If there is oil in that pipe, what would be the cause of that?

 

Water or gas getting into the oil sump.

 

Thanks for the fast reply donbrew.

Gas could be it, the vehicle has poor fuel economy and running rough.

 

That would be a leaking injector and/or worn rings.

 

Right on, and both of those would typically create a noticeable stinky exhaust that would be hard to miss.

 

I'm occasionally smelling burning oil. I've got 215xxxkms on it, but the problems started around 160xxx. I'm disappointed to think this motor is shot after taking care of it meticulously and changing oil every 5000kms.

 

If you have been dumping raw gas into the oil sump for 55,000 kms oil changes are a waste of time and money. That is what can cause engine death.

If it is a leaking injector it should have been fixed a long time ago.

Did you think the engine was magically producing oil?

I am going to move these post to a new thread.

All of these replies are assuming "that pipe" means the oil dipstick pipe. A reasonable assumption since it was posted in a thread about oil levels. Please correct us if that is incorrect.

 

Letting the problem persist for 55,000 km is not taking care of it meticulously. It should have been addressed long time ago.

It likely is the time to hand it over to a mechanic that can actually lay hands on it and run some diagnostics to determine the problem - and fix it if it is not too late already.

If you are close to Richmond, there is a local shop that I can recommend via a private Message. I have found them to be fair/honest and work at a very reasonable cost.