it showed it was still a quart low so I added another quart and this filled it to the "full" marking on the disptick. So it had been 2 quarts low, and the manual says it holds 4 quarts.

Do you think I did any permanent damage running it with only 50% oil capacity? The oil now looks pretty dark now, but I was baffled that the "check oil" light did not come on with the car being so low.


thanks

Being 2 qt low, you either have to launch hard or corner/transition very quickly to bring the low oil pressure warning light on. My '87 both leaks and consumes oil, and several times I've had it down by 1.5-2qt (yes, I neglect it, and run long intervals between changing the oil). I've seen the oil light flicker at least a dozen times when driving hard at low oil levels. No harm done to my b230f.

Find out why you lost the oil.
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forums.turbobricks.com

Looks like we ran a B230 more than 3 qts low. Seems to be ok.( fingers crossed) Problem was the small vaccum hose to the flame trap was plugged as was the brass fitting at the intake manifold. Flame trap was clean. Popped out the dipstick and pumped lots and lots of new oil out the tube. Did not pass the jiggle test.

Im will be really surprised if the rings are not damaged. I can see having just enough oil to keep the bearing alive, but you would thing you are loosing lots of your splash lube to the cylinder walls.

We shall see how this works out.

Mike
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In Tacoma '86 245 200K+ and '86 740T- 215K+ both with M46

I ran a B21 until the oil pressure light blinked while braking and I realized I'd goofed. Down pretty close to 3 quarts. That was over 50k kms ago, no apparent harm done.
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Chris, Dartmouth NS Canada 70 M-B 280SE, 83 245DL, 84 244 turbo, 90 780 turbo, 92 VW Golf, 90 740 Rex/Regina

I had < 1 quart in mine for a few hours - does not matter to a red block, and if it did, you would know all about it.

Oil loss is often from excessive PCV pressure.
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Stef (81 245 B21A SU M46 3.91 330000km, 81 244 BW55 3.31 220000km)

Probably not. Turbo bearings would be toast if you did.

My wife did the same thing, nothing in the dipstick. However, the car has seen thousands of miles since with no signs of trouble.

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300K and counting
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Make sure the oil drain plug is tight. If the oil change crew did not tighten it and its leaking it may come out completely draining all your oil in a very short time.

You did no damage since you always had oil pressure. But you apparently have an oil leak. This is likely oil seals compounded by a clogged flame trap. See the FAQ for tips on repairing the problem.
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See the 700/900 FAQ under 'Select Link' button on the top right.

Thanks for the tips. I believe I still have a flame trap service kit from the days when I had a 240. I did not notice any change in the engine so I don't think I did any kind of permanent damage, but it still seems to be going through a good amount of oil. On the other hand it is a 15 year old car. I will check the FAQ and hopefully it is something I can do myself.

It's not a "check oil" light really. It's a "low oil pressure" light. So presuming your sensor and the light work (does the light come on at startup with the others?) you always had sufficient oil pressure. But there are other reasons to have four quarts (really closer to 5) in your B230. With more oil, you spread the abuse around and overall, your oil isn't worn out as fast, plus the oil and therefore the engine can run cooler because there is more in the pan cooling off at any given time.

Did you damage your engine? I doubt it. But doing that habitually eventually will. And that oil went somewhere, so you have a leak, or you are burning it so you should figure out what that is and fix it or start checking more often.
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Andy in St. Paul - '91 745 213K mi, '91 745 210K, '90 744 183K, all Rex-Regina - past 240s

Bet its a B230FT in a 780? "coupe". So there is the turbo issue too.