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I boung a mx-3 just over a month ago and I have that whole oil cunsumption problem with the stock v6. The car runs great but since it burns oil I have to keep an eye on the oil level. This is the problem. I can never get an acurrate reading on my oil dipstick. On one side of the dipstick it shows over the full mark and on the other side it only shows 1/4 above the L. It does not matter if its been sitting for a long time or for 5 minutes after a good run I never can really be sure what the oil level actually is. Does anyone have this same issue or know the reason for this???

Wow thats weird... Maybe you should clean the dipstick with some solvent - there might be something on it preventing the oil from sticking. What happens if you turn the dipstick around 180 degrees?

i would trust the lower side. you could just be rubbing the dipstick on the side of the tubing thus getting an inaccurate reading. try turning the dipstick when you insert it and see if that helps. but who knows maybe there is some sort of forcefield holding the oil up on one side of the oil pan.

Clean the dipstick with brake parts cleaner and inspect it for any visible film.
If clean reinsert and try to get the dipstick to show even on both sides. if it does then your fine. If not rotate the disptick 180 degrees and check again. If the same side is still higher then there is something on the dipstick, if the high side changed to the same side as the first try then you need to find out why it is doing that.
Could be other reasons too
1. check the oil level with the car parked on a fairly flat surface
2. the dipstick is rubbing on the side of the tube you feed it down and it is picking up oil from the tube
3. you may have something mixed in with the oil. Drain all oil and put a new filter on and see if that helps.

PS< have you used some sort of stop leak to try and get the car to not burn so much, if so that might be your problem.. NEVER!! use stop leak, it causes more problems than it fixes.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have tried inserting to dipstick every which way and it still does the same thing. I have been tempted to use a stop leak product as it bruns an amazing amount of oil (if the dipstick is correct) but after reading info off this site (thankfully) I never added anything. It was my thought as well that the dipstick was rubbing on on side of the dipdtick tube. I even tried to roughen up the surface of the dipstick but that did not solve the problem either. I will try cleaning off the dipstick with some parts cleaner and see if that helps out any.

Let me know if you find a solution. I have the same problem with my V6. If I let it sit overnight and pull the dipstick, then it seems to read OK. But if I wipe it and put in back in and out, I am never sure where the oil level is at.

I decided to take out the dipstick and just put dip it into the remaining oil I had in a 1 litre container. I took it showed the same level on each side, so there was not a film on the dipstick.

The only conclusion I can come to is that it is rubbing on the side of the dipstick tube when I pull it out which is giving inacurate readings on one side of the dipstick. It does not matter how I angle the dipstick when I put it in, it always shows higher on one side than the other, but the high side tends to have some 'gaps' in the oil on the dippstick leading me to beleive that is has to be rubbing on one side.

So for now I am going to trust to lower level on the dipstick and I guess I will find out for sure on my next oil change.

Mine has never done that by rubbing on the tube. I'm sure everyones rubs on the tube at some point on the way up or down since the dipstick is straight (but flexable) and the tube is bent a bit. It has got to be something else.
What type of oil do you use? The oil that you dipped the dipstick into, is it the same as the kind in the car now?

Yep, same oil I use in the car as what I put the dipstick in. Castrol High Milage 10W-30. Showed fine when I dipped it directly in the oil.

Its a 92 with 250k on it so it may have had some engine work on it in the past and I do not know if during that process the dipstick tube was bent but it does not appear to be. The dipstick itself seems to be stock as far as I can tell. I have looked and looked and can't find a reason for it. I may just drain the oil this weekend to see how much comes out to ensure its not over or under filled. I also thought of picking up used dipstick somewhere and trying that.