Q: Oil level on dipstick check rising

asked by on February 08, 2017

Oil level rising with no evidence of water/gas in the fuel. I even sent a sample in for testing and all the tests showed as completely normal. Nobody raises the hood of my vehicle except for me and "my" mechanic. There has been absolutely no oil added at any time after routine oil change. My mechanic has been observing/tracking this issue with me for the past few months and is stumped, as no water, fuel, or antifreeze showed up in the tested sample and the overall appearance of the oil does not look abnormal to him. Viscosity and flashpoint were both acceptable. At this point, this is mostly a mystery. We will continue to monitor and I will periodically send in samples to make sure the viscosity is good, as this is apparently the biggest issue with a vehicle "making oil." Any suggestions or input would be appreciated!

My car has 7800 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

When checking the oil on the dip stick you should be checking it in the same place and engine temperature in order to get correct readings. If you check the engine when its cold and then again when it is hot then the oil level will rise a small amount due to expansion from heat. If you check the level on an incline and then when flat you will see an increase in level. Once you verify the oil level is going up then you will either have coolant in the oil or fuel in the oil. The coolant would show as a coolant loss. The fuel would show as an odor in the oil that smells of fuel and you would have running rich codes.

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