Too Much Oil
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 15,323
Likes: 2,077
From: Guelph, Ontario
True, however you can't argue with the fact that I've been running that extra quart in my daily driving for many years and many thousands of miles with no problems and with excellent oil analysis results. Mine doesn't consume too much oil either, only 1 qt per 5000 miles (which is a lot better than some LS1s)
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 6,937
Likes: 21
From: Waldorf MD
True, however you can't argue with the fact that I've been running that extra quart in my daily driving for many years and many thousands of miles with no problems and with excellent oil analysis results. Mine doesn't consume too much oil either, only 1 qt per 5000 miles (which is a lot better than some LS1s)
My 1998 with 126,000 miles only uses 1/4 quart per 6,000 miles.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,820
Likes: 2
From: San Diego
One of the reasons for extra oil for competitive driving is that in hard fast turns (banked or not) the oil gets slung to either side vacating the bottom of the oil pan where it gets pumped to rest of engine. You don't want the pump to not find oil in the pan. A quart more solves that problem. This is mentioned in the Owner's CD if I recall.
..rickko..
..rickko..
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 15,323
Likes: 2,077
From: Guelph, Ontario
Didn't know you did this, interesting, but still against GM's recommendation. I agree that it has not adversely affected YOUR car, but I can't help but wonder if that 1 quart per 5,000 miles isn't DUE to the extra quart burning off (no harm to that). I bet if you used normal fill of 6.5 quarts, you would burn less oil.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 6,937
Likes: 21
From: Waldorf MD
Cool, nice test Patman. I'm sure that extra quart DOES help you with wear and oil life. Did you by chance get an UOA when you ran normal oil fill and was it any different?
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 15,323
Likes: 2,077
From: Guelph, Ontario
I did get a UOA that time and the wear numbers were roughly the same. The TBN was a little lower though (as to be expected since the lesser amount of oil would get "beat up" a little bit quicker)
2nd Gear
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Christchurch, New Zealand
Bad experience with too much Oil
I had a company change my oil and they put more than 7 quartz in my 2000 C5. It blew the main oil seal and the motor had to come out. Indications of over-fill were, smelly oil after turning the engine off, oil on the garage floor, smoke out the bonnet due to oil from the plug dripping on the pipes. Cost me $6,300 New Zealand dollars for the repair. My suggestion after my costly mistake is: if you know that when cold, the oil is sitting over the top dipstick mark, get some of it out of there. Running your car with the oil on the dipstick showing about 1/2 way between to the two dipstick holes when cold, is what I was recommended. Be mindful that you can have what i call 'skid marks' on the dipstick when drawing it out, and these should not be included in your oil level assessment. Some readers on this forum will have more expertise than me and may think I don't know what I am talking about, but I can only tell you of what my experience was.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 12,861
Likes: 4,664
I had a company change my oil and they put more than 7 quartz in my 2000 C5. It blew the main oil seal and the motor had to come out. Indications of over-fill were, smelly oil after turning the engine off, oil on the garage floor, smoke out the bonnet due to oil from the plug dripping on the pipes. Cost me $6,300 New Zealand dollars for the repair. My suggestion after my costly mistake is: if you know that when cold, the oil is sitting over the top dipstick mark, get some of it out of there. Running your car with the oil on the dipstick showing about 1/2 way between to the two dipstick holes when cold, is what I was recommended. Be mindful that you can have what i call 'skid marks' on the dipstick when drawing it out, and these should not be included in your oil level assessment. Some readers on this forum will have more expertise than me and may think I don't know what I am talking about, but I can only tell you of what my experience was.
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Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
OP could be pushing 1.5 to 2 quarts over full, I am not sure that much extra oil is okay.
One of the reasons they say to add another quart when racing is because a lot of oil stays up in the valve covers at high rpms, it doesn't drain back to the pan fast enough, so in effect you don't have that extra quart in your oil pan. Note that GM says to drain out the extra quart at the end of your track event also.
One of the reasons they say to add another quart when racing is because a lot of oil stays up in the valve covers at high rpms, it doesn't drain back to the pan fast enough, so in effect you don't have that extra quart in your oil pan. Note that GM says to drain out the extra quart at the end of your track event also.
little over full may not hurt anything but 1-2 quarts over for st driving, dump it now. No reason or benefit to do this.
If there was why not add 10 quarts?
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
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