Patches

Yesterday, changed the oil in my 2002 for the first time at 750 miles. Used Rhino Ramps and jacked the rear up higher than the front for ~20 minutes.

Replaced oil with Mobil 1 5w-30 and the filter with a UPF44. (What's the deal with not leaving enough clearance for a socket in front of the oil drain plug???) Replaced the drain plug with a magnetic one.

Pre-filled the filter with oil before installing it. Then I poured the rest of the first quart and 5-1/2 more quarts into the crankcase and put the car back down on the floor. That's 6-1/2 quarts as specified in the owner's manual. The reading registered a bit over the ADD line on the dipstick. WTF? So, I waited a couple of hours and checked again. Registered a little higher.

Went for a 20 minute drive and put her up for the night. Checked this morning and it was at about half way between ADD and MAX. Added to a total of about 6-7/8 quarts and it's STILL not on MAX.

Now, I've followed all the threads about oil fill capacity for months on the forum and figured that the problem was resolved. I checked the oil level when I first got the car and it was exactly on MAX (full) on the dipstick. I figured since a little oil stays in the crankcase, that it would probably take a little less than 6.5 quarts to refill.

I can see crankcase capacity at 6.5 quarts MINUS the filter but not with it.

What are guys with 2002's finding on your cars?

Ed

MySea6

20 minute drain? Seven quarts sounds about right.
Remember, the owners man says to check hot.

It will drive you crazy if you let it.

jschindler

Hard to check hot - oil is all over the dipstick. No, I don't mean overfilled. Oil stays on one side of the dipstick much higher than where it is solid all the way across. And how hot is hot. Oil will keep running down from the heads - how long is a good amount of time? In other words, Chevy needs to re-think their oil level system. I've been checking oil in cars for 35 years, and never had as much trouble as this car. You are right Ken, it will drive you crazy!

Patman36

Ya what is up with this? The oil goes up one side of the dipstick alot further than where it is just all the way across. Do you take the "all the way across" measurement as the one? Or where the very tip of the oil level is at on the dipstick... even when only half of the dipstick is coated? :confused:

Patrick :seeya


[Modified by Patman36, 6:41 PM 12/16/2001]

0vetteshop

Here we go again... ;) :rolleyes: ;)

jschindler

Uh, where is it we are going. With all due respect to those of us that have not been there before, any advice would be appreciated.

0vetteshop

This topic has been beaten to death more than the column lock issue :D
Aprox 6-1/2 quarts for a 97-2000,aprox 7 quarts for 2001-02 due to new dipstick tube configuration :yesnod: Owners manuals are basicly reprints from year to year,which is why the 2001-02 states APPROXIMATELY 6.5 quarts....

MARK S....Are you out there???

MySea6

:yesnod: :lol: :yesnod: Yea, get him in here :yesnod: :lol: :yesnod:

jschindler

Yes, I know the topic of how much oil it takes has been beaten to death, and I've seen those (but we don't want to discourage new forum members by telling them we've already discussed something). My issue is how and when to read the dipstick between fill ups because it is very difficult to read due to oil up the stick on one side.

C5Cemo

Ken- You've always got the right perspective...no stress :D

Dave68

This is what I've gathered from the gazillion posts about oil capacities:

MarkS has investigated whether any changes were made to the oil capacity of 97-02s and has found that there was no change in oil capacity. The dipstick was changed for the 01s and remained the same (as the 01s) for the 02s. It is the dipstick change that causes 6.5 quarts to appear (on the dipstick) as if it is not enough - by 1/2-quart. In actuality, despite what the dipstick reads, 6.5 is the correct amount, although filling with 7 quarts will NOT cause any problems.

Another thing that added to the confusion was the fact that the factory is filling the engine with 7 quarts.

Patman36

So where on the dipstick do you read the oil level? Where it makes a full horizontal line across it? Or at the tip of the oil that makes it way up half of the dipstick? :cheers:

Patrick :seeya

Patches

I realize it's been beaten to death - but only because we haven't gotten a satisfactory answer.

I've been changing oil and reading dipsticks for more than 20 years - lots of guys here more than that. I'm sure all here who change their own oil must've wondered about this at one time or another. This is the first car I've ever owned or worked on that had a "recommended" oil fill volume or an unreadable dipstick. This is not satisfactory.

I'm also a mechanical engineer and have been designing and building machines and mechanisms almost as long. I can't imagine corvette engineers at a design review meeting scratching their heads and shrugging, not being able to figure out where and how to locate a dipstick so that the level reads correctly when the car is level and at rest. "Oh well, that's close enough, fella's. At least she's fast."

I doubt that under- or over-filling by x-fractions of a quart will reduce the life of the engine so's that I'll ever know it. It'd just be nice to fill it to the MAX line without having to give it a second thought.

Funny. Just watched the MotorVision where they compare the Z8 and the Corvette. Judged the vette best as the practical sports car and the bimmer as the high-tech platform. Felt smug about my choice - until I remembered this embarassing little glitch.

Oh heck, it's still the best. :D

Thanks all.

Ed

ZO6LS6

patches, change filter, and add 7 quarts, close hood, and go your way......... :sleep:

Dave68

I tend to look at the line that spans the width of the stick, but then again, I could be mistaken. I.m fairly certain that if the oil is drained while still hot, the rear of the car is higher than the front, and sufficient time is allowed for that oil to drain, 6.5 - 7 (I poured in 6.75.) is just fine.

Patches

OK, OK guys, I get it! 6.5 to 7 quarts.

Thanks. :cheers:

Ed

Patman36

Thanks for clearing this up for us... good thread Patches! :cheers:

Patrick :seeya
<Going to go check my oil level...> :D

TCSF

Chuck Mallet helped design the LS-1.

He runs his "street" cars with 1/2 quart extra over the 6 1/2 quart factory recommendation. This is consistent with the factory putting in 7 quarts.

Next oil change, put in your seven quarts and see where the oil is on your dipstick. That's max.

Chuck runs one quart over for his race cars, so you have to overfill an awful lot to cause any damage.

The dipstick can fool you if you don't replace it the same way each time. As others have noted, the level is different on the back than on the front. The correct reading is obtained when the highest oil level occurs on the front, or cross hatched side of the stick. Rotating the stick a half turn will cause this to reverse itself. If you don't know what's going it seems like the oil level is changing every time you take a reading.

Patches

Thanks, guys. Sorry to have to drag this out again, but I feel much better now. ;) Also, I feel comfortable telling those dumb enough to ask me what the oil level should be. :jester

Ed

Mark S.

OK, BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND...just remember GM will never admit to screwing up the redesign of the dipstick and dipstick tube for the 01 (and now 02 models). Compare your '02 to any pre-01 model and you'll see that the location of the dipstick is about 4-6 inches further away from the firewall. They did this supposedly to accommodate larger exhaust headers for '01. Anyway, they messed up because they didn't change the oil pan capacity or anything else in the LS1 or LS6 to call for an increase in oil capacity.
6.5 qts is the right amount (according to Dave Hill and his fellow engineers...question has been posed to him) and they're sticking with that. It will mean, of course, that the 6.5 qts will show up half way on your dipstick (i.e. between ADD and MAX). Many '01 owners (and obviously now, 02 owners) are finding that 7.0 qts will take them up to the MAX line. My advice...stick with the 6.5 qts eventhough "overfilling" by a half quart will not cause any real harm since it only raises the pan level by about 8% and that shouldn't cause any frothing. GM is sticking with their 6.5 qts for a refill.
When I changed my oil and lifted the rear to get every last bit out of the
"factory-filled oil" out I measured just a bit over 7.0 qts...of course...I didn't ask my dealer if the prep department had added extra oil just before delivery and it's possible that they could have added the extra half quart so that the dipstick would read full. I can't confirm that. But I am still convinced that GM messed up on the redesign of the dipstick and dipstick tube.
And yes...you have to good at reading the dipstick...worst design ever!