Hi all, wondering if anyone can help with a problem I'm having with my recently purchased 1997 2.0 V6 Zxi with 94k on the clock. It's a great car, but it has one really annoying problem that neither myself or my friends have seen before. When I go to check my oil level (after the car has had a run and then been turned off for a while) I remove the dipstick and the level looks fine, until I wipe the dipstick, re insert it then re check. No oil is visible at all on the dipstick. This happens regardless of how long the engine has been switched off! The oil was only changed 1200 miles ago, and I used fully synthetic. There are no oil leaks on the road, it hasn't been mixing with the coolant and it doesn't belch out clouds of thick smoke, other than a bit of grey smoke on start up. Do all 323's or even just the V6's have this problem with the dipstick? I've unscrewed the filler cap and all looks fine and the oil pressure light comes on and goes straight off when the engine is started, so I know it's functioning ok.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've been after one of these for ages and thought I'd finally found a good one! [/b]

not sure on this one, but i always find that after driving, the oil mixes about a bit, so the dipstick doesnt give a good impression on the first look, you have to wipe it and then check the second time.......

Need some more opinions on this one, but id say you need to top up the oil...

It will burn a bit of oil, my 1.5 does, and from what i've seen and heard most of them do, its nothing to worry bout tho, just top it up, i agree about the dipstick tho, try and get hold of a pre '96 dipstick, they're much better, my replacement engine is post '96 and it sucks :D

If your trying to check the oil you must do it when the engine is cold (has been stood for over 5 hours) and on flat and level ground. the oil must not be warm or you will not get a correct reading.
Any less than 5 hours and not all the oil would have collected back into the sump, it will still be coating the engine parts.

dipsticks are designed to give an accurate reading when the engine is cold, all dipsticks are designed thus way (by god)

i dont know alot but this i do know as i had a talking to by a mazda mecanic when i took me car in for a servicing.

Thank you all for the fast replies. I'd left the car overnight on Saturday and checked the Oil on the Sunday morning and there wasn't a trace on the dipstick. I'd just expected some sort of warning, like the oil light coming on to alert me if the level was dangerously low. I've just checked the dipstick now after having parked up 45 mins ago, pulled it out and the level read max on the dipstick, wiped it, pushed it in and read it again and the dipstick was bone dry. I've bought some 10w/40 Castrol gtx magnatec and I'll try putting a bit in when the engine is cold. I'm just hoping that I won't need to keep refilling the oil every 1000 miles.

First time you pull it out it will always give a false full due to all the oil sloshing around the motor

I think 5 hours might be going a bit OTT to check the level, since warm oil is less viscous then cold oil, it will return to the sump fairly quickly, bout 15 mins should do the trick, or you could leave it over night :D The hardest thing is finding a totally flat place to check, i can recommend Sainsbury's car parks for this, especially if they have a Starbucks, just park up, go for a coffee and a biscuit, take your time and check the oil after ;)

My oil has been WAY below the stick more than a few times over the years, oil light has never even blinked, except on start-up :D

I suspect that maybe you didn't put in enough oil after the oil change, rather than having all ready lost a couple of pints ... My owner's handbook recommends 4.0 litres for the V6, as opposed to 3.5 for the 1.5 and 3.8 for the 1.8 (not sure whether or not this includes the filter ...)

Well cold is what all the haynes manuals suggests and for oil to reach a neutral temp from boiling takes 5 hours. as for a flat place, i cant remmeber the last time i seen a garage build on a hill

I have had similar problems, as has Wai I think, both V6, The dipstick usually shows 1 side ok and the other side low, very strange, personally I think its a design fault.

If you check with any good mechanic they will tell you after 5 minutes the oil is cool enough to check the level. I check my V6 regular as it eats oil some weeks and others doesn't.

I Check oil every few days about 5 or ten mins after driving it .. take a note of the different levels and see how much its burning.


On another note I hadnt used my car for over a week, started it today, it fired up then made strange noise, plumes of smoke from rear then cut out. fired up again, and more plumes of smoke. left it 30 seconds started it again, sounded rough as hell after a minute running smoke cleared and wenmt back to usual engine tone. This hAS happened before. I think my rings have gone or problems with cylinders, tho am not 100% sure. Other than that it runse fine lol.

[quote="GOGOBROOM"]On another note I hadnt used my car for over a week, started it today, it fired up then made strange noise, plumes of smoke from rear then cut out. fired up again, and more plumes of smoke. left it 30 seconds started it again, sounded rough as hell after a minute running smoke cleared and wenmt back to usual engine tone. This hAS happened before. I think my rings have gone or problems with cylinders, tho am not 100% sure. Other than that it runse fine lol.[/quote]

Could be valve stem seals - when the car stands for a while, oil seeps through the stem seals (gravity feed) so after you've left it for a while, you may end up with a nice little puddle of oil in your combustion chamber ...

My V6 uses quite a bit of oil, but never makes any smoke. I think it's a characteristic of the engine, I guess it ensures the oil is always pretty fresh in between changes. You just have to remember to check it very regularly.

Thanks all for the advice. I put about a litre of oil in the engine last night just to see if I could get a reading on the dipstick and it was still totally dry. I was a bit wary about adding 4 litres in one go as a friend of mine who knows a bit about engines unscrewed the cap and said he could see plenty of oil in my engine and that putting too much in could damage things. I've been advised to drain the lot and start again, not being very mechanically minded, I prob wouldn't attempt this myself and it's about £40 to get a fully synth oil change at kwik fit (which was only done a month ago). Since adding the litre, when the engine is hot the dipstick has oil about an inch past the max mark, but just can't get any kind of reading when the engine is switched off. Should I just go ahead and add the remaining 3 litres over the weekend. It's something I'd rather attempt to fix myself rather than keep lining kiwk fit's pocket! Thanks all for the help.

Dont wanna confuse the issue here or brag but i change my oil every 6000 miles and have only ever topped my oil up once between oil changes...and never had a problem with the dippy either

[quote="stevezxi"]Thanks all for the advice. I put about a litre of oil in the engine last night just to see if I could get a reading on the dipstick and it was still totally dry. I was a bit wary about adding 4 litres in one go as a friend of mine who knows a bit about engines unscrewed the cap and said he could see plenty of oil in my engine and that putting too much in could damage things. I've been advised to drain the lot and start again, not being very mechanically minded, I prob wouldn't attempt this myself and it's about £40 to get a fully synth oil change at kwik fit (which was only done a month ago). Since adding the litre, when the engine is hot the dipstick has oil about an inch past the max mark, but just can't get any kind of reading when the engine is switched off. Should I just go ahead and add the remaining 3 litres over the weekend. It's something I'd rather attempt to fix myself rather than keep lining kiwk fit's pocket! Thanks all for the help.[/quote]

Hold the phone ......

1/ "a friend of mine who knows a bit about engines unscrewed the cap and said he could see plenty of oil in my engine"
Looking through the filler cap, all you can see is the valve gear. The oil resides in the sump, down at the bottom.

2/ "putting too much in could damage things"
Correct - if you over fill the engine, you run the risk of blowing out your oil seals ...

3/ "Should I just go ahead and add the remaining 3 litres over the weekend"
NO !!!! The capacity of the V6 is 4 litres - there should be some oil in there to start with, and you've added a litre all ready. Putting another 3 litres will definately put the level way over.

Bear in mind that from "min" to max" on the dipstick only represents the last 2 pints or so, i.e. if it's on "min", it should take about 2 pints to fill it. The dipstick takes the first 3 litres or so for granted.

At this point, bearing in mind the advanced level of confusion we appear to have achieved, I would recommend your idea of draining the oil and starting from scratch. £40 may seem a bit of a waste, but it is considerably cheaper than a seized motor.

PS : Don't assume a garage does the job properly. A mate took his BMW GS1100 bike to a BMW dealer for a service and his motor seized on his way home. It turned out they drained the old oil and forgot to put in the new oil !!!

What smotter says is correct It is 1 litre from minimum to maximum levels on the dipstick.

National Tyres are advertising Oil changes at £25 approx at the moment

you got the right dipstick????



just a thought

it says on the dipstick how much you need to top the engine up - the 1.8 for example needs 0.8L to take the level from low to full, or whatever the correct terminology is! I checked my oil before, and the levels seem to be different on each side of the dipstick...i topped her up and then a level appeared between the markings, then you can work out how much she needs. Like others say, oil does disappear quite quick, but thats probs due to my heavy right foot....

[quote="essex-lad"]:? you got the right dipstick????



just a thought [/quote]

Good point - get someone to measure theirs and see if you've got the right one. That's the trouble with second hand cars - maybe in the past, some biscuit lost/broke theirs and went to a scrap yard and asked for a "323F dipstick, please ??" and got one out of a 1.5 ??????

Cheers for the good advice, I'm gonna have a search for a different dipstick and see if that helps. I've had the car about 6 wks now and I have been a bit heavy on the gas, which could explain alot after reading some of the replies! My previous car was a 1.3 fiesta which used no oil, so going to a 2.0 v6 has taken a bit of getting used to! Other than that, the car seems sound and I'm more than happy with it. It's a 97P, 94k on the clock, hpi clear and cost £1995. Only has a part history though (no service book) but I've got receipts for the cambelt and fan belt were done at 65k + things like tyres and exhausts, speaking of which, the exhaust seems to clonk against the right hand side of the bumper when turning corners, even though all brackets are in place. Is this common? Also 1st and 2nd gear are a bit stiff. I read a post which said the stiff gears were common. Could anyone confirm this for me? Thanks.

I can hearby confirm the 1.5 has a dipstick that reads 0.8L from min to max.

And, if it helps, since the dippy ALWAYS has more on than it should first pull, i keep a rag under the bonnet, quick wipe, stick it back in and, hey presto, good ready

Worth doin it again twice to make sure because it does read a false full on one side some times, probably due to oil splashin up the reciever!!!

My V6 hardly uses any oil even with my driving Mazda have a consumption figure for oil its 1ltr/1000miles but mine never uses this amount.