Low engine oil level

[John1974]

Hi

I am new of course. My wife's hyundai tuscon 2019 1.6 petrol (no turbo charger in this model). Shows low engine level on dashboard, it comes with low engine level on the dipstick. It has happened twice so far between two services (service every 10000 miles). After adding 400 ml oil it showed correct level on dipstick and dashboard warning was gone.

No leakage. Serviced at hyundai dealer.

Has anyone encountered similar problem that this engine takes oil???

John

[PhilHornby]

If there's no visible oil leak, then there are not a lot of other places it can go.

If it were mixing with coolant due to a damaged head gasket, you would see the result (it looks like yoghurt )

So it's probably going out of the exhaust pipe. Is there any visible smoke from the exhaust?

Which would be caused by:-

Worn valve stem oil seals?

Scored cylinder bore?

Worn piston rings?

[Indalo]

After adding 400 ml oil it showed correct level on dipstick and dashboard warning was gone. No leakage.

Welcome to the forum, ‘John1974.'

Further to the previous reply you have received, I’m almost inclined to say that you have nothing to worry about but, as you have elected to ask the question on this forum, I guess that the level of oil consumption does bother you but not enough to report it to your KIA dealership.

Many engines do burn some oil so it’s important to understand the rate at which your car does. To that end, the oil level should be checked regularly and in accordance with the instructions provided in the owner’s manual. Moreover, the starting point on the dipstick should be noted on the first occasion that the oil level has been checked correctly with the requisite quantity of oil in the sump. The indicated level of oil on the dipstick may not coincide with the max mark so some car owners actually overfill their engine with oil, believing erroneously that it is essential to always keep the level at that mark.

In order that forum readers may understand the extent to which your car uses oil, it would be helpful if you could provide the overall mileage of your car and the point at which your warning light comes on (I would not expect to see the light come on at all between regular services) so the the mileage from a correct reading till such an event is critical in determining oil usage.

In short, 400ml of oil in 10,000 miles isn’t good but not necessarily damaging, whereas 400mil in 1,000 miles would be cause to visit your dealer. The appearance of the oil level warning does trouble me but as I don’t know the rate at which the engine is going through oil, I can’t properly judge.

Lastly, two points: Are you certain that there is no leakage from anywhere around engine/gearbox that might be exacerbating the problem? The coolant as already described is a giveaway if it is in any way like mayonnaise.

Also, my reference to oil level checking may or may not apply to your vehicle but not all engines demand a cold oil level check. Some manuals prescribe checking when the oil has been allowed to warm up and then allowed to settle for a few minutes - Hyundai/KIA 1.7 turbodiesel for example.

[PhilHornby]

I asked Chatgpt for its thoughts and it came up with something I'd not considered:-

PCV Valve Issues:

The Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) valve regulates the flow of gases between the crankcase and the intake manifold. If the PCV valve is malfunctioning, excess oil vapor may be drawn into the intake manifold and burned in the combustion chamber.

[Saltcreek]

Turbos are oil cooled and during hot temps/high load you can burn oil that way. If there are no visible leaks then I would guess it is just some oil being burnt off by the turbo

[Indalo]

Turbos are oil cooled

OP stated it’s a non-turbo model.