How much oil do you put in your car's sump?

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Wrangler says 4 qts, but it takes 4 1/2 to get it into the safe range.

GC says 6, and it's right about 1/2 way in the safe zone.

Dodge says 5, and measure the same as the GC with 5 quarts in.
 
Originally Posted By: river_rat
6.1 quarts. That's what the manual says, so that's what it gets. It is always over the full mark on the dipstick.


You are doing it exactly right.
 
I generally put in what's call for in the specs... If it's a little under or over I don't care, will add only if level falls to the add mark prior to next change...
 
How much you put in depends on how much you drain out.
A quick oil/filter change can easily leave in 200-400 mls of oil vs an overnight drain with the car jacked up (angled) to facilitate a more complete drain.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
How much you put in depends on how much you drain out.
A quick oil/filter change can easily leave in 200-400 mls of oil vs an overnight drain with the car jacked up (angled) to facilitate a more complete drain.


Yep, that's why I use my dipstick. My manual calls for 4.3L with oil filter change, the dipstick will show oil above the full mark, but if I put in 4L it is at max. or slightly below. Plus I’m not gonna bother measuring 0.3 of a liter.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
How much you put in depends on how much you drain out.
A quick oil/filter change can easily leave in 200-400 mls of oil vs an overnight drain with the car jacked up (angled) to facilitate a more complete drain.


I also think that the design of the engine has something to do with this as well. On my Duratec 3.0, the drain plug is in the back and my driveway is at an incline. Typically, I take off the drain plug and filter, then go for a bike ride or something, then button it up. After an hour of (hot) draining, there's nothing coming out--not even drips. Other cars I change the oil on, I don't seem to get out that much.

I imagine this is the difference in the 5.9 versus 6.0 qt capacity that I see listed for my car.

I think the poster who suggested calibrating the dipstick around the fill capacity and not vise-verse is right on. I've probably been over-filling just a bit.
 
Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM

I also think that the design of the engine has something to do with this as well.

It has everything to do with that.

For average street use just keep the level between the marks and there will never be an issue, but if you drive hard (corner hard and brake hard) with a wet sump system you may find oil pick-up issues at certain oil levels. In a couple of my cars I must have the oil at the full mark to avoid the problem and I only know it's a problem because I have an oil pressure gauge, an idiot light is too late.
Or if you upgrade to sticker tires thereby increasing the cornering g-forces you may have to overfill the sump to avoid oil starvation.

On the otherhand, in my Bimmer I keep the oil level on minimum during the winter to facilitate faster oil warm-up while leaving room in the sump to add a full litre of heavy oil in the summer to increse the viscosity of the bulk sump oil without doing a biannual oil change.
 
This reminds me of the old days at the strip. We routinely put less oil in the cars to keep the crank out of it. On some it made a difference and on others not a bit.

Then there was the road course, where I routinely overfilled my cars to compensate for the high cornering forces that can uncover the pickup.
 
2011 Hyundai Sonata SE 2.0T manual says 4.86 qt I just dump in 5 singles or the 5.1 jug and fill the filter up. It's at the top of the mark on the dipstick. I can't be bothered w/ the minute overage, and the driveway isn't flat and I drive it hard, yadda, yadda...
 
It is difficult for me to read the oil level on the dipstick in my '06 Avalon. It is one of those twisted cable types and no matter what I do, the oil smears well over the full mark even though I have only put in 6 qts of the 6½ qts specified. Even after the oil starts to darken, it is hard to tell where the oil level is accurately. I finally just decided to put 6½ qts in and only check to make sure some shows on the dipstick.

John
W.TN
 
Originally Posted By: Alamogunr
It is difficult for me to read the oil level on the dipstick in my '06 Avalon. It is one of those twisted cable types and no matter what I do, the oil smears well over the full mark even though I have only put in 6 qts of the 6½ qts specified. Even after the oil starts to darken, it is hard to tell where the oil level is accurately. I finally just decided to put 6½ qts in and only check to make sure some shows on the dipstick.

John
W.TN


Same type with the 2010 Mazda 3 2.0L. WORST DIP STICK READ THING EVER. Can't read a thing on it due to the stupid design and what it's made of. You really have to see it to know what I mean.
 
I pour 6 quarts in my CrownVic
6 quarts in the Fusion
5 quarts in the Ranger
Have not done the CTS yet; book says 6 quarts though.
Usually I just pour it in and dont bother checking it. Ive done it enough on those three to know it will be perfect with those amounts.
 
Originally Posted By: JDD
Originally Posted By: Alamogunr
It is difficult for me to read the oil level on the dipstick in my '06 Avalon. It is one of those twisted cable types and no matter what I do, the oil smears well over the full mark even though I have only put in 6 qts of the 6½ qts specified. Even after the oil starts to darken, it is hard to tell where the oil level is accurately. I finally just decided to put 6½ qts in and only check to make sure some shows on the dipstick.

John
W.TN


Same type with the 2010 Mazda 3 2.0L. WORST DIP STICK READ THING EVER. Can't read a thing on it due to the stupid design and what it's made of. You really have to see it to know what I mean.


I know what you mean, I got one. The trick is to read the oil level when the engine is cold, the level is really easy to read then. I know it's not the what the manual specifies, but it's better than guessing.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
"My car doesn't know the difference between dino and synthetic"

Yes it does; but you'll need to install an oil pressure gauge to understand what your car is saying to you.


I still don't see how MY car, in MY application would actually "care" or "know" the difference, meaning, would it last longer, use less / more fuel, have more / less horse power, eat through tires and brake pads less / more often, etc.? Sure, I may feel better seeing a difference in oil pressure reading, but what does it actually accomplish in my daily driver, if said pressure reading is within operating spec?
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ

I still don't see how MY car, in MY application would actually "care" or "know" the difference, meaning, would it last longer, use less / more fuel, have more / less horse power, eat through tires and brake pads less / more often, etc.? Sure, I may feel better seeing a difference in oil pressure reading, but what does it actually accomplish in my daily driver, if said pressure reading is within operating spec?

Well lesee, being that most cars on the road today don't have oil pressure gauge and the ones that do are either useless or ignored by the general driving public, no a gauge really isn't of much use(how many cars do you see setting along side the road because they didn't have a oil pressure gauge?)...

For the ones that want to push the limits of how thin of a oil can I safely get away with, yes they are a good instrument to have... Me, I tend to error on the side of caution so will bump my oils up a grade and not worry, neither of my daily drivers have a real oil pressure gauge and I don't care... My Marauder and '69 Fairlane do have gauges that verify my method is working, haven't lost a engine due to a oil related failure in the 45 years I've been owning vehicles...
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
This reminds me of the old days at the strip. We routinely put less oil in the cars to keep the crank out of it. On some it made a difference and on others not a bit.

Then there was the road course, where I routinely overfilled my cars to compensate for the high cornering forces that can uncover the pickup.


For Chevy engines, there is an oil pump baffle plate (wet sump only) that sandwiches between the oil pump and keeps oil moderately low on drag strip launch.

For any type of closed circuit racing, an aftermarket baffled trap-door pan keeps the oil totally in control. And, most have built in windage trays and crank scrapers worth 30HP and up.
 
Originally Posted By: JDD
Originally Posted By: Alamogunr
It is difficult for me to read the oil level on the dipstick in my '06 Avalon. It is one of those twisted cable types and no matter what I do, the oil smears well over the full mark even though I have only put in 6 qts of the 6½ qts specified. Even after the oil starts to darken, it is hard to tell where the oil level is accurately. I finally just decided to put 6½ qts in and only check to make sure some shows on the dipstick.

John
W.TN


Same type with the 2010 Mazda 3 2.0L. WORST DIP STICK READ THING EVER. Can't read a thing on it due to the stupid design and what it's made of. You really have to see it to know what I mean.



I know what you guys mean. My equipment has those types cause they are mostly cab over machines. They also have 5' plus dipsticks that are a pain to get out in one pull. My truck and car have the nice old flat ones so they are very easy to read. I bet I could read water level acurately with them.
 
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