dlq04

- after a drive to Langsburg for a car model of the S2000 (first time out since returning after the oil change), I filled up with gas and then checked the oil when I got home. It was bone dry!! After 211 miles. WTF. I even waited about 5-10 minutes before checking the first time.

So, I waited another 15 minutes and checked and it was full!! WTF.

I called Sunshine Honda and was informed Scott Cope no longer worked there. I spoke with service and they could not come up with any explaination, other than to say keep checking it.

I've been driving sports cars for 40 years and I've never seen anything like this!!!

legendr34

that's some BS, this happens to me all the time, I can never get an accurate reading at all.

captainnice

I wish someone would come up with a better dipstick design. The crosshatching makes it difficult to read. I'm tempted to take a grinder to it.

Utah S2K

Change your oil filter.....bad check/relief valve.

Utah

dlq04

Utah, I'm assuming from the suggestion that the Honda filter has this. It is news to me.

I was under the impression that check/relief valves were used on inverted filters; but, I did not think they were used on horizontal (such as ours) or vertical. Do you know this for fact? The Helms manual doesn't help any. That's an excellent idea, if that's how they are constructed because something restricted the flow of oil from the cams back to the sump.

Other than changing the filter/oil, as you suggest, at this point, I'm really puzzled.

All I can think to do is to try to profile the situation, assuming it will repeat itself (i.e., warm it up, shut it off, and continue to take readings every minute or so, being very careful with a paper towel working from the top down so to speak).

dlq04

Footnote, for those of you with brand new engines, I too found it very difficult to read the oil level for the first few thousand miles. I could see the oil was there but it was tough to get a definitive level reading. The damn oil was just too clean IMO. The engine during break-in is much cleaner than any I've experienced and the oil stays the same way for a long time. I found it's much better to read it when it's cold.

My difficulties in reading passed shortly after my first oil change at 3,500 miles. And by 5,000 miles it was more like a normal car when I checked the dip stick (finally broken-in, I quessed).

I now have 7,500 miles on the car and I've had my second oil change -- a little over a week ago at the dealership (done so for warranty record keeping). And than this...

marcucci

I've had no problem reading the oil (even during break in), though I've always waited 30 minutes before checking it. At first I found the XX's hard to read, now that I know to look at them very carefully (closely), and wipe it off well before checking, I don't have any problems.

The Honda filters all have anti-drainback valves, which happen to work very well (better than Mobil 1). I've let a filter sit upside down before for a week (out of the car) and it hold all the oil in it. This is a fairly small amount of oil, though, not even half a quart- I doubt this would be the cause. You should always see some oil on the stick if there is enough oil in the car, assuming you wait 20 or 30 minutes before checking. Checking right after running means much more oil will be in the head and in the system, not necessarily in the pan.

dlq04

marcucci, thanks for the confirmation on the filter.

I'm beginning to doubt my own eyes on the dip stick. The car reads full today, the oil filter and drain plug are dry as can be, and everything looks very normal. I do realize how difficult it is checking the oil on this car - I have religiously checked it with every gas tank fill-up (after I got home) for the entire 7.5k miles.

The only thing that I'm aware that is different this time was the dealership put in 5w30 instead of 10w30. When I saw the workorder and challenge it, even showing them the recommendation in the owners manual, they keep assuring me that the 5w30 was proper (proper because that's what they buy in bulk, no doubt). And, really, I wasn't all that worried about it either.

Later today, I'll warm it up and run some interval checks.

meat

I can never read the dipstick - so what I do is lay it down on a rag and see where the oil stains the rag. Now, you have to do this on the driver's side of the dipstick, the passenger side always reads high.

My $.02

marcucci

5-30 shouldn't be a problem and shouldn't read any differently on the stick. I can't stress, though, how you should wait 20-30 minutes for the oil to "settle."

I noticed the same thing meat did, though I wasn't going to mention it. I've noticed the driver's side reads lower, and more consistently- the passenger's side seems to smear (note this is for LHD cars, you RHD'ers switch sides).

Unless you live in a cold climate where it's freezing fairly often, I'd stick with 10-30. 5-30 didn't improve valvetrain noise for me and I know that the flash point is usually lower in 5-30 than in 10-30, meaning more oil consumption (oil is more likely to burn on the cylinder wall).