The famous question of all time. Check oil when its warm or cold
On my 98 Z Iv'e always checked the oil after the car has been sitting overnight. So it all drains back to the pan right? Or do I check it after it has been sitting for 10mins or so? Because I keep adding oil every few weeks or so after checking it overnight. Now im thinking I might be over filling. I tried to look this up but some people say cold others say warm. So when Do I check the dip stick? How do I get the best dipstick reading?
Does not make much difference, as long as it is between the low & high marks. A warm engine should be allowed to stand about 10 minutes to allow the oil to drain back, otherwise you will get a false low reading, and wind up overfilling. If the engine is cold, it should be checked before starting, otherwise you will have to wait a long time for the thick oil to drain back. As for expansion, 5 quarts of oil are not going to show an appreciable change in volume between hot and cold.
Yes it gets close to the add line. More like every 2400miles I dump the whole qt in there. Then change it at 3k.. When I do a change I add 5qts and it reads full
hmm
on the LT1 I add 5 quarts and then an oil treatment which brings it to 5 1/2 quarts.
Don't the LS1's need 5 1/2 quarts?
Overfilling is not a good idea. Too high a level in the crankcase will allow the crankshaft to hit the oil. This causes the oil to foam which makes the pump deliver an oil & air mix which causes oil starvation resulting in possible engine damage. The engine will eventually burn off the excess oil because the rings are not designed to control the amount of oil being slung into the cylinders and allow the oil into the combustion chamber. This can lead people to think the engine is burning oil, when in fact it is working fine.


