Oil Level "Between L & H"
08-14-2012, 06:37 AM
#21
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Its a range, with 1 quart from top to bottom. "Full" or "high", its just semantics. As long as you are in range, you are fine. There's no sense worrying about being at the upper limit all the time, being overfull is just as bad as being under.
The engine spec is 5.1 quarts, but the engine isn't using all that oil at once. Having 5.5 vs 5.1 quarts in the engine has effectively zero effect on anything, but get out of range, and you get into trouble with starvation, foaming, pressure, etc.
No.
Just because you've heard the question, doesn't mean they've heard the answer.
The engine spec is 5.1 quarts, but the engine isn't using all that oil at once. Having 5.5 vs 5.1 quarts in the engine has effectively zero effect on anything, but get out of range, and you get into trouble with starvation, foaming, pressure, etc.
I wrong in what I did by keeping the oil at the 3rd hash mark (cold check) this whole season.
The topic of oil always seems to generate such "over thinking". Are people really that bored? Do they stay up nights coming up with weird notions of how things ought to be? Get laid. Sleep. This is a fairly worthless concern. I think I have now heard it all. I can ride into the sunset with complete contentment in the knowledge that I've pretty much heard every dumb automotive question there is
08-14-2012, 06:51 AM
#22
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Originally Posted by NewFormula' timestamp='1344950758' post='21935674
As for XViper, I think when he acts like that he's just trolling. His post was long and thought out, it was edited a few times, all of which means he put a lot of undeserving time and effort into it. Some of you may fear to call him out on his bullshit or are just not smart enough to. I'm calling BS. I like that he's around though as he entertains me. To me that's what's important, my entertainment.
You can call his posts BS but he does say "stay between L and H". From what I can tell, the disagreement comes from aiming for the H. As long as you don't overfill or underfill (which, IIRC, applies to any car) it's not an issue. The amount of safety margin desired is a call that each person needs to make. If aiming for the midpoint works for you, great. Don't just assume that everyone should follow suit based on your preference.
08-14-2012, 06:52 AM
#23
As for XViper, I think when he acts like that he's just trolling. His post was long and thought out, it was edited a few times, all of which means he put a lot of undeserving time and effort into it. Some of you may fear to call him out on his bullshit or are just not smart enough to. I'm calling BS. I like that he's around though as he entertains me. To me that's what's important, my entertainment.
Yup, that's it for me on this thread. Time to unsubscribe. The lips, beaks and other body parts are starting to show. And no, I won't edit this one. I'll leave all the spelling and grammar as is.
08-14-2012, 07:08 AM
#24
Having lost an engine to oil starvation issues, the extra 1/2 quart means a lot to me, it could be the difference between a good engine and a bad engine someday when you don't realize it and the oil level drops or the car is taken hard into some corners. I won't stray much past the H mark ever again in my car's life.
08-14-2012, 07:12 AM
#25
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Thanks guys for all the input. I realize now that the hash marks are just a range. Still, I'd rather be safe than sorry, especially because I like to check my oil cold (just easier for me). I will probably aim to be at the 4th X (one away from the top) just to leave room for oil expansion and what not. Thanks again guys for the info (and the entertainment).
08-14-2012, 07:54 AM
#26
You can check it cold as long as you find out how that relates to a hot reading and then use that as a basis. I think Hot readings are typically 1 hash mark higher, so you should be good keeping that in mind and going with the 4th mark cold. You don't run into over-fill issues until you exceed about 1/4 quart over the H mark, so you really have to go over to have a problem. Some track guys purposely run it over the H mark by a bit. One issue that caught me a few times was reading the dipstick right out of the hole without wiping and re-inserting to get an accurate read. Reading that way definitely gives you a false level particularly when cold, it probably works fine for 99% of all vehicles out there , but not this one. Just omething to keep in mind.
08-14-2012, 09:17 AM
#28
Go by the hot reading, but the hot reading should be taken about 5 minutes after shutdown, give or take. When I do that I generally find the hot reading is a bit higher than cold due to thermal expansion of the fluid. It's been a while since I've compared them though, your results may differ.
08-14-2012, 10:13 AM
#30
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This really isn't as hard as you're making it out to be, but I'd go by cold check. The nice thing about a cold engine is all the oil has had time to settle in the pan, so you know what's really there. With a hot engine, oil is all over the place and draining back down, so the level is changing as that happens. You're basically trying to take attendance before everyone's in the room.
I'd just check the oil in the morning, when the engine is cold and there's been plenty of time to settle. Oil doesn't expand that much when its hot, and expansion rates manifest themselves differently depending on the surface area inside the oil pan anyway. Anything between the low and high marks, you're fine.
I'd just check the oil in the morning, when the engine is cold and there's been plenty of time to settle. Oil doesn't expand that much when its hot, and expansion rates manifest themselves differently depending on the surface area inside the oil pan anyway. Anything between the low and high marks, you're fine.