ToniJ1960

I checked the oil level on my 84 it was way down sat the bottom of the dipstick, I checked it when it had been sitting overnight.

So I added one quart and now its over full? It went a half inch above full with one quart? Im sure I saw what I saw, but there must be something.

Cruisinfanatic

too much oil is just as bad as too little. Drain some out

ToniJ1960

I always heard that it would get whipped up by the crankshaft that's why I was concerned over it.

But I checked it again just now and its at the bottom of the full mark, although theres a light film higher up. (after driving it earlier in between)

cv67

Ideal no but it wont hurt anything if its slightly overfull
Its a Chevy it will leak or burn itself back down again

JrRifleCoach

^^^^

FOURSPEEDVETTE

Hey ToniJ. Good question. Don't you just love answers like this? A half inch over full can be a real problem for many cars. Just follow the fill marks on your dipstick after the engine has cooled down on any car. Simple rule is if it's over the full marks, especially 1/2" or more, you need to drain it down. There is a reason those marks are there. They're not just suggestion marks. Play it safe and don't over pressure your engine.

Cruisinfanatic

Is that really what you would do?

ToniJ1960

ok ok ok look I had my other car ( a Pinto go ahead and laugh) for exactly 30 years and never saw anything like that before.

The car was playing tricks on me yesterday just let this thread die

I mean I was waiting in my car for someone in the store yesterday right after this, turned off the engine and let the stereo go a while. The battery voltage went from 12 to 11.7 and I thought maybe I better turn the stereo off. Could you believe it went to 11.8 11.9 and then 12.0 and I didn't turn anything off.

Hopefully its done messing with me today sorry.

Klondike

Maybe your dipstick wasn't fully seated when you pulled it out the first time. I always pull mine, wipe it and check again a couple of times just to make sure.

Tom400CFI

No way 1 qt would take you from " way down sat the bottom of the dipstick", to "now its over full"'s not right. Low mark to "full" mark is 1 qt. Bottom of stick to full should be ~2 qts.


I agree w/cuisinartvette that it won't hurt anything to be slightly over full. In fact, the owners manual recommends overfilling for track use, so.... while 'whipping oil' when too full is a real concern, it is a real concern when filled much further above the "full" mark, than you're seeing.

wolfie1961

Slightly is no problem, but a half inch over the full marks would be.

Tom400CFI

1/2" is less than a qt. Manual calls for a full qt over for track use.

Furthermore, he checked it again in post #3 and...

wolfie1961

Sorry, I didn't see that he was using it on the track.

Tom400CFI

He's not. My point is this; people expressed concern about the oil level being too high and air being whipped into it from the spinning crank. While that IS a concern, the oil has to be a lot higher than the 1/2" the OP originally observed for that to happen.

Evidence of this is that GM suggests adding oil for track use. I assume this is to prevent starvation during high G cornering. Whatever their reason, if a qt of extra oil is going to come into contact w/the crank causing aeration, it will surely happen at the track/high RPM. So, IMO, if the additional qt isn't going to hurt anything on the track, is surely isn't going to hurt anything "driving around". I don't think he needs to drain any off, I think it will be OK...as cuisinart said.

wolfie1961

You're probably right. I just always get a little nervous when it comes to aeration. I keep this thing right at the marks. Of course the pan is baffled and no lateral G's.

Tom400CFI

Oooh, that's some eye candy.

Does it go in a flat bottom? Or Jet drive? I guess? Headers are facing the wrong way for a V-drive....

wolfie1961

It's going into a Southwind Tunnel Dragster. It's a mild build for it @ 580HP, but it was originally for a jet that I was putting together for my wife. She decided that she wanted to restore a different one.. We have another engine for her.

This was the one I built for her originally.

Tom400CFI

That's hot! I love old school boats like that! Never had one, but dreamt of boats like that forever when I was younger. Closest I got was a Hydrostream V-King w/a 200 Merc. It was good for ~85...if your ***** were big enough.

Cool ride! Looks like a hoot.

EDIT: You're from Draper! Where do you run that thing?? I haven't seen it around.

wolfie1961

That one was sold. She wanted an old SleekCraft, so that's what we're working on now.
We've run mostly on Utah Lake and Echo.
This was our old one.

BTW.. sorry for the threadjack.

Tom400CFI

Sorry for the thread jack too, but those are awesome boat pics. That last one looks like you've got the hull "aired out" pretty good. Now I know why I never see you; I'm either at Rockport or Jordanelle...or mostly Powell. Now, in a SLOW boat.