I decided to check the oil on both my 97 and 98. Oil was changed by a reputable service shop. However, when I checked it, the oil seemed high. The oil registered all the way to the middle of the bends in the dip stick. So my question is: 1. would you drain some out? 2. would you just leave it.

Next time I am just changing my own.

 

Recently I found the same issue. I called my go to service rep (corvette owner) that does all my work and he said all is normal. He said, check the oil in your Vette when it is hot, not cold. Not the same instructions on my other cars. I did check it when it was hot and the level was right

 

I have never had a problem checking my oil cold, have done it that way my whole life ??? But then again no one has ever changed my oil but me !!!!! The oil level capacity is the oil pan not the whole engine ????

 

I will do it myself from here on. Before I retired the t was a time issue. Now it's a get off my €%# issue. I will just be safe and take some out.

 

Here is what my 04 manual says:

"It is a good idea to check your engine oil level every
time you get fuel. In order to get an accurate reading,
the oil must be warm and the vehicle must be on
level ground."

I checked my other 2 vehicles and the instructions do not say check the oil when it is warm. Interesting.

I am going with my tech's advice. No worry.

 

Did you wipe off the dipstick before you measured it? You could have had some oil up in the tube which was on the stick and registered too high.

 

I always check on a completely level surface, pull, wipe, re-insert, then check. Engine warm a few minutes after shutoff. Never had an issue with an improper reading.

Who changed the oil could be of helpful knowledge. The best way to change the C5's oil is to actually raise the REAR of the car higher than the front. As the C5 uses a relatively flat oil pan and the oil drain plug is in the front, jacking up just the front or having the car relatively level leaves some residual oil in the pan. It's best to raise the car with the rear slightly elevated to relieve all the oil from the pan; you can pick up a few extra ounces of dripped oil this way.

Another issue is that early C5s have a dip stick that reads slightly different than later model cars. The discrepancy is well documented here and on the various Corvette forums. It's not enough to be of major concern unless you're really starving your C5 of oil (which I would hope you're not...).

I personally don't think you're overfilled, and if you are it's likely not to a level that would damage the rotating assembly of the crankcase.

 

Checking oil on 2003 C5 50th Anniversary convertible
This car is new to me so I have some questions about checking the oil level. It has about 35000 miles on it. We are on a trip and ran about 800 miles the first day at speeds up to 80. I looked in the manual about checking the oil and checked it after we stopped for lunch. The level was about halfway up in the cross hatched area but there were smears of oil up the side of the dipstick about 3/4 of an inch above the crosshatching. I checked it again this morning after the car sat all night and the cold oil level is just a hair below the top hole which is just above the crosshatching. Any thoughts? As akapounder said, I also have always checked my oil cold as I thought that was a more accurate reading....I don't want to overfill but I also want to run the correct oil level. BTW, at idle the oil pressure is at 29 psi and at 1800rpm around 42. Since this is my first Corvette I don't know if this is a good baseline reading or not. Thanks for any assistance.

 

Your oil pressure looks normal... maybe vary a little based on outside temps and what weight oil your using

 

Thanks. I use Mobil 1 5w-30 with the GM specification.

 

ENJOY your trip...

 

I would probably just drain it all out and do it myself, who knows what else they did or didn't do

 

For me, I just got under the car and drained some out. It is now in cross hair area. I think they just got carried away.

 

Here is a photo of the oil level cold

 

And here is a photo checked hot. Hard to see but the amount above the crosshatching is a streak

 

I apologize for the paranoia but I'm not yet familiar with the characteristics of the car and don't want to ruin something through inattention. The only other vehicle I have ever owned where the oil was checked hot was a BMW motorcycle with a sight glass so you wound up on your hand and knees in the gas station parking lot and its oil level was all over the place.......

 

it looks right on the money to me judging by your pic when checked cold... when trying to check the level when it's hot, if you don't let the car sit for a few mins your reading will be all over the place due to the residual oil in the dipstick tube... you need to let it settle back down into the pan before you can get a good reading... I always check mine cold before I take the car out just for good measure

 

this is very true, sometimes it doesn't matter who they hire as long as there's a physical body there... corporate greed has taken over and the way employees are treated nowadays runs a lot of the good ones off and management has the "I know everything you know and can have you replaced by the end of the day attitude" and sadly they are right about having you replaced AND at a lower pay rate which is a win for them, but what they can't seem to get through their head is that person does not have near the knowledge or experience so as this trend continues the quality of the work coming out of the company also declines and it all rolls downhill from there

 

I worked for Honda all my life. Towards the end before I retired
I could not believe some of the kids they had working there..Glad I'm retired now and don't have to see this

 

You can run the c5 with up to one quart over fill with no adverse issues as per gm and there engineering department