So I just checked the oil today and there was almost nothing on the dipstick. Just a tiny dab of black oil. I added a quart and a half of oil, and immediately upon startup I could smell oil burning as if I overfilled it. I've overfilled it a couple of times and I'm quite familiar with the symptoms (big poof of smoke on startup, burning oil smell, etc...)

I just let the engine cool down and checked the oil level and it's half up the dipstick.

Could something be blocking the oil somewhere? Since it was barely a drop at the end of the dipstick and adding a quart and a half to it made it half full, something doesn't seem right.

I'm going to do a compression test later. I can't find the compression tester right now.

 

sure you got the stick in all the way?

 

Positive. As far as I know, anyway. It's not going in any further and the dipstick housing can't go any further into the engine/pan.

Here are the results of the compression test:

1 - 150
2 - 140
3 - 150
4 - 145

So for 250k miles, how good are those results? Also, my oil light has never come on when it's low. It has come on in the past when it was low and I slammed on the brakes, and it lights up every time I start the truck.

 

Parked on a hill?

 

Okay. Ignore those compression results. I did those when the engine was semi-warm (not at operating temperature.) As I sat down to write this, I realized that. I went out to do another hot compression test and the compression gauge broke. I tested #1 once and the compression was about 170. I went to test it a second and third time so I can average the results, and on the second test the gauge broke :-(

I'm not parked on a hill. I read the oil on the street by our apartment and even in my parent's garage, which is a good flat surface.

 

The low on the dipstick is only about 1- 1.5 quarts below full..

 

You mean the "barely a drop at the very tip" is the low spot?

 

Well.. That's probably about 1.5-2 quarts empty. If I had to guess.

Check the owners manual, seriously. I think it shows a picture of it.

 

I saw that in the owner's manual the other day, and it had a picture of the end of the dipstick where the crosshatch pattern area said "normal" and anywhere outside of that was considered "low", but it never specified how low it was.