Lone Ranger

My owner manual says 4.5 quarts, small block tradition says 5. 5 takes it to top boundary of the cross hatch area on the dipstick, 4.5 puts it in middle of the cross hatch zone. The General had to have his reasons for specifying 4.5 quarts instead of the traditional 5. Could it have to do with lifter pump-up being better @ 4.5 (5 = some foaming effect?)

I've got 5 in now.

As you can see by this topic, I've too much time on my hands... :lol:

mackeyred96

I use 4 + fill the filter


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[Modified by mackeyred96, 9:56 PM 8/12/2003]

04Z16

I fill the filter and add the rest to the engine. Haven't burnt any oil or loss any and the engine runs fine with the 5 Quarts. When I add the oil after a change it comes to betweent the 3/4 and full mark on the dipstick.
:cheers:

Mr Mojo

I go by the owners manual and with 119,000 miles, I guess they know what they are talking about.

jstkrsn

I change filter each time and put 5 qts. in.

mitchcole

5 for me. :auto:

bogus

there was some debate about this some time ago...

and I think the major issue was that the extra 1/2 quart could cause some foaming, ie, the crank hitting too much oil...

I donno...

ideas????

larryfs

it depends on your driving habits. street driving = 5 quarts.
track driving = 6 qts

and I havn't seen foam with 6 or even 6 1/2

KY Vette

I'm glad you brought this up. I've changed my oil twice (haven't had my '94 very long) and both times I put in 5, in order to get it to show "full" on the stick. Been wondering why the manual states 4.5 though. Do I need to watch for foaming then?

Vette Ed

F - I - V - E here :thumbs:

Lone Ranger

This is what I'm wondering too. There must be a reason GM goes a half quart light from traditional small block capacity when recommending fill quantity for the LT1 and LT4. We just don't know what that reason is. :crazy:

FSTRNU

5

Jim Martley2

I believe it has to do with the oil filter size/ capacity. The older small blocks took a larger diameter filter that was also longer in length.

DarthD

My 01 Trans Am is the same way. The manual says 5.5 qts but it takes 6 qts to reach the full line. Anything between add and full is within the "normal operating range". I do not have the manual for the 85 Vette, but 4.5 qts will put it right in the middle between add and full.

Fuzzy Dice

" and I haven't seen foam with 6 or even 6 1/2 "

Dayum !...maybe you have a different dipstick than me ?...I'm not trying to be funny...mine takes 4.5 quarts including filling the filter before install and that shows on the dipstick as just a tiny, tiny hair below the full level.....one time they put in 5 1/2 quarts and on the dipstick it pushed it way over the "add" line...I made 'em take a quart out...btw, I race mine at the drag strip twice a month, every month... :thumbs:

LT4BUD

Wow this makes me think! I am pretty sure that one of my vehicles way back had the option of two filters available. One was full size & one half size(like most of todays filters). It just seems to me that this was addressed in the owners manual to adjust oil capacity based on which filter was used.

My brain is fried, but I think this was on my 74 Dodge Charger???

Anyhow this makes sense to me that pan size etc stayed the same & like all modern things the capacity of the filter was reduced so you ended up with 4.5 quarts. This odd number of quarts is true for at least some other cars, my daily driver is 4.5 quarts.

larryfs

if you road race, you need minimum 6 qts, no matter what the dip stick says.

Goody

I've done the 4.5 thing, but like the oil line on the dipstick to be right at the top edge and that requires 5 for my car.

larryfs

the bottom line is I bet no one has seem foam.

Tom Piper

It's been several years ago, but I think I saw an article where Gordon said it should be 4.5 quarts and not 5.

Tom Piper