Hello RL members.

When my 98 C2S has been running a while and is sitting and on idle on a flat/level surface, the oil level guage is showing in the red mark. The mark is the same when the car is running. Reading thru several threads it looks like I'm low in oil.

I would like to know
1. If it is low in oil or am I missing something?
2. How much oil do I add and should I add while the car is on idle until the level is at mid mark?
3. I am in Southern California and drive the car for leisure (no track). Assuming MOBIL 1 synthetic, what is the best grade to use?

The PO told me the car had been fully service recently.

Thanks in advance and Happy Friday

Alan

 

Have you checked with the dipstick?

 

Don't over fill it. Do some research before you do anything. Plenty of threads out there.

 

Don't use the dash gauge. It's unreliable. Only use the dipstick.

 

+993 on what Don said^^^

Use your dipstick and my recommendation is to shoot for the low mark.
If you overfill, the SAI system will ingest and promote the coking and clogging of the system, which will throw a CEL.

BTW, my gauges run like yours, and I am carefull in not overfilling. But then again, it seems no two gauges register the same.
Your dipstick is your friend...

As others have mentioned, do some research.

 

Odd you Oil Level Gauge on Dash is not registering. Could be a bad oil sending unit which is costly. Allot of labor involved to be replaced. It seems that you car is up to temp so your Oil Level should be 1/2 way or so. Strange. I would like others have said above to check your dipstick. DON'T OVERFILL!!!!!!! Take your car to your mechanic and have them check the Oil Sending Unit.

 

that is typically not true and is typical of internet "alternative facts"


most gauges just read high or low as compared with dipstick reading.
hot setup =

• set proper oil quantity as measured with dipstick
• note gauge position that correlates with dipstick reading
• drive a bit (weeks) and ensure that the two readings still correlate
• then whenever gauge reads lower than optimum, your dipstick will most likely also indicate low oil level

Ps: really simple to increase gauge accuracy, just need to bend the sending lever arm located in the oil tank.

 

As others have said, trust your dipstick. The oil level float in the tank may just require adjustment, the sender may be faulty or the gauge itself my be the culprit. Plenty of threads on this subject. You can check the float, the gauge and the sending unit without draining the tank.

 

Over the 13 years and two 993s (wow, it's been _that_ long) I've fully accepted the fact that oil level gauge shows the average temperature on Mars.

 

My gauge only works intermittently. I check the dipstick about once a month, know that I know my approximate oil consumption (which is about a quart every 2500 miles.) Use your dipstick.

 

I would really, really like to see you reconcile these two statements without making yourself look even more stupid than you just did.

 

I don't know.... my dipstick has gotten me in plenty of trouble over the years....

 

Find a proper reservoir and check consistently, you'd be surprised.

 

Cgfen is hectically correct here, Don. If you know your car's gauge reads consistently high or consistently low and know by how much, you can certainly use the gauge to properly estimate the actual oil level.

Th issue is of course, consistency. In my experience, the gauge reads properly for a few hundred miles after the oil change. After that the gauge readings are completely random and inconsistent. Which is what most others report as well.

 

Not if, as per the OP, your gauge reads consistently low at the bottom of the range. How would you then know if your oil level dropped?