Equinox has no oil?

[cookielady7]

Hi. I'm new here. I bought a 2013 equinox last week and everything was going well.

The used car lot said they would change the oil and inspection at no additional charge. I thought that was nice.

Wednesday I came to start it and it said 42% oil life. I thought it was odd but had my brother check oil.

Originally it had oil on dipstick but 15 minutes later nothing. This morning just barely any oil on dipstick.

No oil leaks under it. Any ideas on what is going on?

 

[TopHat]

Oil on the dipstick? You make it sound like it had a trace of oil. You start it up and the oil in the pan circulates so reading would be less. Not good to ever have oil that low.

I wouldn't even start the engine with a trace of oil. Since it's already "dry," go buy the oil and filter and install. First, remove any remaining oil. I'd monitor the oil daily once the oil change is completed. Look around the plugs and oil filter for evidence of earlier leaks and the oil pan plug. If oil is lasting, you can return to a normal schedule of checking your oil. Let's hope it's not burning oil, which you can see around the exhaust pipe.

 

[NOX4ME]

It may be a situation where the oil galleys are clogged, holding the oil in the top of the engine and not allowing it to enter the crankcase. Since you don't speak of any heavy white smoke I'd say it wasn't a matter of blow-by (Oil passing the rings and being burned off in the exhaust.
Try this: Empty whatever oil is in the crankcase, replace the oil filter then replenish with four quarts 5W-30 synthetic as per engine requirements and 1 qt transmission fluid. This is an old trick we used to clean out an engine that was poorly maintained. Drain the oil and replace the filter after about 500 miles (checking oil level on a daily basis -- before you start the engine! Refill the engine with the proper grade and weight oil with a fresh filter then check the oil level weekly. You can reset the oil life meter from your Driver's Information Center.

 

[swisscheese]

Is it a 2.4 or 3.6 motor? How many miles? If it's a 2.4 you can have the crap piston ring issues common in 2010-2013 motors. You need to monitor your oil levels regularly. If you do have the 2.4, scrap using synthetic oil and switch to high mileage syn blend. Mine started going thru oil about 90k to the tune of 4 qts every 6k. Try a 10-30 in winter and 10-40 in summer. I use 1 qt. between oil changes now at 3k.

 

[CoolDad]

Hi. I'm new here. I bought a 2013 equinox last week and everything was going well.

The used car lot said they would change the oil and inspection at no additional charge. I thought that was nice.

Wednesday I came to start it and it said 42% oil life. I thought it was odd but had my brother check oil.

Originally it had oil on dipstick but 15 minutes later nothing. This morning just barely any oil on dipstick.

No oil leaks under it. Any ideas on what is going on?

Make sure you are dipping it a second time. If you are losing oil and not seeing it then you are burning it. Bad rings, valve guides, or other things.

 

[cookielady7]

Ok thank you. My mechanic is checking it out today.