I have a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country with 86,000 miles on it. The oil light has come on prior to the oil change being required. I have run synthetic oil the last several times. When I went in for an oil change there was no oil in the pan. There was very little oil in the filter. I have never seen the van leak oil in our garage. Any help you could give would be great.
Thanks
If there are no oil leaks evident, then the only alternative is the engine is burning the oil.
Tester
How do I combat this?
This is strange - at the very least because if it was as empty as you say your engine would not likely have withstood the abuse. How long was the oil light on? What did the oil change place have to say about leaking? It is possible to have leaks that don’t show on the garage floor. Bet even so, any leak bad enough to result in a low oil level will leave little to the imagination of one changing the oil.
What kind of an oil change place was this, and is the most recent place the same one that did it last time? How many miles did you go between oil changes? Do you ever check the oil yourself?
If you are burning enough oil to leave you that low between oil changes I would take this to a good independent mechanic, explain the story and ask them to evaluate.
If an engine burns oil, it is usually well worn. If it uses 4.5 between oil changes, as you report, I do not hold out much hope for fixing this cheaply. It is normal for oil to be down 1 quart between changes. If it uses a whole crankcase full, you neeed a rebuilt engine.
When oil leaks out at highway speed with the engine warmed up (which YOU cannot detect), you can often slow this consumption down with slighty heavier grades of oil, or try high mileage oils which have an additive to seal leaky joints and seals.
If you want to keep driving this vehicle, put a case of the cheapest oil (in a heavier weight, such as 15W40) in your trunk and check the oil at every gas fillup.
Needless to say, most of us will be puzzled why a 2007 vehicle with only 86,000 miles on it uses oil, unless it has been abused.
It’s entirely possible that the last oil change place only put 2 quarts in, and 4000 miles of driving caused the rest of the oil consumption.
You really need to check/top your oil and in your case often. It is part of car ownership no matter what you own or how old or new. I typically check it every 3rd fuel fillup(~1000 miles).
Get an idea of oil consumption rate 1 quart/X miles and then go from there.
Using synthetic is absolutely useless to vehicle longevity when you run your oil so low. The oil light means you are basically putting your engine into a “near death” experience and causing severe damage.
If you are not checking the oil with the dipstick between oil changes, and relying on lights to tell you to check out your vehicle, you are on the road to disaster.
Well, the fact that your post is void of “I heard really loud and strange noises” …AND the fact that you were actually able to drive it to the service center leads me to believe that the lack of oil …or rather the real oil volume was exaggerated by the service center.
Check your PCV system …and check your oil at least once a week. Have spare quarts on hand to add or figure out where you’re going to go to have it added for you.
You report no unusual symptoms. No smoke …no fouling of plugs (rough running = misfires - Check Engine Light) so I’ll, for the time being, write this off to being slightly over 2 quarts low (off of the dipstick).
After you’ve checked out your PCV system, I’d highly recommend Auto-Rx to remove any ring coking. It’s not cheap, but does a marvelous job in this area. Google it.
Good luck.
Edit: I just recalled …from a long time ago, what cokeefe was 
“The oil light has come on prior to the oil change being required” I hope you aren’t mistaking the oil pressure warning light on the dashboard for an indicator telling you it’s time to change the oil. This is NOT what it’s for. If the oil light comes on, immediately pull over and shut off the engine. Check the oil and add until the engine is full if possible. If the engine has oil in it and the light comes on, have the car towed to a shop if necessary. Do not drive it like this. Every second that light remains lit with the engine running you are likely doing internal damage to the engine.
You need to check the oil regularly–every 2nd or 3rd fillup is usually a good idea, since yours is losing oil apparently, I’d check it every day to see how much it’s dropping until the cause is determined.
If I understand your post correctly, you’ve never monitored your oil between changes and have repeatedly allowed it to run so low that the oil pressure warning light has come on.
You are one very lucky person. For most folks the engine would have seized by now. However, the more you do this is the more damage you do to your engine’s internals and the worse the problem becomes. At this point I suspect your engine is operating with significant excess wear and probably scoring on the cylinders and the bearings. There’s nothing you can do short of a rebuild to undo the damage.
Your engine will continue to use excessive oil from now on. The best you can do is learn to check your oil often using the dipstick, keep it above the “fill line” on the stick (see your owner’s manual), and hope you get enough useful life out of it to get you to your next vehicle purchase.
While you’re referencing your owner’s manual to learn where the dipstick marker is, you may want to brouse through the rest of the routine maintenance items…
Sincere best.
Not good news.This is a big problem with Chrysler. It is either the valve seals failing or piston rings. If you’re real lucky it is the PCV mechanism. I am currently battling Chrysler and am seeking legal redress through the attourney general in Texas and possibly small claims court. My email is murfr@msn.com. I will be glad to share everything I have researched and experienced with you. To fend off angry customers there is an internal document, Star Online Document # 999926737 that they use. They began initially by telling me that the oil consumption you have described is an industry standard, as if every car with 70,000 miles on it uses this much oil. This is nonsense. I have been mouthed off at and hung up on by Chrysler Customer service reps. That’s to be expected, I told them they are liars. If you want a copy of my letter to the Attorney General, email me at murfr@msn.com.
All the best,
RM
The document Star Online Document number 999926737 I referred to, I have not read as it is only avalable to dealers but I was lead to understand by Chrysler Service Reps that this is where the 1 qt per 750 or 1000 miles is from.
I have a 2007 town and country with 43k on it and it uses 3 qts between oil changes.
I recently took my 2007 t&c to a chrysler dealer and they told me that for the 3.8 v6 chrysler says it is within normal operating conditions to use 1qt of oil every 1200-1500 miles. I call this bs.