kris

I have a thousand excuses ranging from a broken oil level sensor to my indy who didn't do a requested oil change when the car was in for a few electrical gremlins but the bottom line is that I didn't check the oil for a considerable while. Today I did an oil change and only just under 9 quarts came out.
Now I believe that these engines can handle this kind of low oil levels pretty well but I'm still a bit shocked, I probably need some comforting words but most of all I need to know if damage could have been done.

sonett43

9 quarts is plenty

Carrera51

^^^^

I agree. If you said 5 quarts I would be nervous.

Amber Gramps

Kris, you find that little aircraft, that you and your boys lost, then we are good.

...Otherwise, stop your cryin'. Car is gonna be fine.

kris

Tx fellows (you too Dougie ).

Amber Gramps

Did you just call me a girl?

rusnak

Yeah you're only about a quart and a half from full, and maybe only a quart low of halfway, which is where you'd want to run. Oil pressure is what you should watch anyway, which was fine I'm sure.

Still, it can't hurt to fix the oil level sensor. It gives you something to glance at when stopped at a red light.

kris

I've fixed the sensor in the mean time and the oil level is now right at the middle on the dipstick, same as the needle, right in the middle.

Amber Gramps

Check it hot, level, and running.

500

9 is fine, but it will be beneficial to start accurately monitoring your oil level so you can obtain good data on oil consumption, which is an important diagnositic variable in these cars. Oil consumption can be related to leaks and/or true consumption (e.g. worn valve guides). Having this inforamtion and tracking it over time will make potential future maintenance decisions easier.

spanky

You should be ok. My 2.7 started to go south go on I 5 about 200 miles from home. Cylinder head studs were letting go and I was leaking oil everywhere. I kept stopping and adding oil along the way until I was safely at home. During the engine teardown only 7 qts of oil drained out total but all was fine internally except for the 2 cylinders that had rocked about due to being loose/ broken studs. Level ground, idle speed,hot engine, dip stick. NEVER TRUST THE GUAGE.

theiceman

wow great story ... nothing like "dead stick" landings