Reading the dipstick-how much oil between holes, dash low warning light?
05-30-2016, 12:34 PM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Reading the dipstick-how much oil between holes, dash low warning light?
I am not asking what the manual may appear to imply, but what you have actually measured using the dipstick, but following the prescribed procedure of doing it on a level surface when the engine has been warmed up and off between the 5 and 10 minute period.
There is the hole on the top of the dipstick hash marks that means full.
If you then add a quart for racing how many inches (fraction) higher does the oil now read on the dipstick above that hole?
How much oil does it take to fill between the lower hole on the dip stick hash marks to bring the level to the hole on top of the dipstick?
When the low oil level warning comes on at the dash how much oil does it take to fill the system to the top of the hole and approximately how many inches (fraction) is it below the lower hole?
Are there any cheap easy mods to the dipstick to make it easier to read the oil level like sanding it with 80 grit sandpaper?
Thank you for your help.
There is the hole on the top of the dipstick hash marks that means full.
If you then add a quart for racing how many inches (fraction) higher does the oil now read on the dipstick above that hole?
How much oil does it take to fill between the lower hole on the dip stick hash marks to bring the level to the hole on top of the dipstick?
When the low oil level warning comes on at the dash how much oil does it take to fill the system to the top of the hole and approximately how many inches (fraction) is it below the lower hole?
Are there any cheap easy mods to the dipstick to make it easier to read the oil level like sanding it with 80 grit sandpaper?
Thank you for your help.
05-31-2016, 08:37 AM
#2
Tech Contributor
Member Since: Oct 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Posts: 40,096
Received 8,929 Likes
on
5,333 Posts
First, I want address the one quart comment. My owner's manual says to add a half quart above the full line when going to the track. Check yours to see what it should be.
The stated oil capacity of the dry sump system is 9.8 quarts. I take two 5 gallon containers of Mobil 1 15W50 and dump them into the oil tank. That gets me to .2 over. Then I use a 1 qt container Mobil 1 15W50 with reference markings on it to add the remaining .3 of a quart to get to .5 quart over. .3 of a quart is 9.6 oz (round to 10) which lets you use the hash marks on the container to add the correct amount.
Once I have it all in I warm the engine to the correct temp, let it sit for 5 minutes and check the oil level. That is the reference point I use when I am at the track to determine if I need to add more oil. I actually haven't had to add any oil at the track as it stays at that high level for 3 days of hard driving and doesn't drop down to the full mark until I start driving on the street where it takes about 150 miles of street and highway driving to drop it down to the full mark.
If you wanted you could use a file to mark the dipstick but it is just as easy to wait until it drops to the full mark and add 10 ozs.
I really can't tell you how much oil it takes to go from the bottom hole to the top or how much oil it takes to fill from the point where the low oil warning goes off until the top hole is reached. I have never encountered a low oil warning on this engine or my previous LS engines and I just never bothered to worry about how much it took to go between the marks. My LS engines used between a half quart of oil to a quart oil per track day. I would always top them off during the day to keep them at the recommended levels.
The LT4 is the first engine I have had that hasn't used any oil in close to 500 track miles. Right now I don't know whether that is good or bad.
Bill
The stated oil capacity of the dry sump system is 9.8 quarts. I take two 5 gallon containers of Mobil 1 15W50 and dump them into the oil tank. That gets me to .2 over. Then I use a 1 qt container Mobil 1 15W50 with reference markings on it to add the remaining .3 of a quart to get to .5 quart over. .3 of a quart is 9.6 oz (round to 10) which lets you use the hash marks on the container to add the correct amount.
Once I have it all in I warm the engine to the correct temp, let it sit for 5 minutes and check the oil level. That is the reference point I use when I am at the track to determine if I need to add more oil. I actually haven't had to add any oil at the track as it stays at that high level for 3 days of hard driving and doesn't drop down to the full mark until I start driving on the street where it takes about 150 miles of street and highway driving to drop it down to the full mark.
If you wanted you could use a file to mark the dipstick but it is just as easy to wait until it drops to the full mark and add 10 ozs.
I really can't tell you how much oil it takes to go from the bottom hole to the top or how much oil it takes to fill from the point where the low oil warning goes off until the top hole is reached. I have never encountered a low oil warning on this engine or my previous LS engines and I just never bothered to worry about how much it took to go between the marks. My LS engines used between a half quart of oil to a quart oil per track day. I would always top them off during the day to keep them at the recommended levels.
The LT4 is the first engine I have had that hasn't used any oil in close to 500 track miles. Right now I don't know whether that is good or bad.
Bill
05-31-2016, 09:59 PM
#3
Pro
Thread Starter
Thank you for the response, and yes, the manual indicates adding a 1/2 quart above full for racing and i did in fact mean being a quart over but should have been more careful with my wording.
Nevertheless assuming the reservoir is a cylinder just over 5 inches in ID , and distance between the high and low level dipstick marks is about 1.375 inches which calculates to about 1 quart and thus one quart over the full mark should be measured at 1.375 inches above the full mark i would assume. So i would expect adding a quart when you are at the low mark would raise the level to the high mark.
Since my dipstick is about 5.875 inches from the full mark to the bottom of the dipstick that volume calculates to be less than 4 quarts so my guess is the low oil light comes on before you get to 4 quarts low. Although when the oil level indicates full when hot, the next day when cold the oil level is below the dipstick.
One of the reasons i am asking about this is that my cars uses about 1 quart every 1,000 miles (street use not track use) and the dealership is doing a test and said to come back at 1,000 and then 2,000 miles for a dipstick reading, but don't want to get too low before bringing it in and don't want to go to the dealership any more times than is necessary.
Tech said the GM spec was 1 qt per 2,000 miles if most driving is usually 3,000 rpm or less. No signs of smoke when under full boost and no signs of leaks.
Nevertheless assuming the reservoir is a cylinder just over 5 inches in ID , and distance between the high and low level dipstick marks is about 1.375 inches which calculates to about 1 quart and thus one quart over the full mark should be measured at 1.375 inches above the full mark i would assume. So i would expect adding a quart when you are at the low mark would raise the level to the high mark.
Since my dipstick is about 5.875 inches from the full mark to the bottom of the dipstick that volume calculates to be less than 4 quarts so my guess is the low oil light comes on before you get to 4 quarts low. Although when the oil level indicates full when hot, the next day when cold the oil level is below the dipstick.
One of the reasons i am asking about this is that my cars uses about 1 quart every 1,000 miles (street use not track use) and the dealership is doing a test and said to come back at 1,000 and then 2,000 miles for a dipstick reading, but don't want to get too low before bringing it in and don't want to go to the dealership any more times than is necessary.
Tech said the GM spec was 1 qt per 2,000 miles if most driving is usually 3,000 rpm or less. No signs of smoke when under full boost and no signs of leaks.
06-01-2016, 09:50 PM
#4
Tech Contributor
Member Since: Oct 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Posts: 40,096
Received 8,929 Likes
on
5,333 Posts
What rpm levels are getting to on the street? I rarely see above 2500 even in low gear. I shift to 2nd below 15 mph, to third in the mid 20s, 4th in the 30s, and 5th in the 40s. I am usually in 7th gear by the time the car is in the 50s. So far my car hasn't seen any oil consumption unless I am above full when driving on the street and it takes it down to the full mark very quickly. Once on the full mark I don't see any consumption. Of course my car only has about 3300 miles on it (~500 of those miles were on the track) in 6 months of usage. With only 550 miles per month average mileage it would be hard to see a small amount of oil consumption. I do know I haven't added any oil other than the two times I took it to the track so that is a quart's consumption in 3300 miles.
Bill
Bill