Does oil capacity affect engine life?

[peterdaniel]

I would bet my paycheck that the amount of oil capacity a sump has has a direct bearing on how long the engine lasts..

Case in point.. The Toyota 3.4L V6 which is one of the best engines I have ever seen regularly runs 300K miles + and its oil capacity in the 4wd drive version is 5.5 qts which is pretty big for a smallish v-6.

The 2.4L 22R motors have a 5 qt capacity.


What do you think?

 

[c3po]

I think you have made a good point, and I agree with you.

 

[crazyoildude]

what about the toyota corolla 1.8 it takes only 4 quarts with the filter and that engine runs forever.
saab 4 cyl turbo only takes 4 qts with the filter and those old saabs run a super long time with a turbo and recommended oil change 1 yr. 10,000 miles

 

[peterdaniel]

The Toyota 3.4 runs 1.6 qts per liter of displacement ( 5.5 qts)

The Saab has 2.0L if Im correct and that would be 2.0 qts per liter.

The 1.8 with a 4 qt capacity would be 2.2 qts per liter.. even more!

 

[BearZDefect]

Doesn't the OEM adjust the OCI recommendation based on engine lubrication demands, oil capacity, and required oil specs?

For example, if I'm not mistaken, in the last years before they introduced their OLM, Honda recommended 5,000mi (severe) and 10,000mi (normal) OCI on 4-cylinder Accords, but 3,750mi / 7,500mi on v6 Accords. Both engines had about the same oil capacity, so the OCI was adjusted accordingly.

No doubt OLMs take oil capacity into account.


If you worry that a smaller oil capacity is compromising your engine life then change it more frequently. If you're really worried, do a UOA too.

If your vehicle has an OLM, use that as your reference. That is, run it down to whatever % you are comfortable with.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: BearZDefect
Doesn't the OEM adjust the OCI recommendation based on engine lubrication demands, oil capacity, and required oil specs?

No doubt OLMs take oil capacity into account.

Correct. A large sump just lets you run longer OCIs, and gives you more of a margin for error, with a given oil.

 

[MinivanMauler]

I think in the grand scheme of things, oil sump capacity ranks pretty low on the list of factors determining engine life.

I mean, under this logic, the 4.0L Jeep engine with a 6-quart sump would be one one of shortest-lived engines around. And those engines routinely run 300,000+ without a rebuild.

 

[tropic]

I dunno. I think a smaller sump might be an advantage for me and other short trippers. The oil heats up more quickly, which could raise the likelihood of burning off moisture when the car isn't taken for regular freeway trips.

Of course, less margin of error if you have an oil burner or accidentally skip an oil change.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
MinivanMauler - You said this:
"I think in the grand scheme of things, oil sump capacity ranks pretty low on the list of factors determining engine life."

As long as an Approved lubricant and recommended OCIs are used I agree with you entirely

As an example - some Euro high speed heavy diesel engines have OCIs out to 50KKms with a 30ltr sump. Most NA high speed heavy diesel engines have around 20kkms OCIs and 38ltr sumps. In similar use the engine life of both is comparable

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: tropic
I dunno. I think a smaller sump might be an advantage for me and other short trippers. The oil heats up more quickly, which could raise the likelihood of burning off moisture when the car isn't taken for regular freeway trips.
Bingo! It is relative to the type of driving and how big the cooling system may have an effect. My 4.9L I6 F150 holds 6 qts with filter and takes a good 15 miles to get warmed up, so a bigger sump would do me no good. Those engines last forever.

If you think your sump is too small and want greater protection from overheated oil, run Redine Oil.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: peterdaniel
I would bet my paycheck that the amount of oil capacity a sump has has a direct bearing on how long the engine lasts..

Only if you assume that the OCI is the same, regardless of sump capacity, but as long as the oil is changed early enough, small sump capacity shouldn't hurt anything. There's more to an engine's design than just sump capacity.

Quote:

Case in point.. The Toyota 3.4L V6 which is one of the best engines I have ever seen regularly runs 300K miles + and its oil capacity in the 4wd drive version is 5.5 qts which is pretty big for a smallish v-6.

My 3-liter engine has a 7-quart sump. Does it mean it will run for 500K miles? If I'm willing to put money into it... probably.

 

[stockrex]

anyone remember the mobil one ad, they ran a vehicle quite a few miles and claimed negligible wear. which vehicle was that? what was the sump capacity?

 

[hooligan24]

my buddy has a supercharged nissan frontier v6(as do I, but an xterra) that has over 200k miles on it. only holds 3.75 quarts and has a filter the size of a dixie cup....still runs great. He says he has been doing rotella 15w40 most of its life. 4500 mile oci's

my xterra only has 52k miles on it so far. Now, my turbocharged 4cyl Neon holds 5.1 quarts

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
Does oil capacity affect engine life?


Maybe ..but not usually. I'm sure where power density is high, a larger sump will be of benefit.

I guess it could actually shorten the life ..or rather, increase the wear rate (the "life" may be identical. The condition at end of life may not be). That's if you subscribe to the hot oil theory for AW packages working.

While I used to subscribe to the notion that you could effectively compensate for any severity of service with sump size, oil volume, and cooling capacity ...I no longer do. That's not to say that a larger sump doesn't do good things. If a larger sump lengthened engine life, your water craft would have massive sumps. They don't. Now an air cooled engine might benefit somewhat with a larger sump, but that can probably be exchanged with the length of time the oil is in service.

 

[crinkles]

sump capacity is a factor in OCi determination.

whether an engine lasts depends on whether it is maintained properly based on what it requires and the parts that make it up.

 

[marco246]

tropic and TP are right, of course, about large sump capacities being a pain for a short-tripper. I have a couple of aging Italian beauties which don't leave the stable unless they're going to do at least 40 miles so that all the fluids come up to operating temperature and there's some time for moisture and/or fuel in the oil to burn off. The cars: a 71 Alfa Romeo 1750 with a 1.8L engine and 7-quart oil sump; and an 87 Ferrari 328 with 3.2L engine and 11-quart sump. Both cars, according to the dipstick markings and owner's manuals, can run two quarts low without problem. While running with the big dogs on European highways over long distances, it's nice to have a such a reserve. Here on the Big Island, it's useless. By the way, I'm running Shell RTS 5W-40 in both.

 

[mechtech2]

Hey marco - How about the old toilet tank trick of putting a brick in the reservoir to displace water, and thus use less when you flush.
Maybe a couple of bricks in the 7 qt sump would help!

 

[Steve S]

It certainly will in some instances prolong the oil change interval

 

[jldcol]

Did not VW fix some sludgers by mostly installing a bigger sump on them? With dino I like a qt. per cyl, and with high output the same but with syn. You could do a dry sump and have a lower amount used until a set temp and then add extra from another tank.

 

[gwdriver]

I have a supercharged V-6 Frontier. Has towing package. Sump is 3.5 qts, coolant cap is 12qts. Use M-1 10w30 and a M-1 or Wix filter, same thing in my Titan. 5-7k OCI's. No problems at all and I push this truck hard. Tows a 4k boat. This engine was used in many Nissan and Infinity models for many years. No problem with the small sumps. I know people with over 300k on these engines. Most do run syn oil because of the low oil cap.