eboggs_jkvl

It seems I have spare oil that I can share.

I've got 2K+ miles on the car now. I've made 2 highway runs from Jacksonville to Titusville (about 2 hours on I95 at 80 MPH) and no issues to speak of. Garage floor is clean from fluids.

Whelp, just drove up to Cincinnati (12 hours on the interstate system), parked the car in my son's garage and puked an oil puddle the size of a pizza pan on the floor. I left a trail of oil up the driveway and I had oil residue on the outside pair of exhaust tips. Well, hell, something must surely be wrong!!!

I started the car back up and let it idle for a few minutes, it was still warm from the trip, shut it down, let it sit for 5 minutes and popped out the dip stick. You would think that I would be out of oil but oh hell NO!!! MY OIL LEVEL WAS STILL AT THE TOP OF THE HOT HASH MARK.

So, if I'm puking oil out my air filter, residue from oil going through my intake, you'd probably start to suspicion the amount that I started with!! I've still got oil to spare! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!

What the hell is so hard about filling these damn cars with the proper amount of oil!

My son knows an absolute Corvette guru and I will line him up to clean the intake side of the engine and lower the oil level to midway in the hash marks of the dip stick.


It took a 12 hour trip to get a warranty work job done on stupidity!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I figured I didn't have any problem with the 2 hour trips under my belt and no oil spots on my garage floor. Dammit, I should have checked the damn oil level myself and not have trusted the dealership in Jacksonville.

Oh well, so much for trust.


Elmer

Glen e

the oil tank is a reservoir, so any level in the tank is more than enuf for oiling the engine, until Chevrolet figures out that they heave over estimated the level the car should run at, I'd run it a quart down for DD duty....but again, that's just me...

eboggs_jkvl

I'm going to have the guy drain the oil down to below center on the dipstick. Sigh...

v8capt

A Catch Can would have eliminated this problem. I see that overfilling the dry sump is a big problem.

Glen e

no it won't - a catch can is not really gonna solve an overfill problem. A catch can is on the complete opposite side of the engine (dirty side) and on another routing...

eboggs_jkvl

While true, a smattering of intelligence by the technician (?) to read "How to fill" would have saved the problem too.

Stupidity by supposedly trained technicians is not acceptable.

There is no reason for me to buy a catch can to overcome stupidity at a dealership.

Elmer

Steve_R

Your catch can crusade here is very evident, but in this case it wouldn't help the OP's problem.

Motohead279

A while back I had the dealership doing oil change while I had it in for a firmware update. Well not only did that tech mission trip oil all over the place in my engine compartment he also overfilled my dry sump tank. When I change the oil a few weeks ago myself I realize the oil filter was on so loose that about a half turn with my hands and the oil filter was spinning freely. That would've been big problem if my oil filter fell off.

Snorman

It's amazing that dealers continue to have problems with the correct oil level. Simply amazing.
S.

vettetwo

Oil changes are not done at dealerships by Corvette technicians. The car ahead of the Vette for an oil change may have been a Ford Pinto for the $15 oil/filter special.

Has any Stingray owner actually watched the oil change at a dealer?

The other thing that seems very troubling is the number of posts where the owner never checked the oil but is thinking about a catch can!!

John Ulrich

Might have something to do with keeping the higher paid, GM trained technicians working on general repairs and let the "oil changers" do the fast service lane oil changes.

Modshack

Base cars are so much simpler. I've read of this issue (dry sump) dozens of times here.. Not even a factory delivery ensures it will be done right.

Snorman

This is true.
But how difficult are 2-drain plugs and 9.8 quarts?
S.

Fastdart69

The dry sump is not difficult at all. I changed the oil in my Z51 after 500 miles and, except for having two drain plugs, it's like any other car. I used just under 9.7 quarts to be sure it wouldn't be overfilled. I never trust anyone to change my oil, even if it's free. If there's a mistake made I want it to be mine.

14 Red Z51 Vette

I just had the same issue. What a PITA. I have been cleaning oil out of the intake hoses, plumbing, air cleaner, frame, you name it. I changed the oil myself, put a new oil filter in and refilled the sump with 9 quarts. Took it for a ride an let it warm up and checked it per manual. Carefully added .5 quart, now checks half way between add and full. That is where I am going to leave it and see if I have any more issues. I do not know if this was an overfill problem as it was on full before or if this is more of something to do with incorrect engineering on the PVC venting system that requires a catch can. Either way, a real disappointment. THERE IS A SERVICE BULLETIN ON THIS ISSUE.

kp

After reading all this with the dry sumps I'd run it all the way on the low side unless you are road racing the thing and you have a lot of oil staying up top for long periods of time.

Obviously changing the oil isnt harder, just a bit more of a PITA to check the level. Obviously a LOT of people, including GM techs, cant figure it out

eboggs_jkvl

I've NEVER had an oil change. The car has too much oil, period. I don't know where the over fill occurred. I'm guessing during new car prep at the dealer, someone looked at the oil level on a cold engine and added oil until it was at the top of the hash mark on the dip stick. Hell, it's STILL at the top of the hash mark after all the oil puking.

Elmer

ErnieD

My C7 hasn't been delivered yet, but my C6 Z06 has a similar dry sump system. I always run the oil on the Z06 at the 1/2 way point on the dipstick hash marks -- 1/2 quart low. I intend to do the same with the new C7.

I've also settled on checking the oil somewhere between 1 and 5 minutes after turning the engine off -- usually at both just to be sure. No more oil can get into the tank after you shut down the engine, but oil will slowly drain out of the tank with time. I can't see the need nor the desireability of waiting 20 minutes. The only thing that can happen between 5 and 20 minutes is that some of the oil starts to drain out of the tank, leading to a lower dipstick reading and the likelihood of overfilling. My oil level always measures repeatably at the 5-minute wait period.

And by the way, I have a shop change the oil, but I take my own oil to them. It's hard for the shop to put more that 9 quarts in a C7 if that's all you bring to them (along with instructions to just use the 9 quarts). .....And then later you can top it up slightly yourself to the middle of the hash marks on the dipstick.

KenHorse

Did my first oil change at 1000 miles. I deliberately underfilled the reservoir (put in around 9.5 quarts), did the warmup and waited 7 or 8 minutes after shutdown and checked the level. It was dead nuts on as it was so I left it alone. Checked the level a couple of weeks ago and it was STILL dead nuts on (no oil consumption!).

I'm now coming up on 5400 miles and when I take it in for my first free oil change, I'm talking with the tech doing the work before hand to make sure we're on the same page. (fortunately, I know the SM for the dealership and he let's me do stuff like that )

Glen e

You can't blame techs/dealers too much, as the original manual said 10.3 for a fill or something like that, clearly a massive overfill....