How full is full?

[GreaseMonkey]

My brother in law and I got into an argument about oil capacities on vehicles. He said that you should put the exact amount as stated in the owner's manual, regardless of what the dip stick says. I disagreed, saying that the quantity stated won't always be the amount for the dipstick to show full. So what would you rather trust, the dipstick or manual?

[Chop]

i actually run a little over in my jeep so on diffrent angles its will have more oil to pump up.

[Roadhouse]

whats this oil thing you speak of

[Monkeyevil]

Originally Posted by GreaseMonkey

I got into an argument about oil capacities on vehicles

Wasn't that on the ASE test? :tonka:

[Bones]

i usually fill it until it starts to overfill the valve cover cap neck

[bikeworx]

Originally Posted by Bones

i usually fill it until it starts to overfill the valve cover cap neck

hehehe

as long as the dipstick is correct for the engine, i trust it more than the owners/repair manual.

by "correct for the engine" i mean the original, "for that motor" dipstick, not a junkyard find from anything that will plug the tube hole :miff:

[Captain Ledd]

I've noticed my Saturn's dipstick tells me it's a little more than the book says, not more than 1/2 a quart though. I'm pretty shure as long as it doesn't hit the bottom of the crank and foam the oil (I'm told that's what it will do) it's fine.

[Yetti]

beleive it our not the oil is put in and figured to its capacity by weight. I used to do it when I worked in the endurance deptment at the CPG. so the measurements on the stick are pretty accurate. if you question the amount of fluid volume then use a square file to put a notch in your dip stick about 1/16 th inch deep at the line you see as full when your done changing your oil. I will agree the some oils will fill to different lines due to the amounts in the bottles and viscus weight.

[wrath]

I trust the capacity for the particular motor with the particular oil filter with the particular oil cooling system (if installed) with the particular remote oil filtering system (if installed).

If you look how the dipstick in a SBC goes into the pan for example... the dipstick can get two levels depending on which way you put the dipstick in the tube (turn it 180 and it'll probably read different). Not to mention it damn near rubs on the crank so if you have "sticky" oil (high adhesion) then it can pull itself higher up on the crank and onto the dipstick.

Us hillbillies used to dump fresh oil in an oil pan before assembling the motor and fill whatever size filter we're going to use. We'd then evaluate windage effects and how it'll affect performance... and then use that same amount of oil in all future oil changes. Then again, I'm one of those goons that puts crank scrapers on stock rebuilds.

In my DD 5.3L... I just stick 6 quarts in it and call it good.

[shawn]

Does this really freaking matter? I can't believe there is a discussion on this.

Get it close, and call it good!

On every dipstick I have ever seen there is about 1/2" of "satisfactory level" so why on earth would it matter if you are a little under, a little over, the full line? There is room to play, it don't matter, you are not going to hurt your motor if you are under or over by 1/2 quart.

[Mclovin]

Go by the dipstick

[Yetti]

Shawn beleive it or not the HP in your engine is dirrectly effected by oil depth from the crank, the farther the oil level is from the crank the better your windage will be, the foam created by slinging oil can cut 10 hp off some engines. thats why its important not to over fill your engines and to use the correct weight and grade oils

[Haggar]

Originally Posted by Yetti

Shawn beleive it or not the HP in your engine is dirrectly effected by oil depth from the crank, the farther the oil level is from the crank the better your windage will be, the foam created by slinging oil can cut 10 hp off some engines. thats why its important not to over fill your engines and to use the correct weight and grade oils

Listen to the bumble.... he knows what he's talking about.

Dyno results on 5/30, 10/40, 20/50 have shown the losses created by higher pumping forces due to heavier oils (until the oil viscosity is so low that cavitation occurs at the pickup....)


Keep in mind, mr. Monkey, that dipsticks aren't perfect. I go by volume. Its more accurate than a mass produced part fitting into a bunch of other mass produced parts.

Even within tolerances, its been found plenty of times that the fill levels are wrong on dipsticks... (A certain jeep model with an error of 1/4" comes to mind..)

[clarkstoncracker]

Originally Posted by Bones

i usually fill it until it starts to overfill the valve cover cap neck

Last week, had a call of a generator not working.

Yeah... nothing like spending money on 14 quarts of synthetic oil to "fill her up"

:tonka:

To my surprise, I drained the oil, dryed out the pistons, replaced the plugs, air filter, and the beast fired right up.

[shawn]

Originally Posted by Yetti

Shawn beleive it or not the HP in your engine is dirrectly effected by oil depth from the crank, the farther the oil level is from the crank the better your windage will be, the foam created by slinging oil can cut 10 hp off some engines. thats why its important not to over fill your engines and to use the correct weight and grade oils

In all the vehicles I have had, and all the different motor and makes, I have never noticed any change in HP with oil level, within the lines. Nor have I noticed any tic wear with having oil in the lines, or even over the line a little. And most all cars I have had, I run close to 200,000 miles and then get rid of them. I don't doupt what you are saying, I just feel it is ludricrous to debate the measure of lubricant for a motor, dip stick or measured quantity.

[Haggar]

Originally Posted by shawn

I just feel it is ludricrous to debate the measure of lubricant for a motor, dip stick or measured quantity.

Consider the dip sitck who brought it all up to begin with....

[GreaseMonkey]

Originally Posted by Haggar

Consider the dip sitck who brought it all up to begin with....

I just brought it up because of the argument my brother in law and I had. I've seen owner's manuals listed quantity still read a quart low on a dipstick. Assuming that dipstick is somewhat accurate, that's kind of messed up. My bro-in-law said that you shouldn't trust the dipstick at all, and strictly go by what the manual says.

Oil will effect HP. On Horsepower TV on Spike they took a Camaro SS, a 2000 or similar year, and filled the trans, engine, and rear diff with royal purple synthetics. It gained 5 HP to the rear wheels. I'd say that's a pretty significant gain.

If you were to throw 15w40 into an engine that takes say...5w20 like all of the new Fords, that's going to bog down the engine a bit.

[Rocky]

GreaseMonkey STFU.

[Mclovin]

Originally Posted by GreaseMonkey

Oil will effect HP. On Horsepower TV on Spike they took a Camaro SS, a 2000 or similar year, and filled the trans, engine, and rear diff with royal purple synthetics. It gained 5 HP to the rear wheels. I'd say that's a pretty significant gain.

ohhh 5HP !! and how much did they spen on that shit ?? I think i'll find cheaper horsepower somewhere else..
Christ to swap all the fluids over that Royal Purple Panzie shit would drain my bank account.


Oh and to answer your question Jeff, I beleive Full is FULL !