Sump size trends?

[Triple_Se7en]

Originally Posted By: mrdctaylor
Like many of you on here, I normally buy my motor oil in 5 quart jugs. However, with the recent sale of my Hyundai Santa Fe, now all 4 of the cars I maintain (see below) have sumps larger than the 5 quarts you get in a jug. My cars take 5.7, 6.0, 6.4 and 7 quarts respectively. I think that's great, honestly. It should help the oil last longer. However, it is also a bit irritating that a single 5 quart jug won't do an oil change on any of my vehicles, which sometimes means mixing in a little different oil to bring it up to the right level (or buying a single quart of the same oil at an inflated price).

I guess my questions for this group are:
1) Are bigger sumps a trend? Or is this just me? I only have a sample size of 4.
2) Do you think it might be time for manufacturers to go to a 6 quart jug? Or would that be too heavy/unwieldy?

I'd be happy buying in quarts again if the price was the same, but I don't see that happening very often.


I still buy in five quart containers. My sump is six quarts. So my very first purchase was (2) five quart jugs. Leftovers in that jug are good for years.

Both new and partially used jugs are all part of our oil stash. I have a partial jug for our Malibu, which uses Maxlife and another partial jug (SOPUS) for my Colorado P/U.

If I need 32oz from it, I keep a plastic measuring cup that holds anywhere from 1-32 ounces. Pour from the five quart container into the measuring cup as needed. No big deal. Then put a plastic funnel on-top of the measuring cup for storage, that keeps dust from entering it, for it still has under an ounce of oil remaining. The leftover-oil covering the wall of the measuring cup are what remains.

That always stays in the cup.

 

[jstutz]

Originally Posted By: jstutz
I never really thought about it much but my guess would be that it is two fold.

1) Car makers want to keep the oil change intervals long. With today's high power/displacement ratios you need the extra oil to ensure that the oil can hold up to long oci's.
2) There is a push to keep oil viscosities on the lower side. Having the larger sumps would also aid in keeping the oil cooler which would reduce the chance of the oil film breaking down under extremes.

Just my thoughts. Long oci's and keeping oil cooler would be the only reasons that would make sense to me.


As CS stated above: reason 3 may be that it does give the car more buffer for people that do don't check their oil. It seems so silly not to check your oil every so often that it is hard to believe that people would actually go 6 months or a year and never check it. I guess it happens though.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Our 2017 Tahoe is 8 quarts whereas our 2010 GMC is 6 quarts … both 5.3L, albeit different Gen 5.3L


Do they also spec different oil weights?

I feel that some of the increase in sump size corresponds to spec'ing thinner oil.


Yes, newer is 0w20 and older is 5w30. Sticking with 0w20 and OLM for now. Capacity could be related to thinner, it also has the newer pumps just covered here, an oil cooler, and piston jets … (AFM only in my newer Gen e3)
New engine is far quieter of the two - even with a 40 in the older and, yes, Mobil 1 0w20 in the newer …

 

[thescreensavers]

My Camaro's V8 holds 10Qts, but usually takes 10.5 to full on dipstick.

Japanese cars seem to usually have smaller sump sizes, at least from what Ive seen.

VQ35DE in my G35 was just under 5qts
Subaru WRX was 4.7 quarts

Even the new Twin Turbo V6 in the new Q60 is about 5 quarts as well.

For reference the current nissan GTR is 5-6 quarts.

 

[BobThe]

I was just thinking about this myself. We just picked up an 08 Cixic EX Coupe for my kids to use and its R18 has something like a 3.9 quart capacity with the filter change and the Coyote in my Mustang is 8 quarts. I could get 2 OCI's out of the Civic for what I put in the Coyote. It really doesn't bother me since I like the extra capacity in the Coyote.

My Father in law has an 05 Malibu that I take care of with a 3.5 liter V6 that is starting to use a bit of oil and it only has a 4 quart sump which makes me nervous since I only see that car every 3-6 Months.

Our Pilot's sump is just about 6 quarts and the ST is just about 6 as well as I recall.

That said, I have ~140 quarts of synthetic oil in my stash that I paid less than $3 a quart for so I am good with great big sumps.

Some friends of mine think I might have a problem... I think they are wrong.

 

[Vaca]

Yeah, it seems like sumps are getting larger lately. Here is another sample of size 4:

Toyota 5.0
VW 6.5
BMW 6.8
Porsche 9.5

for a mean of 7.0 quarts, n = 4.

FWIW, 2 of the cars oil changes work nicely with 5 qt jugs - the Toyota and the Porsche. For me, it's a bit easier since all 3 German cars use the same oil so size of jug doesn't much matter

I remember back in the 70's and 80's 5 quarts were pretty much the rule; now, not so much.

 

[Ursatdx]

I see many at XX.9 qts.

3.9 qts Honda
4.9 Qts Hyundai
5.9 qts Fiat/Ram.

Why the .9?

 

[csandste]

Originally Posted By: jstutz
Originally Posted By: jstutz
I never really thought about it much but my guess would be that it is two fold.

1) Car makers want to keep the oil change intervals long. With today's high power/displacement ratios you need the extra oil to ensure that the oil can hold up to long oci's.
2) There is a push to keep oil viscosities on the lower side. Having the larger sumps would also aid in keeping the oil cooler which would reduce the chance of the oil film breaking down under extremes.

Just my thoughts. Long oci's and keeping oil cooler would be the only reasons that would make sense to me.


As CS stated above: reason 3 may be that it does give the car more buffer for people that do don't check their oil. It seems so silly not to check your oil every so often that it is hard to believe that people would actually go 6 months or a year and never check it. I guess it happens though.


I'm sure I read it somewhere on here. When HyunKia replaced or recalled engines on Sonatas and Optimas, they replaced yellow dipsticks with orange dipsticks which were re-calibrated to hold another half quart or so.

 

[69Torino]

Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted By: mrdctaylor
Like many of you on here, I normally buy my motor oil in 5 quart jugs. However, with the recent sale of my Hyundai Santa Fe, now all 4 of the cars I maintain (see below) have sumps larger than the 5 quarts you get in a jug. My cars take 5.7, 6.0, 6.4 and 7 quarts respectively. I think that's great, honestly. It should help the oil last longer. However, it is also a bit irritating that a single 5 quart jug won't do an oil change on any of my vehicles, which sometimes means mixing in a little different oil to bring it up to the right level (or buying a single quart of the same oil at an inflated price).

I guess my questions for this group are:
1) Are bigger sumps a trend? Or is this just me? I only have a sample size of 4.
2) Do you think it might be time for manufacturers to go to a 6 quart jug? Or would that be too heavy/unwieldy?

I'd be happy buying in quarts again if the price was the same, but I don't see that happening very often.


I still buy in five quart containers. My sump is six quarts. So my very first purchase was (2) five quart jugs. Leftovers in that jug are good for years.

Both new and partially used jugs are all part of our oil stash. I have a partial jug for our Malibu, which uses Maxlife and another partial jug (SOPUS) for my Colorado P/U.

If I need 32oz from it, I keep a plastic measuring cup that holds anywhere from 1-32 ounces. Pour from the five quart container into the measuring cup as needed. No big deal. Then put a plastic funnel on-top of the measuring cup for storage, that keeps dust from entering it, for it still has under an ounce of oil remaining. The leftover-oil covering the wall of the measuring cup are what remains.

That always stays in the cup.


Empty Marvel Mystery Oil quart bottles are handy for measuring oil. They are marked every 4 ounces.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
I posted a while back that gallons would not upset me (like HDEO) …
Have an 8, 6, and two barely over a gallon …

3 out of 4 only drain a gallon of ATF too … so migrating to Maxlife jugs as old stash is thinner …
I also like gallons better. My truck takes two gallons. The Camry takes 4.5 quarts. I'd rather top off the half quart with a new jug vs having a jug with a little left in it.

 

[CR94]

Given that engines have been made with such a wide variety of oil capacities, how can anyone reasonably expect oil companies would sell containers that exactly match his engine's capacity? If it works out that way, you're just lucky. Adjusting for inevitable mismatches would be easier if single quarts weren't so overpriced.

In chronological order (see below), I've had vehicles with oil capacities of about

6.0 quarts, including ~1.0-quart filter housing,
3.5 quarts, including ~0.6-quart filter,
3.4 quarts, including ~0.5 to 0.3-quart filter,
4.4 quarts, including ~0.3-quart filter housing.

In proportion to engine size, 6.0 was by far the smallest capacity.

 

[Smokescreen]

Corolla 4.2L oil in a 1.8L engine

Civic 4.2L oil in a 2.4L engine

LeSabre 4.5L oil in a 3.8L engine

Sierra 5.6L oil in a 6.0L engine

Imports seem to have bigger sumps than American mades from what I have in my stable.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
Corolla 4.2L oil in a 1.8L engine

Civic 4.2L oil in a 2.4L engine

LeSabre 4.5L oil in a 3.8L engine

Sierra 5.6L oil in a 6.0L engine

Imports seem to have bigger sumps than American mades from what I have in my stable.


Title mentioned trends ~ not sure what date span we are talking here …
I responded with 2010 and 2017 5.3’s of 6 quarts now 8 quarts …
our 4 cylinder cars are 2013 1.4/4.2 quarts & 2014 2.0/4.5 quarts ...

These are all GM/Ford

 

[wdn]

I buy gallons of Delvac 1300 Super for less than $14 and I do think you are better off buying it in the gallon size. Even the Mobil rebate structure favors buying gallon jugs instead of the 2.5 gallon.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
GM has taken there newer V8's to 8 quarts. At least in the pickup trucks.

GM needs to call for HDEO then, so two U.S. gallon jugs will take care of it all.

 

[Silverado12]

My wife's 2018 Mustang GT 5.0 takes 10 quarts. Actually 10.5 to put it at the top of the stick full mark.
My 2010 Mustang 4.6 takes 6 quarts.
My 2000 Mustang 4.6 and the 2012 Chevy truck 4.3 six cyl. take 5 quarts. I always have partial bottles laying around too, but I'm going to start using 5W-30 in everything to help solve that problem.

 

[thooks]

I have two Toyota vehicles, each with a 5.7L V8.

They take 8 quarts of full syn and a cartridge filter.

Toyota says a 10k mile oil change interval is good. I say it's not. I'm doing 6k intervals.

That means I go buy $55 in oil and a $5 filter for each change. Every 5th change, I have "free" oil....

 

[jstutz]

Originally Posted By: csandste
Originally Posted By: jstutz
Originally Posted By: jstutz
I never really thought about it much but my guess would be that it is two fold.

1) Car makers want to keep the oil change intervals long. With today's high power/displacement ratios you need the extra oil to ensure that the oil can hold up to long oci's.
2) There is a push to keep oil viscosities on the lower side. Having the larger sumps would also aid in keeping the oil cooler which would reduce the chance of the oil film breaking down under extremes.

Just my thoughts. Long oci's and keeping oil cooler would be the only reasons that would make sense to me.


As CS stated above: reason 3 may be that it does give the car more buffer for people that do don't check their oil. It seems so silly not to check your oil every so often that it is hard to believe that people would actually go 6 months or a year and never check it. I guess it happens though.


I'm sure I read it somewhere on here. When HyunKia replaced or recalled engines on Sonatas and Optimas, they replaced yellow dipsticks with orange dipsticks which were re-calibrated to hold another half quart or so.


Both my cars were called in to check the engine out and they did change the dipsticks from yellow to orange.

 

[1JZ_E46]

Originally Posted By: thooks
I have two Toyota vehicles, each with a 5.7L V8.

They take 8 quarts of full syn and a cartridge filter.

Toyota says a 10k mile oil change interval is good. I say it's not. I'm doing 6k intervals.

That means I go buy $55 in oil and a $5 filter for each change. Every 5th change, I have "free" oil....


$55 seems expensive. Buy jugs on rollback at WM when it’s rebate season and you’ll half that.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted By: 1JZ_E46

I have two Toyota vehicles, each with a 5.7L V8.

They take 8 quarts of full syn and a cartridge filter.

Toyota says a 10k mile oil change interval is good. I say it's not. I'm doing 6k intervals.

That means I go buy $55 in oil and a $5 filter for each change. Every 5th change, I have "free" oil....


Buy the Walmart Rollback for $46 and change and then some and have two quarts left over.