My daughter has a 2014 Nissan Rogue with 90000 miles. She was informed that she had little to no oil in it by a friend who is very good with cars. She said it was running a little rough. I had the oil changed a few months ago at one of the big auto tire stores. I don’t know where the oil went, as it has no leaks. The friend said the on board indicator had been turned off. What are your thoughts?
My first thought is that you forgot to show her how to check the oil on a regular basis . There is possible damage done to the engine . Your best move is to make sure it has enough oil in it and then have a shop check it to see if there is engine damage. At 90000 miles it very well could use a quart every 1000 to 2000 miles.
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My thoughts are the same as VOLVO_V70’s thoughts. She needs to start checking the oil after every oil change and regularly after that. She also needs to hope that the engine damage done here was minor.
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Considering that it’s running a little rough I would suggest running a compression test to get an overall feel for the general health of the engine.
Running an engine very low on oil can score cylinders. seize pistons rings, and cause lowered compression along with making oil consumption issues even worse.
A first step could be connecting a vacuum gauge to the engine. It’s cheap and easy. If the gauge shows a lower than normal reading or a shaky needle then it should be followed up with the comp. test.
If compression is low then it’s time to be thinking about another vehicle. As mentioned, she needs to get in the habit of checking the oil level on a regular basis or this problem will never end.
Along with showing her how to check the oil, show her how to add oil to bring it up to the correct level. She may also need to be shown how to check the coolant level and how to fill the windshield washer reservoir.
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If there are no visible leaks, then clearly the engine consumed the oil. As was already stated, the consumption of 1 qt per 1,000 miles is considered to be “normal” by most car manufacturers. If several months have elapsed–and if nobody ever bothered to pull the dipstick–it is entirely possible for there to be a very low level of oil in the crankcase. That is why Owner’s Manuals state the importance of regularly checking the dipstick, and some manuals go so far as to state that the oil level should be checked every time that the gas tank is filled.
As was also suggested, a compression test of the engine is advisable at this point in order to determine if the engine was damaged by the low oil level. If it was damaged, it is possible that very pricey repairs are now needed.
PLEASE teach your daughter how to check her oil, and also how important it is to do it on a regular basis. Even if it is too late to save this engine, this could help to preserve the life of the engine in her next vehicle.
It’s rare for a 4 cylinder Nissan engine to have excessive oil consumption. I would have it examined, but I also want to point out that getting a good reading on the oil level can be tricky and the thin synthetic oil used today does not seem to cling to the dipstick like it did in the past. Hopefully, your friend misread the oil level, and you were just a bit low. It’s best to measure first thing in the morning when the engine is cold and all the oil has had a chance to get to the drain pan.
Thanks for the info.
Thank you.
Also:
What? There’s no button to turn off the low oil pressure light.
Are you keeping up with how your daughter is taking care of the car? We got an old beater for my niece to use. she was to change the oil every 3,000 miles (because we knew that meant she’d hopefully do it every 6,000). Naturally, she didn’t change the oil at all until the day we took the car back for bad behavior. Then she got it changed quick before turning it over to us, somehow thinking that we’d be fooled. So, we’ll see how the engine looks after probably 20,000 miles with no oil changes. 
Long story short, teenagers are often irresponsible and/or forgetful. If you aren’t making sure the oil changes are getting done, they’re probably not getting done. If the vehicle burns any oil at all, it’s pretty easy to run it out of oil before the average teenager gets around to bringing it in for a change.
you need to demand oil change receipts from folks to prove their story
Speaking as a retired teacher/counselor of 35 years service, I can tell you that irresponsibility among teens is the norm, unfortunately. As to being “forgetful”, the typical teen’s problem–IMHO–is twofold:
Selective listening
Devoting most of their attention to unimportant things, while totally ignoring important things.
The most extreme example of this problem was demonstrated by one of my counselees who, because of prior failures, needed to pass every one of his courses in 12th grade. We normally built a significant amount of extra courses into student schedules over the space of 4 years, so that one or two failures in non-required courses would not “sink” them. But, in this case, EVERY one of his classes had to be passed in 12th grade, or he would not graduate.
If there was a Frequent Flier award, he would have surely gotten it, because he was in my office for academic counseling at least 16 times over the course of his senior year, and that took a lot of effort on my part, in view of having to counsel over 350 students.
Anyway… when the feces hit the fan, and he failed to qualify for graduation, I called him in to discuss Summer School. His feigned surprise was surely not worthy of an Academy Award, but the most bizarre part of that counseling session was his statement of…
Well, if you had emphasized this a little more, maybe I would have passed.
I directed him to leave my office, and to return only when he was ready to accept responsibility for his actions and inactions. I wound up giving his mother the registration materials for Summer School, simply because he was clearly unable to comprehend the concept of personal responsibility.
That was an extreme case, but…
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Thank you for the sermon.
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You’re welcome!
I hope that my 35 years of experience in dealing with adolescent behavior has given you some reality on the situation.
“Little or no oil”? What that very likely meant is that the oil barely showed on the dipstick. That usually means the oil is down 2 quarts or so. Not good but not the same as little or none. How much did it take to fill to the proper level?
Can’t just say kids or teenagers. How many posts do we see from adults that either run their vehicles out of oil or allow their vehicles to overheat?
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The reason the oil level has gotten unexpectedly low on my Corolla at times has always been that the valve cover gasket sprung an oil leak. It’s not usually obvious that’s the problem just by looking at the engine compartment, but there’s always signs of oil dripping under the car where it is parked when this occurs. Replacing or re-jigging that gasket has always cured it. Beyond that make sure to inspect the dipstick before driving away from an oil and filter change, checking for leaks under the car too, and again when you get home, and again the next morning. It’s within normal specs for a car to use a quart of oil in 1,000 miles so make sure to check the dipstick at least that often.
George I dont think its normal to be burning a quart of oil every 1000 miles especially when its fairly new without a lot of mileage on it. I know some manufacturers want people to accept this as normal, but as you point out there is always a cause, and it does not affect most vehicles.
Yes, it is not “normal” to burn that much, but this is reality of our days that some engines do burn oil and that gasket leaks or bad PCV valve can get car low on oil between the oil changes.
We can complaint “it is not normal” all day long, but reality of life is that the owner has to regularly check the oil level to catch it and prevent from becoming a catastrophic damage event out of minor inconvenience event.
Manufacturers specifically disclaim their responsibility in the case of owner neglecting to check the oil level, so I would not hold my breath at coming back to the dealer and telling “it should not get low that fast, fix my broken engine for me now”.
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Isn’t it easier to just get in the habit of popping the hood every weekend and topping off fluids as needed, versus complaining that “it’s not normal” . . . ?!
that would also be a good time to check those tire pressures . . .
maintenance is cheaper and easier than repairs
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