So I bought an '03 Track a few weeks ago from a used car place and have put maybe 1000 miles on it. It was in the shop for grinding transmission; they replaced the tranny under warranty. Just got it back today and decided to do some general checks on the car and found the engine to be two quarts low of oil! My questions are:
1: do they drain the engine when replacing the tranny?
2. why didn't I get a low oil pressure warning?
3. what has this done to my engine if it has in fact been low since I bought it?
4. should I freak out?
5. also, a bit unrelated, but do I have to go through break-in again with the new tranny?

 

haha. sorri i cant answer you the questions but number 4 is pretty funny. haha.

 

I've always heard that a transmission should be given a little breakin time....

 

I don't think you run the risk of HURTING anything if you don't pound on the brand new transmission. ;p

 

1 not necessary to do so but maybe your dealership did it.
2. not low enough to let you know, maybe your readung the dip stip wrong it can be a PIA with these cars.
3. Should have nto caused to much damage, maybe some extra friction and heat but nothing that your stick engine cant handle.
4. NO
5. if the clutch was replaced yes you have to break in the clutch, not the tranny.

 

how did you get the dealership to replace ur tranny? I just brought my car in (for multiple reasons, grinding tranny one of them), and the dealership just brushed it off and didn't do anything about it...

 

A simple compression test will answer your main question.

 

My tranny was grinding when shifting into 5th gear above 4k rpm; deffinitely not normal, so they replaced it under warranty.

What does a compression test consist of, where do I get it done and how much should it cost me? If it shows something negative, what can I do?

 

You won't get the oil pressure light until you are 4 qts low, and then only in sharp turns. A compression test won't necessarily help, mine was fine and within specs, even though I had 85% leakdown on one cylinder, 55 on another and 30-35% on the other 4. Leakdown test is what you need.

But, before that, Do an oil change yourself, drive 1000 miles and do another. Measure the oil that comes out and see how much you have burned.

I had my engine replaced at the beginning of the year, I was burning 1qt/600 miles.

 

Thanks. I just changed my oil this morning, so I'll keep an eye on it. Do I even want to know how much it is to replace the engine? Does the whole thing have to be replaced if it's that bad or can it be rebuilt? Car seems to run perfectly fine, though; guess I'll just keep an eye on the oil consumption for now.

 

5th gear, 4K RPM... Did you have to show them the grind going that fast? Haha.

 

Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. They couldn't reproduce the problem, so I had to go over there and show them with the service advisor riding with me. Think I scared the crap out of him, but all I had to do was get it to do it once and that was enough for him.

 

How many miles are on it?

Bring it should still be under warranty if not over 36...

Bring it to a local dealer, have them do an oil consumption test...

If it IS burning oil and underwarranty, they can help you out with taht...

If not underwarranty... give me a call...

 

It's only got 20,000 miles, so i'm good for a while on the warranty. I think i'll just monitor oil consumption myself for now and see how it goes. If it looks like it's consuming over the next few thousand miles, I'll have it checked out.

 

my oil pressure light went on 1000 miles after they initiated the oil consumption test, and i drove directly to the dealer. they said they added 1.7qts to fill it up.
Did you have mods on your z when they replaced the engine? If so, did they give you any guff about it?

 

Dealer tops off your oil, seals all the oil inlets/outlets and notes your mileage. you then drive it 1k mi and take it back in. They top it off again and measure amnt they added. If you're down over 1qt/1k mi, you get a new motor or a rebuild.
If you're within warranty period, its free.

 

Hey guys I'm new to the Z and need a little advice. Just reading and thinking the indicator for my oil varies from time to time one min. it reads fine the next min its indicating low oil, is this a major problem and has it happend to anyone else. Also recently the indicator for my rpm has been getting stuck I can be doing 50 miles and the indicator will still be at 1 (rpm) and I'm in 4th gear and when it finally shifts and I slow down the indicator may not move down has this happend to anyone.

 

normal oil pressure with warm engine:
idle>14 psi
2k rpm>43
6k>57

 

Did you check the oil level right after you shut the car off?

Make sure the car is up to normal temp and then let the car sit for at least 10 mins before checking the oil?

If you check the oil right after shuting it off then you would get an inaccurate reading showing it lower then it should be.

Runnning 2 quarts low of oil "shouldnt" hurt the car if you're not bashing on it. However it will let the oil break down much faster.

 

Just a thought, but don't assume that because you've only got 20K on the odo that you're good on warranty. Depending on when the car actually went in service, you could have as few as 5 months left on the 36 month aspect of the warranty. If I'm not mistaken, some of the '03's hit the streets in October of '02.

As for the oil, if for some reason it was left a couple quarts low, you would only get a low pressure warning when the pump started sucking air. As long as that didn't happen, you wouldn't have oil-starved the engine, so you should be ok. I would track your oil consumption, or as suggested, have a consumption test run to determine if she's low because she's drinkin' or because someone forgot to fill up her glass all the way. Good luck.