Thursday I checked my oil and it was at 50% meaning the level was right in the middle between the low and the high mark. That made sense since it had been a while since I had checked/ filled last time. To be sure, I measured a second time, with the same result.

So I took a 'used' bottle of oil which seemed about still half full and poured it all in. I figured since the dip stick shows 50%, about half a quart is a good amount to add.

Then I measured again. Now the dip stick shows overfill, approx 120%. Measured a second time, yes, overfill.

The car was cold, had not been moved in 48 hours. I didn't have the time then to do anything about it, but do I have to drain some oil? Or maybe suck it out somehow from the tip since it's so "overly full"?

And how can adding half a quart do that ???

I guess I'm just too lazy to crawl under there; has been just 3 weeks that I changed the oil.

 

That certainly doesn't sound right. The distance between the top and bottom mark on the dipstick equates to 1.8 US qts. So, half that would be 0.9 qt. If you added 0.5 qt., the level still would be below the the top mark. If you actually added a full qt., the level would be slightly above the top mark. I don't understand what "120%" mean? How far is the oil level above the top mark-1/4", 1/2", what? Something doesn't compute.

IMO, if it's 1/2" or less I wouldn't sweat it. If it's over 1/2" I would want to drain a little.

 

120% meant that it is 20% over the 'full' line. I don't have the dipstick here, but let's say that the distance from LOW to FULL is 1.5 inches, then it is now 20% of 1.5 = 0.3 inches overfilled.

That's not too bad, or?

Now I am not sure how much was left in that quart size oil can. Maybe it was more than half full. However, it definitely was not full either.


-Peter

 

I thought that you were supposed to check the oil level by first warming up the engine to operating temperature and then let it stand for 5 minutes before checking it or you get a wrong impression of the level and can overfill it. If your car was cold, this could explain it.

 

@spaldo: I did not know that. I guess I have to drain it tomorrow. Isn't that big a deal anyway.

 

Don't bother unless you're really bored :D.

Yep, owner's manual says to check the oil level after the car has been warmed up.

20% over is fine. I've had mine higher than that after a dealer oil change and it did not cause any problems. If you do a search, you'll find the same answer.

This might be interesting to you: http://www.finishlineperformance.com.../01-047-04.htm

So you're less than 1/2 quart overfilled, right? Should be fine. You could just go run it hard bring the oil level down that way .

 

I've always tried to keep the oil level halfway between the "low" and "full" lines on the dipstick. Is that what other people do?

(rx8cited, thanks for that diagram, too.)

 

The change in oil quantity between the high and low marks is not linear. halfway between the low and high is really only a little over 1/2 quart low. That's why the newer dipstick has little indicator dots showing about 1/2 quart increments.

 

Good point Nubo. I saw that TSB but didn't pick up on the non-linearity. Maybe we should all get the 2005 dipstick?

 

That's one of the (few) things I don't like. The 05 dipstick is so narrow it's hard to see exactly where the oil level is on the dipstick, especially if your oil is pretty clean.

 

A thought. It would be great if someone with the new dipstick would provide detailed measurement of the dipstick, including the positions of the "dots", so that we can somehow mark the "dots" on our '04 dipsticks. Or maybe a closeup pic of the new dipstick with a ruler adjacent to it.

 

Again a vote for "don't bother" - first, check it with the oil warm as described! You might find that the level is fine when checked with the engine warmed up and then shut down for a few minutes.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Same here.
Stupid mechanic overfilled mine to the point where the dipstick is no longer flat, but round. I didn't have to add oil for another 5500km after the service.
Thank god that didn't cause any problems...

 

You're quite welcome. Personally, I try to keep mine between 1/2 full and the full mark.

Non-linear dipstick ........ I had not noticed that in the TSB - thanks for pointing that out. No wonder when it's around half-way down and I add 1/2 quart, it reads full .

 

Paul in DC` I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds the dipstick hard to read. I thought I just had poor eyesight.

 

I seem to remember someone posting that recently - might want to do a search on the word "dipstick"