I am heading out to Willow Springs for tomorrow and Sunday. I am going over the car. Everytime I check the oil, I find myself not quite sure where to measure on the dip stick for one quart over.
There is the checkered pattern for high and low. I am not sure what quartage that represents exactly.
Then there is the part # I assume for the dipstick just above that. Do one of those represent a good marking point for 7.5 quarts?
Your owners manual discusses this subject. Full is the top of the checker, the manual says to add 1 quart before racing which will put your oil level above the cross hatches. When racing has finished remove the extra quart so you are back to being level at the top of the checker. DO NOT DRIVE ON THE STREET WITHOUT REMOVING THE EXTRA QUART
Oli,
This is probably a day late and a dollar short... sorry - I took my daughters skiing for the first time this weekend (good time).
I think the easiest way to get one quart over is to fill to the full mark, then pour in a quart. After you've done this a few times you'll start to get a feel for where the mark for one quart over is.
Personally, I don't see a problem with leaving the quart in on the street. I've read that the gap between full and the oil in the pan hitting the bottom of the crank (leading to foaming of the oil) is about 2.5 quarts.
If it is safe to run one quart over on the track, I don't see how it can be that dangerous for your motor on the street. Yes, on the track at high rpm and high g there is a lot of oil not in the pan, but... you still have all the time in the pits, warm up laps, cool down laps, etc. If it wasn't safe to have an extra quart in during those periods, I doubt GM would tell us to add an extra quart.
However, an easy way to get the quart out is to replace the filter, or take it off and pour the oil out of it and put it back.
I hope you had a good time skiing. It is about time I start taking my kids out to learn how to ski.
We really did. I grew up in the Bay Area and learned to ski at Tahoe when I was about five. I felt a little guilty that my girls hadn't been yet (10 and 13), but four straight tours in warm weather ports (Hawaii x 2, Georgia and Tenn) didn't making skiing practical. Now that we are in the PNW, I'm hoping to get them out many times in the new few years.
They did better than I hoped. By the end of the day, they could both get down the green run by themselves playing follow the leader (both could lead and follow) without falling. I thought I'd be holding the younger one all day, but they both took right to it.
While you guys are on this topic, I was just wondering whether the dipsticks on your cars are corkscrewed or twisted. My '04 came that way, and I didn't think much of it, but now that I think about it, if the dipstick is supposed to be flat or straight, that means I've probably been overfilling my car since the dipstick in my car would effectively be shortened from the twisting. Just curious.
I do a DE about every 3 to 4 weeks, changing the oil before each event. I never remove the extra quart, so in reality I always run with an extra quart. No problems after 9,000 miles.
Perhaps the only down side is that it takes a little longer for the oil to come up to temp when it is cold outside.
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