Oil Capacity - Variance
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Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: YOU SEE ... I'M NOT CRAZY ...I'M JUST AHEAD OF THE CURVE
St. Jude Donor '09-'10
Oil Capacity - Variance
Ok, this is on memory (my car is 13,000 miles away).
The book calls for 5.5 qts on oil change, but to add a quart if you are going to track it.
Ummmm ... then what is the capacity? I understand what effects aggressive driving have on oil distribution, but a whole quart (or ~22%) it can run with or without??
Then why would one not run 6.5 the whole time???
The book calls for 5.5 qts on oil change, but to add a quart if you are going to track it.
Ummmm ... then what is the capacity? I understand what effects aggressive driving have on oil distribution, but a whole quart (or ~22%) it can run with or without??
Then why would one not run 6.5 the whole time???
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 922
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From: Nova Scotia Canada
Under normal conditions 5.5 is enough, so why put more as it's not designed to need it.
On the track and in corners with high Gs the oil may be swished away from the pick up in the pan and the extra capacity will ensure that oil is available to be pumped into the engine from the pan.
I see no reason why you couldn't drive with the 6.5 at all times, except that's it's a waste of oil. I would be careful not to add much more than this as too much oil can cause problems with the oil frothing.
..jack
On the track and in corners with high Gs the oil may be swished away from the pick up in the pan and the extra capacity will ensure that oil is available to be pumped into the engine from the pan.
I see no reason why you couldn't drive with the 6.5 at all times, except that's it's a waste of oil. I would be careful not to add much more than this as too much oil can cause problems with the oil frothing.
..jack
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 27,420
Likes: 64
From: San Clemente CA
Under normal conditions 5.5 is enough, so why put more as it's not designed to need it.
On the track and in corners with high Gs the oil may be swished away from the pick up in the pan and the extra capacity will ensure that oil is available to be pumped into the engine from the pan.
I see no reason why you couldn't drive with the 6.5 at all times, except that's it's a waste of oil. I would be careful not to add much more than this as too much oil can cause problems with the oil frothing.
..jack
On the track and in corners with high Gs the oil may be swished away from the pick up in the pan and the extra capacity will ensure that oil is available to be pumped into the engine from the pan.
I see no reason why you couldn't drive with the 6.5 at all times, except that's it's a waste of oil. I would be careful not to add much more than this as too much oil can cause problems with the oil frothing.
..jack
Some members say these engines don't froth or foam but I think the GM engineers want to be safe. I would not run the extra oil either.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,563
Likes: 2
From: Dallas Tx
Follow the book.
There are a couple of tracks with long high speed sweeping turns that will smoke a wet sump motor if you don't have that extra qt in there.
It's a real specific situation, and I've only heard of it at specific tracks with that type of turn.
The high sustained RPM of a high speed sweeping turn, tends to put a lot of the oil up into the top end of the motor. Your fighting a couple things at once, high RPM pumping a lot of oil up there, G loads forcing the oil to the side of everything, instead of gravity dropping it back to the pan, and what's left in the pan is G loaded over to one side. The other factor is sustained high RPM running will burn off some oil, run it hard enough and long enough that extra qt will burn off on a track day.
Back on the street you want the normal level, without the extra qt. On the street your going to have low RPM situations where most of the oil is in the sump and hitting slow speed angles you don't want the crank whipping in the oil.
There are a couple of tracks with long high speed sweeping turns that will smoke a wet sump motor if you don't have that extra qt in there.
It's a real specific situation, and I've only heard of it at specific tracks with that type of turn.
The high sustained RPM of a high speed sweeping turn, tends to put a lot of the oil up into the top end of the motor. Your fighting a couple things at once, high RPM pumping a lot of oil up there, G loads forcing the oil to the side of everything, instead of gravity dropping it back to the pan, and what's left in the pan is G loaded over to one side. The other factor is sustained high RPM running will burn off some oil, run it hard enough and long enough that extra qt will burn off on a track day.
Back on the street you want the normal level, without the extra qt. On the street your going to have low RPM situations where most of the oil is in the sump and hitting slow speed angles you don't want the crank whipping in the oil.
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