Hi all,

Following my last post asking "what oil" to put in my 1999 T Reg Focus, I was recommended to use 5w30, which I have done. I have bought Ford 5W30 Oil on both occasions.

Since the post I have bought 1 litre of oil and put it in.

About a week later I bought some more just so I had some when I needed it, I checked the oil earlier today and more was necessary, however after putting in another litre of oil there is no oil on dipstck but there was before I put some in.

I know absolutely nothing about cars and Im worried about driving the car, I have to leave for work at 5:20am in morning to a remote location so public transport is not an option.

Am I worrying about nothing? Is it because the engine is cold?

As always any help/guidance and or suggestions all gratefully received.

Thankyou all very much

are you saying there was oil on the dipstick, you added some more and now there is not? thats rather odd...

if you have added oil there MUST be more in your engine then there was before, things which could make this happen..

1. the car is very low on oil and you did not correctly check the dipstick before adding the extra oil (you need to pull the dipstick out, wipe all of the oil off, replace it, then pull it out again and read the oil level) if this was not done oil could creep up the dipstick and give you a false value when you first checked it. then you added new oil and its still so low that its not reading once the stick has been wiped. I personally think this is rather unlikely but when not wiping the stick before reading the value you can get some strange readings!

2. you checked the level, moved the car to a hill, added oil and rechecked? you must check it on level ground :P

3. you checked the level, added WAY too much and rechecked (in this case oil will be all up the dipstick and it may look like you havnt got a reading at all if your oil is good and clear. because you cant see a straight line where the oil level is). 1 litre does seem like a lot to add in one go without checking, when adding oil you should add a bit, check the level, add a bit more, check the level etc until you get it perfect.

Thats exactly waht im saying, very odd. I did correctly check dipstick.

I checked the oil on level ground, did not move to refil.

When I refilled oil I added bit by bit, checked level, added more, check level etc etc until bottle was gone.

What should i do now? it

are you saying there was oil on the dipstick, you added some more and now there is not? thats rather odd...

if you have added oil there MUST be more in your engine then there was before, things which could make this happen..

1. the car is very low on oil and you did not correctly check the dipstick before adding the extra oil (you need to pull the dipstick out, wipe all of the oil off, replace it, then pull it out again and read the oil level) if this was not done oil could creep up the dipstick and give you a false value when you first checked it. then you added new oil and its still so low that its not reading once the stick has been wiped. I personally think this is rather unlikely but when not wiping the stick before reading the value you can get some strange readings!

2. you checked the level, moved the car to a hill, added oil and rechecked? you must check it on level ground :P

3. you checked the level, added WAY too much and rechecked (in this case oil will be all up the dipstick and it may look like you havnt got a reading at all if your oil is good and clear. because you cant see a straight line where the oil level is). 1 litre does seem like a lot to add in one go without checking, when adding oil you should add a bit, check the level, add a bit more, check the level etc until you get it perfect.

Thats exactly what im saying

I correctly checked the dipstick before adding oil.

I checked the oil on level ground, didnt move the car then refilled.

I checked oil, added a bit, check level, added bit more, check level etc etc until bottle was gone still no sign on dipstick.

What should i do now?

are you saying there was oil on the dipstick, you added some more and now there is not? thats rather odd...

if you have added oil there MUST be more in your engine then there was before, things which could make this happen..

1. the car is very low on oil and you did not correctly check the dipstick before adding the extra oil (you need to pull the dipstick out, wipe all of the oil off, replace it, then pull it out again and read the oil level) if this was not done oil could creep up the dipstick and give you a false value when you first checked it. then you added new oil and its still so low that its not reading once the stick has been wiped. I personally think this is rather unlikely but when not wiping the stick before reading the value you can get some strange readings!

2. you checked the level, moved the car to a hill, added oil and rechecked? you must check it on level ground :P

3. you checked the level, added WAY too much and rechecked (in this case oil will be all up the dipstick and it may look like you havnt got a reading at all if your oil is good and clear. because you cant see a straight line where the oil level is). 1 litre does seem like a lot to add in one go without checking, when adding oil you should add a bit, check the level, add a bit more, check the level etc until you get it perfect.

did you pull the dipstick,wipe and then insert to check the level or just pull the dipstick and looked what the level was,if it was the second option it can give a false reading on the dipstick showing more oil than is actually in the car.

Pulled dipstick out, wiped then inserted pulled out again to check.

did you pull the dipstick,wipe and then insert to check the level or just pull the dipstick and looked what the level was,if it was the second option it can give a false reading on the dipstick showing more oil than is actually in the car.

Pulled dipstick out, wiped then inserted pulled out again to check.

new oil is very clear quite frankly its impossible to add more oil and have less unless you didnt put the oil into the oil filler neck on top of the engine or have a river of oil pouring out the bottom of the car run the car for 30 secs and check again the oil is very clear so is not noticeable in the sunlight when its new oil feel the dipstick is it wet or bone dry if its bone dry then summats seriously amiss somewhere

If what your saying is to be true, then check around the sump plug very evidence of leakage. I have heard of tubes coming loose a bit too. Even if it's just a droplet over time it adds up. Carry a spare 1lt of oil to be safe. Good luck :).

you would seriously notice it if you had a leak fast enough that you fill her up and by the time you check the dipstick its empty

like perviously said, its probably that there is a good amount of oil in there (possibly too much) and you cant see it because its clear.

let us know if the oil "comes back" lol