Low Oil, No Level !!

I've been really busy the last 6 month, and I've never checked my TD5 engine oil for a long time, with rushing around and everything being so hectic.

I noticed a noise like a tapping noise for than usual coming from near my air intake side awhile ago, didn't affect performance, I just thought the noise was unusal.. Not sure if its connected to my problem.

I checked my oil the other day as the oil light started to blip on and off, I noticed there was no level at all on the dipstick when I checked...:doh:

I checked the manual and it says it holds 7 ltrs from empty to full..

Anyway I bought the recommended oil and topped it up, it took 4.5ltrs to get it to the correct level on the dipstick..

My question is will this have done any damage, will my engine be due to fail !

I know what a dumb ass :doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

Not a good move. Oil not only lubricates but cools, so the low level wasn;t a great thing for the engine.

i doubt you've done anything permanent other than perhaps shorten its lifespan, though.

On a related note, had the 2.25 in my 109 long ago vomit all its oil out on the motorway due to a ruptured oil-pressure-gauge liine. Yanked the gauge fitting, limped it off the highway with the oil light on (!!) and filled it up with oil from the grocery store in 3 different weights because that's all they had.

Ran that engine for many thousands of miles after that - it survived.

Do check your oil more often, though.....

ajr

Big question is where's it all gone?

daveo26 said:

Big question is where's it all gone?

Click to expand...

No idea, I haven't checked it for a good while... Seems to be running ok.

Should I be looking for problems elsewhere?

Cant believe how much I needed to add , no doubt it will have caused some wear..

The bottom end on the TD5 is pretty much bullet proof so I doubt its done any damage down there (I ran one for nearly two years with diesel in the oil with no apparent wear when stripped) but the top end is oil sensitive and you may have put extra wear on the cam lobes which you can see by taking the cam cover off and having a look. They should look evenly shiny across the whole of the cam lobe face with no wear lines or discolouration of the lobes. The tapping noise would have been the hydraulic lifters as they need full oil pressure to work properly. If refilling has cured the tapping noise chances are the lifters are ok. The TD5 is an expensive engine to replace so routine checking of all fluids is a must if you want it to last.