Well I am kinda panic'd. I did an oil change tonite on my '97 4runner (V6). Draining only resulted in 1 quart of oil coming out. And it was pretty nasty too. I bought the truck end of december last year and the dealer said that they had just done an oil change. So I figured I could wait out the 3000 miles. Now the nice weather is here and I can get outside and work on it I figured tonite was the nite for the oil change. Anyways. 1 quart! Bad right!?! What should I replace or get checked out? It seems to be running okay and I hope there is no long term damage, but what should I do?

Thanks!
Andy

 

One quart?? That is scary.. In my experiences the dealers usually have thier heads so far up thier asses I bet they poop facial features . Maybe they just didn't fill er up right. I check my oil once a week and you should too! Is there any evidence of a leak around the oil pan?

 

You can bet I am going to start! While I was under there I didn't see any evidence of leaks at all, the block looks clean. The only thing that struck me as weird was that the drain bolt was a bit rusty and was really tight. I guess the other thing was that the filter seal was pretty gunked up, I guess that would be expected with so little oil...

 

Now that you've done the change the best thing you could do in my opinion would be to keep driving it and keep a really close eye on the oil level. Let's hope retards at the dealership just short changed you on oil and there is no leak. It probably wouldn't hurt to run some kind of oil additive to clean things up a bit. I'm not sure what a good brand would be but I'm sure someone here can give you a good recommendation.

 

Durning the last 3k miles has your oil pressure guage been in the normal range?

 

I put in Valvoline MaxLife Oil because its supposed to have some good stuff in it. Maybe I should try some Restore or something like that?

I don't have a guage, but the warning light for oil pressure never came on..

 

Uhh didn't you check your oil in the last 3000 miles??? I check mine and my tire pressures at least once a week.

 

For that much of an oil loss, you are going to notice one of two things:

1. Exxon Valdez oil spill under the vehicle in your regular parking spot.

2. A plume of blue smoke coming out of the tailpipe at start-up and under acceleration.

So if neither of those things have occurred, I would place the blame on the last oil change. Let's just say that if you burned 4 qts of oil in the last 3K miles, you would have known it.

I agree, you should be checking your oil every week. I bet you will start now!

 

Keep that crap out of your motor. It does nothing.

What probably happend was the "mechanic" prefilled the oil filter but never added the rest.

 

Yeah I know I should check it, I just made a bad assumption because I got it from what I thought was a good dealer. I usually do a change on any new vehicle I get... winter, classes, work.. etc.. bad mistake... yes I will definately start now

I never did see a cloud of smoke or any oil spill at all...

Keep what crap out of my motor? Oil? yes I tried that already... j/k I'm guessing you mean the restore, anything you can recomend?

Thanks! -Andy

 

Just check it once a week. If after weeks you see no change, check every 2 weeks and so on. Hopefully there was minimal if any damage done. First thing I ever do when I buy a used car is check fluid levels.

I checked mine the first few months I had it every couple weeks. When I reached my 5k oil change mark, i wasn't down even a notch. I don't check it anymore except maybe once every month or two. The way I drive, it seems I change it about that often.

 

I would change it again in 500 or so miles. I bet there is a lot of gunk in there.

 

dont put any additives in your motor if it was ment to be there it would be in the oil. my dad put some motor cleaner in his oil and it dose nothing but stir up all the bad crap and runs it through your barings and rings macking them go bad realy quickly, his main and rod barings were compleatly wore out 3k later.