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It would be nice to know what the volume difference is. If it was significant, I would have overfilled my oil on every change that I have done which has absolutely not been the case.
Reviving an old thread here. Changed my Z51 oil over the weekend. Ran the car up on ramps and let it drain until I got a slow drip. I placed a dry oil catch pan under the car and raised the rear to level it to see how much more oil would come out. I did in fact get about 130 grams (~5 oz) of oil from the car once leveled. At roughly 1.6 % of the total oil capacity, this is definitely not a significant amount as far as I'm concerned. Just wanted to pass along the data from my experiment.
You do not want to have the car tipped in any way... The car should be level as possible...
Buy yourself some jack stands for the rear to get it level with the front... They are around $20 each at Harbor Freight...get yourself two. Be careful - you dont want to hurt the car or yourself in the process. If you are unsure in anyway, have a friend help you.
Last edited by Mayor111; Mar 25, 2019 at 09:13 PM.
In all honesty I'm not worried about getting a few extra ounces of oil out of there at oil change time, as it's not as if I've over extended my oil to the point where it was completely trashed anyways. And besides, no matter how level you get it, you're never going to get more than about 90% of the oil out of there, as there will always be residual oil trapped in the heads, oil passages, etc. So if I only get 85% of the oil vs 90% of it out, I'm really not going to lose sleep over it. I just like the simplicity of driving it up on my Race Ramps, and then I don't need to worry about safety either, as I simply wouldn't feel comfortable working underneath it while it's up on jackstands.
I don't know if there is a difference between the wet and dry sump vehicles. I can tell you that on my dry sump C7 there was a significant amount of oil that came out after I raised the back to the level of the front. I purposely waited until it had stopped draining to raise the rear to see if it made a difference.
Level is best BUT for often changes just the front will work.
Somewhere I read that a guy estimated that he got 2 quarts more out when level. Anyone verify this?
How do you jack up the rear with the front on the ramps, jack placement?
Jack up under the rear cross member from the rear of the car. With that said, I always just raise the front for an oil change and it drains out the full 9 quarts I always pour in (dry sump).
How do you jack up the rear with the front on the ramps, jack placement?
Originally Posted by Kracka
Jack up under the rear cross member from the rear of the car.
I haven't had to change my own yet; however, this is a good question for me. Most of my cars have had the e-brake in the rear, the C7 no? Seems once you eliminate the rear e-brake from hodling, the fronts are free-play?
Just made up one set today. Will jack car up and slide in the first higher sided stand. Then carefully continue jacking for the second tier. Both stands in place raises the car 5 and 5/8". Used 2 X 12's and scrap 2 X 3's and 1 X 3's. Any combo will work .
Rich
Last edited by Vette Ski; Mar 26, 2019 at 02:07 PM.
Personally, I wouldn't consider jacking the rear tires off the ground, when the front tires were elevated on race ramps. You might do this for a lifetime without incident, but it's not worth whatever small amount of oil I may get out of my dry sump to risk the car rolling backward.
Personally, I wouldn't consider jacking the rear tires off the ground, when the front tires were elevated on race ramps. You might do this for a lifetime without incident, but it's not worth whatever small amount of oil I may get out of my dry sump to risk the car rolling backward.
Doing an oil change with Race Ramps is pretty much a zero risk proposition, it's about as safe as you can possibly get, there is virtually no way one of those ramps would ever collapse and cause the car to come down on top of you.
Been changing my own oil since I was 17. I want every last ( good to the last ) drop of that nasty dirty old oil out every change. But that's just me.
Be safe out there !!
Rich
Jack up under the rear cross member from the rear of the car. With that said, I always just raise the front for an oil change and it drains out the full 9 quarts I always pour in (dry sump).
If not draining both drain plugs from a level position, you are leaving a significant amount of old oil in the dry-sump.
Last edited by Kevin A Jones; Mar 26, 2019 at 06:33 PM.
If not draining both drain plugs from a level position, you are leaving a significant amount of old oil in the dry-sump.
If the front is elevated it will cause the oil in the pan to flow toward the side/rear drain plug which is below the bottom flat of the oil pan, so very little oil would remain in there. If anything, having the car level would cause more of the oil to stay towards the front of the bottom flat of the oil pan.
If the front is elevated it will cause the oil in the pan to flow toward the side/rear drain plug which is below the bottom flat of the oil pan, so very little oil would remain in there. If anything, having the car level would cause more of the oil to stay towards the front of the bottom flat of the oil pan.
If all the oil flows/drains to the side/rear drain plug as you say then why do you have to drain both plugs? I drain my side/rear plug until empty then remove my front plug and as much or perhaps even more oil drains from it. By the way, a dry-sump doesn't have an oil pan. Do you have a dry sump? If jacking up or raising front end removes more old oil then why doesn't the manufacturer suggest it be done that way?
And regarding a wet-sump, how do you explain taz2016 post below?
Originally Posted by taz2016
I don't know if there is a difference between the wet and dry sump vehicles. I can tell you that on my wet sump C7 there was a significant amount of oil that came out after I raised the back to the level of the front. I purposely waited until it had stopped draining to raise the rear to see if it made a difference.
Last edited by Kevin A Jones; Mar 26, 2019 at 07:03 PM.
If all the oil flows/drains to the side/rear drain plug as you say then why do you have to drain both plugs? I drain my side/rear plug until empty then remove my front plug and as much or perhaps even more oil drains from it. By the way, a dry-sump doesn't have an oil pan. Do you have a dry sump? If jacking up or raising front end removes more oil oil then why does't the manufacturer suggest it be done that way?
And regarding a wet-sump, how do you explain taz2016 post below?
I have a dry sump and while I know it's not technically called a pan, I was using the word "pan" generically. For clarification, I remove both drain plugs, but from the dry sump photo you posted, I don't see how having the car level would cause more oil to drain out of the front plug compared having the front slightly elevated.
I was referring to drainage of the rear/side plug being in regards to it being more advantageous if the front was raised, with the assumption that the front drain plug also removed.
On edit: I can't speak for the wet sump since I haven't personally seen what the Corvette wet sump looks like in terms of design.
I am lucky enough to have one of these......
After years of jack stands and laying on the floor it's nice to stand up and do this kind of work.
Also, I agree 100% with keeping the car level to drain the oil.
After coming back to this thread today I see I needed to correct my original post. I have a dry sump not a wet sump. I know the manual recommends the vehicle be level and it does make a considerable difference in the amount of oil removed. I did not measure the difference but it is no where near the 2 quart amount mentioned in post #6.
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