2010 - Changed oil, only 3 quarts came out.

[LordJezo]

I let the pan drain until it was a very slow drip and the filter was drained and dropped completely.


When I dumped out the pan into the container only about 3 quarts were there.

6 quarts in, around 3 quarts out. The car hasn't been burning oil in a way we have noticed or smelled, its not leaking anywhere that we could see, but the oil went away. Mobil 1 filter and oil are what we use. It's been a while since I changed it though, but should the oil just go away like that?

 

[pyroMark]

How many miles did you go since the last change?

How many miles on the car?

Check your coolant - everything OK there and the right color?

I've seen something like this happen where something wasn't sealed properly in the previous change. Filter not tight enough, defective filter seal, etc. Depending on how slow the leak it could it have dripped onto the manifold and burned up without you noticing? If that was the case you are probably all set and it won't happen again. If you notice the oil level is still dropping, you might have a real problem.

 

[LordJezo]

According to my log book, which I am hoping is right, it's been a year since I changed the oil and have put on about 13k miles.

Pushed that a little longer than expected...

Will check the coolant level next chance I get.

 

[pyroMark]

OK not too surprising then - that's a pretty long time and mile duration between changes. You could have burned 3 qt over 13k miles. Maybe it didn't start with 6 qt either on the last change.

If you're concerned, I'd check the oil level for the next couple gas fill ups to make sure there is no issue. Also maybe do a short duration on this oil change to clean out whatever part of the old oil was left. Not sure if that's necessary though - I'm no expert.

 

[Veilside1]

on my last road trip, about 1500 miles, mostly freeway with sustained speeds rarely dropping below 75mph my CX-9 burned about 1qt of oil. so i think that your consumption would seem pretty normal.

 

[knowaczark]

44k on my 08 and never have had to top off oil level. Even after multiple 1600 mile+ trips from So.Central PA to "Up North" Michigan.

I would be concerned with low oil levels, period.

 

[pyroMark]

Hey Jezo,

Just changed my oil @ 20k. I change with mobile1 5w20 and Wix filter @ 5k mile increments. 5k miles in about 6-7 months. I may have checked the oil one time during that period and it seemed OK.

Today I checked and it was just above the low hole in the dipstick, so my guess was it is about 1 quart low. Drained and measured 4.5 quarts out, including what I could drain from the old filter. New filter and filled it up with about 5.5 quarts. Also I checked the book and it does say 5.5 quarts capacity with filter change (for my 2010). I would guess yours is the same, not sure why you needed 6 quarts. Maybe you filled right to the top hole on the dipstick.

It would seem our oil burn rates are the same then. I burned about 1 quart over 5k miles. You burned 2.5-3 quarts over 13k miles. I don't think 1 quart per 5k miles is excessive, but letting it get below the low marker is not good. You could just change the oil more often. I'm probably overkilling it with synthetic at 5k, but with low miles it's barely 2 changes per year. Bonus is the odometer is my reminder at 5k multiples.

 

[table5511]

Mine uses at least a quart every 5k miles. And so have my previous cars...... mainly in the summer. for 13k miles to loose just under 3 quarts is fine, no problems.