Question about oil level while car is off.

[br0nx finest]

I'm sorry, this may be a dumb question, but don't flame me please.

When my car is off the oil level is below both dots on the dipstick, it is actually at the very tip. But while the car is on it is quite a bit over the two dots.

Should I worry? Or am I correct in thinking this car needs another quart in there. I see no oil light, and it doesn't flash during hard cornering so I am assuming it is not critical at this point. But better safe than sorry.

Thanks
-Luis

[timmy0tool]

is your car on a level surface?

also always check your oil level with the motor off. when on, the oil is splashing around. it is also pressurized. you will get an inaccurate reading if you check with the motor on. oil below both dots is bad. the level should be between the two dots.

usually what i do is pull the dipstick, wipe, redip the dipstick, pull it out again and check.

when was your last oil change? i usually put in about 4 quarts of oil and when i drain after 3,000 miles, i have about 3.75 quarts left. i have 216,000 miles on the motor just to give you an idea of its condition. in your next oil change, if you drain less than 2 quarts of oil, you are indeed running very low in oil.

[cb7wagonPL]

you mean you checked oil while the car is running and it was above the two dots? of course it would because it is being circulated to lubricate the engine. What you should do is find a level surface and check oil level there with the car OFF. you only supposed to check the oil when the car is not running...it goes for all fluids. let all the oil come down to the oil pan (1 or 2 mins) and then check the level. add as needed.

[br0nx finest]

Thanks guys, guess I need a bit more oil. I'm sure I have a leak. But its all good, I just want this motor to last a year more, so I'll check distibutor seals and crankshaft seal, if its any of those great. But I'm not doing a rear main, fuck that.

Anyhow, thanks for your help sometimes I ask the dumbest questions evAr.

[starchland]

sometimes i have that problem, but IMO its better to have more oil than less. remember, its 1 quart between the 2 holes.

[fac90]

Lets say you checked the oil (on level ground and when the engine is cold) and the level is right at the lower mark. But, the oil filter contains at least 1/2 quart, are you in the clear regarding any engine damage until more oil is added? I became lazy one day and did not check my oil level until the next day and noticed this.

The oil pressure warning light is not a low oil level warning light, but it is a no oil warning light! In other words, check your oil level.

[aero]

sometimes i have that problem, but IMO its better to have more oil than less. remember, its 1 quart between the 2 holes.

too much oil will cause too much pressure and you will blow out seals. Just keep it just below or at the top dot on the dipstick. Check with the car off on a level surface.

[aero]

Please...tell me how too much oil increases oil pressure, and I'll tell you how too much oil *decreases* oil pressure.

ok.. instead of making a useless flame post, then back your statement up with something useful to read.

Too much oil IS bad for your engine, sorry if I mis-stated the exact technical reason, but whatever.

[gloryaccordy]

Too much oil is indeed bad, I think it makes the oil foam up and cause sludge. Plus, if too much oil wasn't bad then why would there be an upper limit on it? Obviously too much of it is detrimental to the engine.

[starchland]

Well, the reason why I said its better to overfill if ANYTHING at all is because running on oil=definately fucked, running a bit over=better chances.

[gloryaccordy]

You stated a fact, but now it's "whatever"?
Ho-kay.

Overfilling causes the oil to get whipped into foam by the crank...so the oil pump sucks foam, instead of liquid oil.

Foam is mostly air.
Air doesn't have a very high film strength.

You want a prize? That was indeed valuable info...but the attitude wasn't necessary. A simple 'actually it decreases pressure by changing liquid oil to foam, but whatever too much is bad as well' would have sufficed...it's not like he told him to do anything that would damage the engine anyway...

[h22sparkle]

Make sure the car has cooled for 15-20 minutes make sure your car is on a even surface

[fac90]

Everyone should at least agree that dirty oil is better than no oil.

[aero]

It's a case of too much of a good thing being a bad thing. There are a bunch of things that can go wrong from overfilling. While there is too much oil in the engine, high pressure may develop in the crankcase, you can get oil leakage through the oil pan gasket and other engine seals. You might have noticed reduced gas mileage while the oil level was too high - it's possible that the crankshaft was splashing in the oil, which made it work harder. And that splashing could cause the oil to foam up, which could cause the oil pressure in the crankcase to drop and perhaps lead to premature engine wear or even damage. In my experience, this would be a rare occurrence... mostly too much oil just makes a mess.

I found quite a few sites, and they all say the same thing. While the "whipped" oil would seem to happen before the higher oil pressure, simply because you would need more, they are both very feasible problems that could result from overfilling the crankcase. So neither of us was "wrong," we were both only partially correct.

I am in no way an expert with all the knowledge it seems that you have. When I give out information I try to make sure I post only what I know to be true, never try to steer anyone wrong. One day I hope to know everything like you. Until then I will just keep doing my best to learn.

[evil_demon_01]

Too much oil also makes the engine work harder to, as the crank is fully emersed and the pistons have to actually push the oil, obviously that would be VERY full but you get the idea. We had a car come into our work shop once. The owner had complained that It was smoking, turns out the owner had changed the oil in the weekend . . . without draining the old oil!! so this engine had 8 Litres of oil in it!!