dfinnegan

I've had my car nine months and have checked the dipstick countless times; to no avail. I just couldn't read the darn thing.

I would get oil up one side to the top mark and down the other side near to the lower mark while the top and bottom (narrow part) of the stick would show everthing or nothing at all! Sometimes the whole bloody thing seemed smeared with oil!

Lately the gauge has been reading low and I've been adding 100 to 200 ml at a time trying to get it back between the bottom red mark and the middle. I've also been driving quite a bit. No doubt, driving up consumption. I was beginning to think the dash gauge was going bad.

Today I took her out and warmed her up good. Then parked her and started adding oil a 100 ml at a time whilst watching the gauge and checking the stick every way I could possibly think of: twist it left, twist it right, let it sit for several seconds in the tank, let it sit for less than a second in the tank.

And, low and behold, it seems that the "quick stick" is the answer. For my car, at least. I've actually found repeatable results by cleaning the stick and then popping it in and out in a second, or less. I still don't see a nice clean line like I'm used to on other cars, but I was definitely able to match the gauge going up from near to the bottom mark on the stick and just above the red zone on the gauge to the middle area on both the stick and gauge.

It's a small feat, but seems a large accomplishment.

Quick-stick's the trick.

Cheers,
Dave

pete000

I agree it is a bit tricky to see the oil on the stick when the oil is really clean. Takes me several trys to get it....

last toy

Dave I agree with you 100%. You described the situation perfectly. High on one side and low on the other. You would think this would be a mindless feat to conquer, especially for a $65,000 car. My car does not use much oil interestingly, so I topped it up when I saw the oil level low on one side but the guage read at 3:00. Now my guage reads high all the time and the dip stick reads full on both sides. I think I'm overfilled. In this case I should have accepted the guage reading. Glad to hear I'm not the only one scratching his head on this one.

Jeremy Pinsly

Whenever I check the dipstick, I always pull it out completely, wipe it off with a towel to remove any oil, then insert the dipstick all the way back it for about 5 seconds, then pull it out and make my reading.

I don't think you will get a good reading at all if you pull it out and try to read it without cleaning it off first.

I've done this on every vehicle I have owned, without fail.

last toy

I also wipe it completely clean but still hard to decipher with clean oil.

Eggplant Cab

Guys, the point is that the oil takes a LONG time to heat up. There's over 11 quarts in there to warm up. You don't just warm up the engine, it needs to be hot. Drive for 25 mins at least. Get the oil hot then leave it to idle for 3 mins for the oil to drop back into the tank. Remember wipe off the dip stick and reinsert and pull out again. The hi/lo sides is because the oil hasn't settled yet.
Many mechanics overfill too so it's not just the DIYers.It's not rocket science but definitely the oil has to be hot to get an accurate reading. I just tell the mechanics to fill 9 quarts and I'll top off at home after the drive when it's nice and warmed up.

last toy

Okay, that makes sense. Don't think i have checked it after a long drive but nit certain. Will keep that in mind.

Jeremy Pinsly

Another trick....you have to hold the dipstick in the correct lighting, and look for changes in reflectance off the dipstick, you WILL be able to see a differnece in gloss/shine where the oil is versus where it isn't.

dfinnegan

3 mins at idel. That's interesting.

My oil was definitely hot. I have always checked it hot. At least 8pm on the temp gauge. Sometimes higher as sitting at idle tends to drive the temp up.

I always pull the stick all the way out and clean it off completely.

I always look at the reflection in the light to try and see where the oil is glistening on the stick.

The only thing that I don't always do is let the car idle for 3 mins. I generally got a minute, or more. Which always seems like a long time. I guess I'll have to try the 3 minute mark next time.

And, you hold the stick back in the tank for 5 secs, or more. Is that right?

I really would like to have the direct measurement to compare with the gauge. No electronics, no gizzmos. Just straight up level checking. Doesn't seem like it should be that difficult!

Thanks for the input.

Cheers,
Dave

Eggplant Cab

Dave I've found that the temp gauge may mean the oil is warmed up but doesn't mean all the oil is warmed up. Next time notice what the oil level gauge is at and where your temp gauge is at. If you drive say 5 minutes, the oil temp will go up a little but the oil level gauge stays down, even stationary. There's 11+ quarts and the oil temp monitors only one part of the system, at the engine. The oil in the tank may be still cooler. Thus you don't get an accurate reading. Drive at highway speeds for 20mins is a good way to get it going. One night, it was so cold that even after 20 mins of highway driving, the oil level gauge didn't go up too high. Highway driving cools the oil too. But I didn't panic and waited til the next day when it was warm enough and driving it 20 mins again brought the oillevel gauge up to 1/2 again. This is 16 years of owning a 964 experience and the nuances are few but oh they can be a PITA!

DarrylH

My favourite way to know you're warm enough is to get the car to the oil cooler fan start point. This means: 1) the thermostat is definitely open, so all of the oil is in play and hot; 2) the oil is as expanded as it will ever get under normal driving conditions; 3) if you leave a little "slosh room" you won't be contaminating your intake, so just fill to the 3 or 2 o'clock level at this temp and you're fine.

Done this way, when the oil is not hot, you may think you're underfilled. It can be a bit disconcerting at first. But if you're not burning or dripping large quantities, which one hopes you'd notice, this is a pretty good comfort zone.

And don't feel bad. My very experienced mechanic managed to overfill my car last summer. I figure he just lost count, and didn't follow his own rules...

dfinnegan

So, how much does the oil expand when it gets hot? Or, is it more of a viscosity issue that changes the behaviour of the gauge and stick readings?

I do hear what you're saying about the temp being up and the t'stat being open. I generally watch the oil temp pretty closely when starting out because I don't run the rpm's up above ~3500 until the t'stat has opened, which generally drops the temp a bit, and then I get the temp back up to 7 o'clock, or so before I push the rpm's. I'm always anxious to do that so I'm pretty good an knowing when the t'stat opens.

I have also noticed that the level guage works much better when the oil is nice and hot. Around 8 o'clock, or better (which is kind of rare for me) makes the gauge ride right up even a stop lights.

Still, I've struggled with the dip stick. I guess I'll try:

1) 20 min drive
2) t'stat open
3) temp to 8 o'clock
4) idle for 3 mins
5) clean the stick
6) insert for 5 secs
7) check level in the light

I'm surprised I haven't seen these instructions in the manual somewhere!

Thanks again for the input. I'm always willing to learn something new about these cars.

Cheers,
Dave

williamreinecke

I'm with Eggplant. The temp may be 8:00 o'clock, but keep an eye on the tank indicator. If it is not up, then drive some more. I like to get the car nice and hot, then check the dip stick. That being said, I frequently find that clean oil is very hard to see on the dip stick. So I guess I am not much help after all...

jeff522

Its nice to know that others have as much fun with the oil as I do.FWIW I more or less follow the steps that dfinnegan has out lined above.It would be nice if a $65,000 car
had a dip stick that worked.One problem I have come across is the need to adjust the level with the time of the year.Its a round 500-600 mls.Thats about a 5% expantion.Oil like all compunds will have a larger vol when hot,but I have always doughted that it would have so much expantion.Any Petro Eng out there.

Jeff522 1990 C2 White/Burgundy

DarrylH

Well, if you remember that the gauge is only reading roughly the top 10% of the oil quantity (a litre and change) then a 500 to 600 ml change is about 50% of the gauge travel. Or something like that. So yeah, the change in volume due to temperature is hugely significant. But it's late and I'm tired and I may well be screwing up the higher math...