I was wondering how low the oil level needs to be before the "low oil level" warning shows up on the DIC? Mine doesn't use any oil so I've never run into this, but was curious as to how low it needed to be in order to trigger the warning.

 

I may be wrong, but IIRC when its 1qt low, ~5.5qts maybe, not sure. Would be interesting to know

 

I was thinking that when I do my next oil change, I'll just put in 5 quarts at first, run the engine at idle for 10 seconds, and then shut it down for a few minutes to let things settle. Then on the next startup I'll see if the low oil light triggers. Then I'll keep adding oil a half quart at a time and repeat, just to see at what point the light no longer comes on.

I normally run 7.5 quarts of oil in mine, so if the low level does trigger when it's at 5.5 quarts, I'd need to use 2 quarts of oil in order for mine to trigger. Hopefully I'll never run into that problem, so far it's been perfect though.

 

According to the manual “The switch opens when the engine oil level drops below a predetermined amount”. Hope that clears it all up!

 

Patman, I'm new (mid Jan 07) to the C5 world but I understand the LS1 engine holds 6.5 qts. of oil. Why would/do you run your engine with 7.5 qts.? I thought it was more harmful to an engine if with too much oil rather than not enough.

Mick

 

When my 01 oil sucker gets low and the light comes on, it seems like its about 1 3/4 quarts low or so.

 

As clear as mud!!! A definate possibility.

 

on my 2000 coupe I have never seen it but I do all the maintainance on it too. When last month my father brought home his "new" 2004 coupe, only 16,000 miles, the dealership had done an oil change and after he and I driving it the low oil light came on... i checked the level and then added in ~1qt b/c it was about that low... upon askinng the dealership how much oil to add they said 6qts....lol... I laughed and then had to explain they should do somme more research and when seeing their mistake offered free service for a year....ha ha... no thanks... he can just pay me to do it fromm now on.... on by the way... it was my father-in-law not my own father...lol....

hth,

Sully

 

GM tells us that it's safe to add an extra quart when racing, so when I got my car I decided to just run that extra amount all the time. I have done this for almost three years now, and over 44,000 miles, with no problems at all. I get my oil analyzed after each oil change too, and the results have always been great. The benefit of running as much oil as you can is that it puts less stress overall on the oil, so you can do longer oil changes more safely with less oil degradation. This is one of the reasons why European cars can specify such long drain intervals, since they don't run tiny 4-5 quart sumps but instead a lot of them run 8 quarts or more. Another benefit of overfilling is that the oil temps will be slightly cooler under hard driving.

I've been in the habit of slightly overfilling all of my cars actually, my wife's Honda gets an extra half quart over capacity too. As long as you don't go too far (where the crank sloshes through the oil), you're safe. There is always a bit of leeway in the way manufacturer's give out their oil capacity. They know that people are going to slightly overfill in a lot of cases (such as if the manual for a vehicle says 4.7 quarts, they know most fast lube place are going to just dump in an even 5 quarts most of the time)

 

Makes sense to me. Thanks for the explanation. I'll have to do 7 qts next oil/filter change vice 6.5 qts.

Mick

 

The guys at my local Valvoline Instant Oil Change joint take great care of me and my 2000 MN6 coupe, daughter's Explorer, wife's Windstar and my F-150 4X4, the later with 214,000 miles! The last time the DIC said low oil one of the techs poured in about a half a quart then checked level, poured in a little more, etc., etc. Total was just under one full quart by only a couple of ounces. All engines are a little different and I suspect all DICs are as well. Hope this helped answer your question

 

when the Low oil Level thing comes on, you have ~4.5qts in there.
i tested mine multiple times as my rings had gone out and my motor was eating oil for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Aj

 

I tested mine when filling up after an oil change. My normal full level is 6.5 quarts. The low oil was lite at 5.5 quarts. So it comes on when you are one quart low.

Another thing, I checked how much oil you drain out when jacking up the back of your car, it is just 4 ounces. I still do it.