Hey everyone,


I just purchased a 1998 Rodeo V6 a few months ago. Last night just before I reached my home, the oil light came on when I stopped but then shut off. (knowing thats an indicator of low oil) I added a quart this morning and headed out to my office (5mi away) and about the 4th mi, I noticed a knocking sound. I got to the office and checked the dipstick and found I was low on oil again. I added another quart and checked it a few hours later and once again, low. I fear starting the Rodeo up again with it reading low oil and taking a chance on hurting the motor.


My question is do I need to start up the Rodeo for the oil to register on the dipstick? (I have the owners manual on order since I bought it without one). If thats the case, would there be a good chance that it would eliminate that knocking sound?

 

Goodness gracious no! In fact, I prefer to wait at least 5 minutes after shutdown to check the oil, to allow everything up in the heads or contained in the galleries to drain back to the pan. Otherwise you might overfill it, resulting in foaming which can cause blockages in galleries or otherwise impede proper oil movement.

But back to your original problem, is it burning oil (smoking, particularly on startup), or is it slinging it out through seals/gaskets (oil spots on your driveway)? These cars seem to use quite a bit of oil normally due to small oil drain back holes behind the oil rings (engine flush may help that, it did for me) but not as much as you describe. If you're using a quart between home & work (unless you live in NY & work in LA), it's got to be smoking, or slinging it out. Have you looked closely at the engine for leaks? Valve cover gaskets seem to be a common source of failure on these engines.
Edited by: XR400R

 

I notice on hot days that it would smoke lightly and I see a few small drips in my parking spot. Inside the engine bay, it is clean and underneath i do notice a small amount. I did have plans on doing a complete tune up tomorrow since I do not trust used car lots with maintenance.


My biggest concern is being able to drive it again so I can get home. I just checked it and its not reading. So Ive put a total 3 qts today and Im starting to think that it went nearly dry. The light just falshed last night so it wasnt on very long. Im thinking of doing an oil change here where Im at to figure out more.

 

Agreed. Oil change certainly couldn't hurt. If nothing else, it gives you a chance to take a real close look at the underside. But if the oil pressure light is coming on, you've got to be running extremely low for some reason. that's a prescription for permanent engine damage, particularly if you're hearing a bearing or lifter bucket knock. I'd be real careful about driving it at all till you figure out what's going on here! Even if you have to tow it to a qualified engine shop.

Best of luck.

 

Well, I just finished up with an oil change. It all seemed to be normal wear. Downside to this is I have a knock. Its on the passenger side and its ugly. I talked with my friends father who is a lead tech and one other friend. They both say from the sounds of it, its a possibility a bad main bearing. But they'll have to look close to it. I may even tackle it, but we'll see what they say.[img]smileys/smiley7.gif[/img]

 

Check your coolant. I had a Neon and would go through about a quart of oil a week. It was apparently leaking through the head gasket into the cooling system. When I took off the radiator cap I was greeted with some nice looking brown gooey coolant. (I hate Neons)

 

Ya, check your anti freeze, you cant burn three qts of oil in four miles. If it is a bad bearing or sealyour engine will be coverd in oil. It may be draining under pressure when the engine is running, thats what I think the problem is. Have you run it while parked for more than a few seconds? If it is leaking that quickly you should have a good amount coming down after a few min. of running?

 

If the oil light comes on then you are at least 3 maybe 4 quarts low on oil. This is very bad. If you see the oil light come on its usually too late and crank bearing damage has already occured. Sounds like that is what has happened and now the bearings are damaged and the knocking you hear is a rod knock. 98+ rodeos are known for burning oil because a bad oil drain back design in the pistons. It is very important to check the oil at every fill up with gas. Keeping the EGR system clean as well as using good quality oil with regular oil changes will help keep the burning issue at bay. Do a search on planetisuzoo.com for 'oil burning' and you will get pages of posts about it.