Where’s My Oil Going?

I have a 1970 CJ5 with Dauntless, points, and Rochester 2G carb.

I changed my oil and filter roughly about 1000 miles ago (5 quarts oil).

I just checked the oil and I’m a quart low. I keep the Jeep in the garage so I know there are no leaks.

I’m not seeing or smelling any smoke, etc.

Engine runs great, idles great, no misses or stumbling.

Any idea what’s happening or what to check?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Hey Dale,

Looks like we may be neighbors, what part of East TN are you in?

If you are sure you filled it to capacity, including checking it after it ran enough to fill the filter, that quart of oil went somewhere.

If you know it isn't leaking, then it is consuming oil and you should be able to see some smoke, maybe not a lot, but some.

Top it off and keep an eye on it, meaning check the oil each time you drive it, and watch for smoke at various running conditions.

If it smokes when first started then clears up valve guides would be suspect, if it smokes under load might be worn rings.

 

A quart in 1000 miles was fairly normal back then. I'd be happy with that.

That said, valve guides, rings, or an external leak that only happens when operating?

How much has it used historically, and has that changed suddenly?

When you change a filter, that will take an extra quart to re-fill....

 

Im in Knoxville. How about you?

I’ll top off the oil to make sure it’s full and start checking and watching more closely. I also checked the radiator and no oil showing up there.

 

I am in Birchwood so about a two hour drive from Knoxville.

 

Quick update...

I went out this morning to check the oil after letting the Jeep sit overnight. Still showed about a quart low. However this time when I put the stick back in, i guess I used a little more force than before because I felt a noticeable click that let the dip stick go further into the block.

Turns out the stop on the dip stick had somehow slipped passed its lower bracket and wasn’t allowing the stick to be fully seated. After fixing that, oil level is back where it should be. Now I feel like a dip stick

 

Good for you to have things like this to remember. Things aren't always as they first appear.

 

I have seen that before. Glad you caught it.

 

Thanks. Just glad I didn’t add another quart of oil

 

When my younger brother, who is about ten years younger, was learning to drive, my father stressed the importance of checking the oil regularly and showed him how to add a quart.

A while later the old Mercury sedan he had been driving started smoking badly. It had a lot of miles, so without looking into it Dad just parked it, and let my brother start driving his old pickup truck.

Within a week the pickup started smoking badly, but I happened to be over there and saw it smoking when my brother came home from the store. I checked the oil and found it was way over the full mark on the dipstick. I then walked over and checked the oil on the Mercury and it too was way over the mark.

Seems my little brother had paid attention to the part about adding oil, not the part about checking it.

I asked him about it and he said he was adding a quart of oil every time he drove them. I told him not to do that anymore.

 

Oh my gosh!

 

I was about to say that I found your oil on the floor of my garage, under my Jeep.
I guess I'll need to check my Jeep now.

 

My former wife's millennial nephew was wondering why the oil level in his Pinto (yup) didn't change after adding a quart.
After some under-hood head scratching and tough Q&A he pointed out where he had added the oil: in the windshield washer tank!!

 

My high school girlfriend came to school one Monday morning and proudly told me she had changed the oil in her VW Beetle. Then she said it took a very long time pouring that oil down that tiny hole (dip stick).

My second wife thought radiator coolant was for the air conditioning.