How often should I be adding oil?

[HuntingtonSpider]

Just got a 1969 last week, Ive been starting it and driving it back and forth a few miles or so everyday (tires are rotted so I don't want to go far). I've noticed it seems to be needing a lot of oil to keep it up to max, and I've been adding a little everyday. There are no oil leaks underneath the car so I cant see that it's leaking out, is it normal for a car to need a little extra oil after its been sitting for a few years? I got it from the salvation army and they worked on it, put in a new clutch, and changed some of the fluids, and got it running nice again. Ive been using Castrol GTX as specified by my shop book, is this generally still the best oil to use?

[narfire]

Hmmm.... blue smoke under hard acceleration ,4000rpm + ? or smoke while slowing down using the compression? if so rings or seals need attention

Put a piece of cardboard under the car and have a look in the am. See what part of the engine its dripping from, if it is dripping. Take a look at the coolant.. green or some cream coloured slime?
I have a re built 2L and I don't think I've topped it up yet this year,(after 3000kms)
Chris

[kmead]

Castrol is fine.

First it would be pretty likely you would need to add some oil. The other thing is you don't really know how many miles this car has on it. Additionally even if the miles are what it says they are, the valve stem seals are likely desiccated and worn out which is allowing lots of oil to go down the valve stems into the combustion chambers where it is burnt. You could also have worn rings which is allowing oil past the rings and into the combustion chambers.

Both of these problems could sort themselves out as you get some miles on the car and things get worn into each other again. If it is the valve stems you likely will end up needing to replace them if it starts to use an excessive amount of oil (less than 800 miles to the quart) but you can buy quite a lot of oil for the cost of tearing down the top of the engine and having the head redone.

I wouldn't worry too much about it as yet, the things I would worry a bit about are other maintenance tasks such as all of the belts, hoses and fluids. Not to mention the dry rotted tires...

[TulsaSpider]

I would be wary that they added the correct GL-1 Fluid to the tranny!

[BEEK]

piston rings may also sieze during long periods of inactivity. sometimes use will free the rings. just a thought. and teh valve stem seals as well, but leaking stem seals wont use much oil

[124cso]

You don't say how much oil it is using. I would be worried at anything over say a pint in 1000 mikes.
Tape a dozen or so sheets of copy paper into a square and park over it while motor still warm and check it to see what /where drips form over night. If you have a printers or newspaper presses nearby, they can supply you paper about 3 foot wide.
If you suspect it is getting past valve stems, run it till hot & switch off. Let it get dead cold overnight, then restart it and see what comes out the rear for first 20/30 seconds. Blue smoke would imply oil getting sucked into cylinders as they cool down ( tappets are in troughs/ sitting in oil).

Find a LONG and STEEP hill. Let warmed up car coast down hill in 5th/4th gear( foot off the gas), coasting a good distance (is 300 - 500 yards possible ?) hence the STEEP requirement, then put foot down and look for blue smoke out the back. This would imply oil getting up past the rings. This will not work with an auto trans.

If you can get someone to follow you, go on a drive( say 10 miles) and get them to see how much it smokes. They should not see any noticable blue smoke.

Someone else mentioned a quart in 800 miles. if it burns that much, you need either a motor job or a motor swap. But you need to know any other motor is a good one. Buy one from a wrecker and it might be worse, otherwise always best to fix what you have to preserve originality.

[DUCeditor]

Someone else mentioned a quart in 800 miles. if it burns that much, you need either a motor job or a motor swap.

A lot of good advice there, 124cso. I'll just add that technically a quart in 800 miles IS a lot if it is actually being burned in the motor. Many older Fiats, however, lose much of what the lose in a slow drip onto the exhaust manifold where it again turns to smoke.

In either case the question an owner faces is "should I fix it or not?" And for a car driven only on weekends in a limited short season a legitimate answer could be "no."

My Spider is a beauty that has won numerous awards at Boston's famed Museum of Transportation but it is a driver, not a show car. With over 115,000 miles I expect it to drip and burn a little. (More of the former than the latter because it is parked far more than it is driven.

I'm thinking of having the motor rebuilt. But in truth I've been thinking about that for about 15 years. What stops me? The car drives too dang well! So instead I keep a quart of 20w-50 in the trunk and add a little from time to time - perhaps a quart or so over the course of an entire season.

Thus my advice to an owner who has an older, high-mileage, car is: Judge for yourself how bad the problem is. Does the car still suit your needs? Is fixing it (rebuilding the engine) worth the time and money at this time? There is no formula. It depends on how you use the car and what your long term goals for it are.

My Spider is a fun car, nothing more. The fact that it brings stares and comments (and even awards) is just unexpectedly sweet icing on an already very sweet cake.



-don

[kmead]

As a point of reference, most modern car makes will not replace or rebuild a new motor in your car if the car uses more than 1 quart in 1000 miles. An old car using a quart 800 miles although not desirable would not be too surprising. Once it gets down to using more, is when you need to really think about fixing the problem. It does just get down to the economics of the thing, as stated if you only drive a few thousand miles a year, pouring a quart or two in a year is not too arduous.

Of course if you are fogging the neighborhood for mosquitos, you may want to thing twice...

[DUCeditor]

Of course if you are fogging the neighborhood for mosquitos, you may want to thing twice...

Thanks for bringing that up kmead. I should have included that thought in my comment. An occasional spiff of blue smoke is one thing, smogging the guy behind you would be quite different.

-don