possible oil leak

mk3_chris

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Jul 31, 2007
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I blew the head gasket a while back, and got a new one put on, and replaced all the seals and belts. But i changed the oil today, and it didnt have alot of oil in it. My question is if my oil gauge is working properly(which i believe it is) why didn't it show?
 

suprarx7nut

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Nov 10, 2006
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Were you checking your oil level with the dipstick at all?

If so, you should be telling us how that went, if not you need to do that now. With your fresh oil change it will be very easy to log your oil levels. Then you will know how your oil level is changing.
 

mk3_chris

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suprarx7nut;906784 said:
Were you checking your oil level with the dipstick at all?

If so, you should be telling us how that went, if not you need to do that now. With your fresh oil change it will be very easy to log your oil levels. Then you will know how your oil level is changing.

No I wasnt checking it, because I had no real reason to. It was the first time i've had to change it since I've got it back from the head gasket job. It wasn't smoking or anything and my oil gauge was reading normal. But yea im going to be watching it now.
 

racerpage

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Jun 15, 2007
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Be carefull. I had the same problem. At idle no leak, under driving conditions, it leaked. Who did the headgasket? The leak was between the lower timing cover and where the head meet.
 

mk3_chris

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racerpage;906817 said:
Be carefull. I had the same problem. At idle no leak, under driving conditions, it leaked. Who did the headgasket? The leak was between the lower timing cover and where the head meet.

This mechanic that my grandfather knows. He was sopposed to specialize in imports. Well i know this is going to sound stupid, but why doesn't my gauge show that the oil is low. Before the cam seal got replaced it had an oil leak, but the gauge showed when it was getting low then.
 

suprarx7nut

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mk3_chris;906805 said:
No I wasnt checking it, because I had no real reason to. It was the first time i've had to change it since I've got it back from the head gasket job. It wasn't smoking or anything and my oil gauge was reading normal. But yea im going to be watching it now.

Driving anything but a Honda is reason enough to check your oil levels. Its a part of owning a vehicle. Its CRUCIAL if you drive an older vehicle.

About your pressure reading:
If there is enough oil to reach the oil pump's pick-up then your oil pressure will be good(in theory). If your oil is running low, it may still be enough to reach the pump. There is a good amount of buffer when you have good oil levels, but run low on oil and take a turn or hard brake or anything and your pressure may drop to 0psi for a moment.

On my car the pressure got a little low when i was at about the low mark for oil. I now run 1/2-1 quart over and have very steady oil pressure.
 

mk3_chris

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suprarx7nut;906880 said:
Driving anything but a Honda is reason enough to check your oil levels. Its a part of owning a vehicle. Its CRUCIAL if you drive an older vehicle.

About your pressure reading:
If there is enough oil to reach the oil pump's pick-up then your oil pressure will be good(in theory). If your oil is running low, it may still be enough to reach the pump. There is a good amount of buffer when you have good oil levels, but run low on oil and take a turn or hard brake or anything and your pressure may drop to 0psi for a moment.

On my car the pressure got a little low when i was at about the low mark for oil. I now run 1/2-1 quart over and have very steady oil pressure.

Well I take sharpe turns often and right turns make my gas needle go down a bit, but not my oil.
 

AJ'S 88NA

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Jul 26, 2007
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Is all you did was change the HG? If you didn't do a complete rebuild if could be burning it.

And you need to check the oil on a regular basis, I check mine everytime befor I start it, but it's not a DD.
 

cuel

Supramania Contributor
Jan 8, 2007
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The oil pressure gauge only shows that: Pressure. If the oil gets low enough to effect the oil pressure, your screwed. It would mean that the pick up tube was sucking air, which is a good way to trash bearings.

Check the oil level on the dip stick.
 

suprarx7nut

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mk3_chris;907068 said:
Well I take sharpe turns often and right turns make my gas needle go down a bit, but not my oil.

In this case you should make it a PRIORITY to check your oil VERY often.

If not, you'll be another rod knock victim in no time complaining about the unreliability of the 7m. Like Cuel said, you won't see any indication of low oil in the car until you're permanently screwed.

Please check your oil with the dipstick and avoid a rebuild. :)
 

mk3_chris

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AJ'S 88NA;907080 said:
Is all you did was change the HG? If you didn't do a complete rebuild if could be burning it.

And you need to check the oil on a regular basis, I check mine everytime befor I start it, but it's not a DD.

No just the hg, and all new seals.