Oil level?

[TROLL]

Sweet, after owning my car for 3 years and doing every oil change myself, I'm still confused on where my oil level should be. The subaru manual says:

http://www.bryantroll.com/other/oillevel.jpg

so i assume that means that:

(a) L.......- low
(c) F.......- full when the car is cold
(b) notch - full when the car is hot

thats what makes sense, right? i'm just perplexed because since the weather has gotten so cold when i check my oil after letting the car sit overnight it barely registers on the bottom of the dipstick. maybe i'll just check it when its hot for consistency in temperature, because it wouldnt make sense to keep adding oil. and no, my car is not smoking or dropping oil on the ground.

bryan

[Intercooled T]

If you're POSITIVE you're not losing oil somewhere, do the hot test:

warm the car up to normal operating temp, let it cool down a little, make sure it is at point (b), that's all, nothing special. It is strange though that it would barely register when cold...idk about that one

[TROLL]

i did an oil change about 2 weeks ago, and filled it up to (c). a couple days later i checked the level before starting my car in the morning, and with the temps at about 30 degrees outside the oil barely registered on the dipstick. i added oil until it was where it should be (c).
now i checked again today, the temp is maybe 40 degrees, and again it barely registers. i'll check for leaks or elsewhere but i think from now on i'll just check the oil level when the car is hot and make sure its at (b) for a more consistent temperature comparison.
bryan

[Intercooled T]

werd. best thing to do IMHO. i let it get back down to around 100* and check it. goodluck man

[TehWagon]

wouldn't it make sense that if you filled it up to 'c' and ran the car, that the oil would then have been dipsersed through the engine and register a lower reading?

[UnderPoweredRS]

I just put 5 qts in and call it a day.

[MuddyREX]

Your car is secretly sending the oil to the terrorists.

[2point4DSM]

It's best to check it in the morning when the car is cold and fill to the c level.

[TehWagon]

i do the same with the 5 quarts and pretty much forget about it, but i was wondering about the theory of that- why it would go down, being caused by the dispersement thru the engine?

[TROLL]

well 5 quarts is more than the recommended amount for the WRX, and overfilling your oil can be as bad for the engine as underfilling it. i think the best thing is to fill it until it reads correctly on the dipstick and then check it later in the day or the next day. and also check it every 2-4 weeks after that because even new cars can burn oil and will need to be topped off. but dont ask me, i'm the one who started this thread... ha.
bryan

[xEJ20x]

I put about 4.8 quarts in.
Then check it a day later, and then once a week after that.
I do a lot of short running in my car.

[2point4DSM]

Low oil is bad for obvious reasons but too much oil is bad too cause it can actually get aerated by the crank which then causes tiny air bubbles to get circulated through the motor and these air bubbles collapse around bearings which causes metal on metal contact.

It is normal for any motor to eat oil just like it is normal for turbos to eat oil. Some turbos eat more oil than others even when they are brand new. I know Garrett ball bearing turbos don't like a lot or oil pressure or they start blowing a lot of oil out the exhaust.

Bryan,
Maybe your ballbearing turbo is eating up more oil than your old turbo. Whatever it is you need to believe the dipstick and just fill accordingly.

[the mike]

I always put 5 quarts in when I do an oil change. The extra .2 quarts is not going to hurt anything. And it is easier to get a 5 quart Mobil 1 container from WalMart and just use the whole thing.

[UnderPoweredRS]

yea an extra .2 isn't gonna do crap. over filling is like putting an extra qt. in