low oil
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 292
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From: Dublin
low oil
weird question- any comments welcome!! 
driving to work and the 'low oil level' comes on DIC. Make a long- short... I get home and check the level... its low. I add three quarts and recheck. Now the oil was above the fill line?!?!? 
So I am confussed.... what did I do wrong. I thought the oil was about 6 qts... pls leave comments....
driving to work and the 'low oil level' comes on DIC. Make a long- short... I get home and check the level... its low. I add three quarts and recheck. Now the oil was above the fill line?!?!? So I am confussed.... what did I do wrong. I thought the oil was about 6 qts... pls leave comments....
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2001
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From: Saint Augustine, FL
Mid-TN Events Coordinator
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
If it was still registering on the dip stick, but below the 'normal operating area', 1 quart would have been sufficient.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 55,394
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Originally Posted by BigMacNYC
weird question- any comments welcome!! driving to work and the 'low oil level' comes on DIC. Make a long- short... I get home and check the level... its low. I add three quarts and recheck. Now the oil was above the fill line?!?!? So I am confussed.... what did I do wrong. I thought the oil was about 6 qts... pls leave comments....
driving to work and the 'low oil level' comes on DIC. Make a long- short... I get home and check the level... its low. I add three quarts and recheck. Now the oil was above the fill line?!?!? So I am confussed.... what did I do wrong. I thought the oil was about 6 qts... pls leave comments....
Pro
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 531
Likes: 10
From: Northford CT
I have a 2001 and that year has some sort of funky dipstick which seems to be calibrated differently than earlier models, I'm not sure of 2002 on. With 7 quarts, the dip stick will read slightly below full. When the DIC warning goes on, you are slightly above the cross-hatch, and half a quart will get you about 2/3 of the way up, which is normal. If you added 3, you added way too much.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 292
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From: Dublin
Originally Posted by Beezvette
I have a 2001 and that year has some sort of funky dipstick which seems to be calibrated differently than earlier models, I'm not sure of 2002 on. With 7 quarts, the dip stick will read slightly below full. When the DIC warning goes on, you are slightly above the cross-hatch, and half a quart will get you about 2/3 of the way up, which is normal. If you added 3, you added way too much.
should I drain some oil???
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 55,394
Likes: 1
Originally Posted by BigMacNYC
should I drain some oil???
Rule of thumb when low on oil:
Add 1/2 quart, start engine and let cycle then check. If still low, add another 1/2 quart then check again and so on and so on.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 55,394
Likes: 1
Originally Posted by BigMacNYC
if it only needs a quart or less why would the level be considered low??? 
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2005
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From: Toronto Ontario
Overfilling your engine oil to this extent is BAD, BAD, BAD. It's really bad. If the crankshaft starts dipping into the oil, its gonna whip it up into a useless aerated foam which engine bearings don't like. Half a quart's ok, but not 3!
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2001
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From: Saint Augustine, FL
Mid-TN Events Coordinator
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Originally Posted by Its_Go_Time
Overfilling your engine oil to this extent is BAD, BAD, BAD. It's really bad. If the crankshaft starts dipping into the oil, its gonna whip it up into a useless aerated foam which engine bearings don't like. Half a quart's ok, but not 3!
There's the key. Drain some of that oil off asap.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2001
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From: Saint Augustine, FL
Mid-TN Events Coordinator
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Originally Posted by BigMacNYC
so I shouldnt of done anything....
Team Owner
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Originally Posted by JR_VETTE
If you're car is telling you low-oil, yes you needed to do something, but 3 quarts was way too much, especially if it was still registering on the dip stick. When in doubt, add a little, check it again, add a little more, check it again, until you're back up to the cross hatched section of the dip stick.
In the future add 1/2 quart at a time and recheck each 1/2 quart. Never dump 3 quarts of oil if you are showing low.