This past Monday I noticed a sound in my daughter's 2006 Grand Caravan (our old van that she uses for college that has 117K miles) that sounded like a stuck oil lifter. No lights on the dash were on. It was getting close to time for an oil change, so when I went to put in the engine flush fluid as recommended by a number of places, the oil was really low. As in it took 4 quarts to get it to the proper level. I put in the flush fluid and 5 minutes later I drained the oil, replaced the filter, and filled it with Valvoline 1 full synthetic. Things seemed fine.

Fast forward to today, Thursday... My daughter has only driven the van to and from work (about 1.5 miles in town from home) and to the mall, about 5 miles in town one time. SHe complained tonight that the van was making noise. No lights on the dash. I had to bring it right into the garage, I popped the hood, and no oil showing on the dip stick.

There are no oil puddles or visible drips or leaks under the van.

I have not driven behind the van to see if there is noticeable oil burning clues form the exhaust, but I would think that if it was burning it THAT fast, there would be massive smoke and smell that would be easily seen without intentionally looking.

What the heck could be wrong? I mean it had 5 fresh quarts of quality oil put in it 3 days ago and now is acting like it is super low (but not so low that the pressure drops enough to kick in the warning light).

Probably going to have to take it to the dealership tomorrow for a diagnostic IF they can get me in, but if there is something I can look for myself as well, I would like to try.

Please help.

 

You need to buy some oil UV dye. They usually come in one oz bottles. That's the best way to see where you have a leak.

 

OK. I was wrong. It is full of oil. I panicked and checked it while it was still hot, and not being used to seeing such clean oil, the dipstick looked empty, but it wasn't. Sorry for such a rookie mistake.

It *IS* however making horrible noise. I've uploaded three videos to YouTube that hopefully give some insight. I will make a new post as to not confuse the subject with the issue.

 

5 quarts of oil .... are you using an oversize filter like a Fram 8A or Motorcraft FL-1A? If overfilled, aeration can cause things to happen.

What weight of oil and what are the ambient temperatures?

Just a noise at start-up or after it's warmed up?

Type of noise ... whirring? rattling? Whirring could be a bearing like alternator or idler pulley for examples. Rattling could be the decoupler pulley on the alternator.

A rapid loss of oil (a quart plus) can occur from a bad rear (or front) engine oil seal especially if the vehicle is parked on a steep slope, allowing oil to push against the seal.