1994 Plymouth Acclaim oil missing?

I've been changing oil and filters on cars for 40 years and never had
anything like this happen. I bought a used plymouth acclaim about a
year ago and changed oil and filter a couple of times as it isn't
driven a lot. Today after I drained the oil and replaced the filter the
oil filler cap started slipping like a locking gas cap and the top part
finally popped off. I put a funnel in and then realized the actual cap
was still screwed in and unscrewed cap with pliers and added 5 quarts
of oil. I cranked the engine and looked under the car for leaks and
then let car idle, I noticed a little smoke from around the back of the
engine below the valve cover but figured I spilled a little oil which I
figured would burn off in a few minutes. After about 5 minutes I shut
the engine off to check the oil with the dipstick. To my surprise there
was no oil on the dipstick, I checked again but no oil. Moved vehicle
and checked for leaks on grass and there was no leaks. It was getting
dark so I will check it out tomorrow. My question is where is the oil,
maybe pooled up in the valve area, but wouldn't this cause the oil
light to come on or valve chatter or other abnormal sounds.
TIA

 

This is a 2.5 engine.

 

Checked oil this morning and it is ok on dipstick. It was definitely
not showing on dipstick last night. I'm concerned about some kind of
blockage as this never happened on previous changes.

 

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003, tango wrote:

Very likely. The manifolds are back there.

Well, it'll always read low if you check it immediately after shutting off
the engine -- a 5-minute draindown period is needed to get an accurate
reading.

How much oil did you put in?

It would have to be one hell of a blockage, because the 2.5 or 3.0 litre
engine in your Acclaim (you don't mention which one you have) has plenty
of internal oil drainage.

DS

 

Thats what concerns me, it is a 2.5 and I added 5 quarts. Normally the
oil level will be below full but not by a lot, but I wiped dipstick
with paper towel and ran dipstick between index finger and thumb and
there was no oil. Sometimes fresh oil appears clear on the dipstick but
this was not the case.
I will idle it a few times before driving it to make sure everything is
ok.