Garth S

Definitely a mystery!
I don't intend to be obnoxiously literal, but there will always be splashed oil on the stick in step 1 above, so no meaningful measure can be made until the stick is wiped dry & reinserted again - assume that is what you meant.

When the car is warm & running, there is a nice static level in the reservoir - you can actually pull the float level deal for the gauge & witness it through the rectangular hole ( as long as the car is not overfilled ).

When driving off from a cold start, does your oil temp gauge slowly increase to its 'normal' level - then take a plunge as the thermostat opens to admit cold oil from the front cooler & lines? That's a quick check on thermostat function ..... as are the gurgling sounds emanating from the passenger rocker panels when really up to temp!
Still, even were the T-stat bad, tough to see it influencing levels vs temps.

It still seems as if it is underfilled .....

NYC993

In step one there is plenty of oil on the stick from driving, so I agree it's meaningless.

T-stat is working fine, can hear the oil flowing and the temp drop can be observed.

If there is a constant oil level that the stick sits in, then my car was under filled and I'm just getting splashes from the oil flowing through the tank.

Why so many people are complaining that it's hard to see oil on the stick. Like I said, in step one the oil on the stick is visible without any doubt. And when I dipped the stick in brand new oil, it's visible without any problems.

Perhaps i was reading way to much into this. Will top it off tonight, get the gauge registering so i don't have to use the dipstick ever again.

TMc993

Not really a good idea at all. Use the dipstick and check your oil regularly with it.

Quadcammer

Disagree completely.

Unless your gauge is massively mis-adjusted, it provides more than enough information.

Realistically, being even a quart low on a 13qt system dry sump system is no big deal.

My advice, get the gauge to be adjusted properly, drive the car until the gauge never moves under "oil checking conditions", and then add half a quart.

I haven't checked my dipstick in 4 years.

NYC993

So what causes the gauge to stop registering oil? I took out the gauge and it works, i.e. when i move the floater, the indicator moves.

Does the heat affect the floater position over time somehow?

TMc993

I'll agree to disagree...There's too much variance (Not mal-adjustment) in my gauge for my comfort...I always use the dipstick.

EDIT: And to be clear, my concern is over-filling, not under-filling. I do agree that a quart low isn't a big deal.

vincer77

My oil guage does not read properly. I have adjusted it twice and it just stops registering. i will be changing it out sometime soon, so i just rely on the dipstick. As quad says, in a 13 qt system, not as much concern.

NC TRACKRAT

The gauge sending unit can fail. The gauge itself can fail. If read properly under the specified circumstances (oil at op. temp, vehicle on level ground at idle), the dipstick never lies.

ble2011

My gauge has been working correctly until this year. It now reads empty almost all of the time(when in know it's not). I'm going to try adjusting it, but if all else fails, the sending unit is going to be replaced.

NYC993

Ok mystery is solved, I was short about 3.5 qrts prior to the oil change. (took out 5, put in 8.5) I read way too much into "reading dipstick is hard" and "make sure you don't overfill" threads.

So I opened the gauge sensor opening to see what's going on in the tank. There were quite a bit of oil in the tank (even cold) so that was good to see. I started the car and observed what's going on in the tank. The oil sputters around because it's coming down from the top pipe. So sputtering that I was seeing on the stick were not indicative of the oil level. Hence the longer the stick stayed in, the more oil traces it had on it. The stick is simply hanging in the tank. It is sitting in the tube up to the twisted area, so the last few inches of the stick simply hangs in the tank. In fact, the middle of the dipstick is where the gauge sensor opening is. I added about 2.5qrts today and now there is no doubt where the oil level is on the dipstick. It's crystal clear.

I bent the floater holder of the gauge sensor a bit and the gauge now comes to life (as long as the car is warm, idling and not moving). As soon as I started driving the gauge went to empty. But the stick was showing mid-way of the twisted area.

Thanks for all replies, I hope I can be a lesson for some other new owners. Hopefully not too much damage was done. The oil went to Blackstone so I'm expecting to have higher count of everything simply due to less volume of it...we'll see. I will post results.

So I guess 993s can be quite under filled without showing any issues. I had excellent oil pressure, and good cooling.

pkoon

I did an oil change and clean my oil cooler last week. There are two ltrs of oil come out form the oil cooler.
I agree never over-filling, it drive really bad when over-filling.

IainM

Depends on your driving style. I was 1.5qts down and autocrossing and the oil warning light came on during one particularly tight sweeper. Crapped my pants and lost over a second.