First of all, our engines need 3.7 quarts of oil. I usually change my own oil, but this time I had the dealer do it because I was putting in synthetic tranny lube as well. I checked my dipstick before I hit the road over thanksgiving, and it looks like they might have overfilled the engine oil. The oil was above the 'F' line. Should I check my oil when the engine is hot or cold? If too much oil is hurting my engine, I can drain a little out, so any info would be appreciated.

 

You should check your oil level with the engine cold, or at least after the motor has been off long enough for the oil to drain back to the oil pan.

 

If its worth anything, I always put about 3.5 quarts in my Pro5 after a good oil drain and new filter, and the dipstick still reads above the F mark, even when cold. If I put the full 3.7 quarts my dipstick is pretty much all wet and unreadable.

What I wonder is if we are supposed to actually fill to 3.7 or whatever the manual says, or fill to where the dipstick reads full. I doubt the difference would even matter to the engine, but it is annoying, and makes the dipstick pretty useless.

BTW...My dad had his oil changed on his Buick by his dealer twice (once too many) and both times the oil was overfilled. He ended up draining it himself, to avoid the hassle of taking it back.

A friend of mine did oil changes for a dealer for a while, and believe me, with what they get paid and how busy they are at times, it's mighty hard to sweat the details like you or I would changing our own oil.

 

And the tenths-of-a-quart that you guys are fretting about equates to a few tablespoons of oil.

It really doesn't matter. If you put 5 quarts of oil in, sure - you'll have problems. But 3.5, 3.7, 3.9 - it's not going to make a difference in performance or longevity.

~HH

 

something else to remember....if you just chaged your oil.....filter and all....before you check the dipstick...you need to run the engine for a a short time then let it set and allow all the oil to drain back.....for this fills the filter....remember...the 3.7 qts is an oil change with filter change too. and SOME oil will be held in the filter. when I do my changes....after running to fill the system...its usually right on the money.

 

Not to fret too much on this subject, but even after I do all that it reads high. I wonder if maybe they made the dipsticks on some cars too long or something...

I guess Im just a picky guy, you know... I like the satisfaction of having that dipstick show a perfect level after some TLC time with my car.

 

Yea, DEALERS ARE DUMN ASSES, the suck ***, I got 2 Protege 5s and the one with 35,000 that my mom drives, always has been over filled. In mine, I changed the oil only once and af course they over filled it.

Anyway, It is very bad if it had too much oil...It becomes worse if you are someone who goes 6,000 RPM, otherwise its not bad. If there is exces oil, the engine wasn't designed to take that much oil, and want happens is that it creates a lot of unnecesary\a lot of presure especialy when your RPM goes higher.

 

Check your oil level 5 minutes after engine shutdown. Mazda does this so you can check your oil level while on the road and you're gassing up. This is very convenient on long trips where you gas and go. It's a real pain on my Maxima to wait 30 minutes for all the oil to finally drain to the pan. If your P5 sits overnight, more oil drains down and the oil level will go above the F mark.

Put 3.7 qts in like the manual says with filter. And yeah, like the man said, plus or minus .2 qts (6.4 ozs) isn't going to make much difference anyhow.

This is not to say the dealer doesn't just dump 4 qts in figuring the engine will use some in between changes and have a good level when its brought back in 3k miles.

Hmmm... wonder what percentage of cars have their oil level checked regularly?

 

Is this "Card Sharks"? Hehe - I'd say that's low - probably around 6%-10%.

ex-MGB, huh? My dad had one - '78 I think. Sweet car - and the reason he bought a Miata in '93. All the fun with ture reliability - something those MG's never had.

He also had a 1952 MG-TD kit car - fiberglass body on VW bug engine/chassis. Beige with the brown sweep fenders - cool car. But - you could't drive it in the wind or over 70 MPH. With those old-school fenders, ALL the weight in the rear (VW motor), and a registered weight of only 1800 lbs, the front end would lift up severely - no control after that. It was a fun car for toolin' around tho, and moved pretty well with such a light curb weight.

~HH

 

Over filling oil can add pressure in the system and it is bad for the gaskets. You can also inject air into the oil from the pump and this is bad b/c then the oil cannot do its job. This applies to both the engine and the tranny. So if it is over slightly (i reallly mean slightly here) then do not worry.

Otherwise .... drain some of it .... or it can cost you.

 

does anyone else use the 626 filter? i have a '99 626 and a 2002.5 pro5 and i just use the 626 filters on both. the 626 is a bigger filter, wich is better and i think it has some kind of button of somekind thats supposed to be better

 

In theory, the larger filter is supposed to have the benefit of more oil capacity and filtering capacity. Do I use it? No. Would I? Yes.

Do I even worry about something as trivial as this or think its really gonna make any difference in the longevity of my motor? No.

If I had a 626 like you, I would probably buy the one filter size out of convience and use it on both cars, but I dont, so I dont.

 

Every time I pull out the dipstick after the car has been sitting overnight I get a much lower reading than if I take it out, wipe it off and stick it in again.

I am making sure it is in all the way before checking on the first check.

I believe the only good reading is the first one after sitting for a long while. I don't trust the subsequent readings. It is usually at least a 1/2 quart about the max on the second try if the first try shows half a quart low.

Anyone else noticed this? I did find one post on another forum with the same problem.

Thanks

 

if its just over F there is no issue , the additional pressure your talking about in that situation is almost zippo in regular operation, if your a racer and red line , your chances of failure only go up a notch...

plus i hold the all time record of engine over fill with 7litres in there, driven 7km.

Gaskets and Ring seals intact.

So dont let anyone scare you lol, if you want to drain it a bit go for it, if you burn oil then I say leave it.

 

man i gotta check the dates of these things, * another great post revived lol