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View Poll Results: when does overfilling become bad ?
Anything over is very bad. Fix the leak you retard.
28.57%
1-2mm is ok
42.86%
1-5mm is ok
28.57%
Voters: 7. You may not vote on this poll

dip stick marks

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Old Oct 10, 2018, 05:30 AM
  #1  
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dip stick marks

Hey,

I know this has been discussed many times in terms of what mark to fill your engine oil up to and the general consensus is to fill to the dipstick full mark, generally safe between low - full marker. Do not overfill.

My question is that if most people are filling close to the full mark at what point could you damage your motor when overfilling ? Like are we talking anything 1mm over the full marker could be catastrophic or is it safe up to 5mm over the full mark ? does this greatly vary with different strokers ? I'm using a full tomei 2.3 stroker kit/factory oil cooler and sump. I use 20/50 oil as it leaks less lol.

I ask as I have a locally built stroker motor thats been running for a while and it likes to chew and leak a little oil/has done for years (i think its mainly the sump that leaks more so than burning) So I regularly give it a slight top up and sometimes I'm not exactly accurate on what I put. (I know fix the leak right ? time poor..). Currently the oil reading is about 3mm over the full marker on dipstick (level ground, measured when warm after car has sat for ~45min. Measured with car off).

Should I be worried with it overfilled by 3mm (0.1 inch) ?
Old Oct 10, 2018, 05:52 AM
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pic of car for attention!
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MinusPrevious (Oct 10, 2018)
Old Oct 10, 2018, 06:11 AM
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From my experience I over fill mine when I going to track knowing it will burn some oil cause it generate a lot heat. About 2-3 mm should be fine
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onlynamenotused (Oct 10, 2018)
Old Oct 10, 2018, 06:14 AM
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Hello

Here's what the manual says. No need to over think the level, just keep it between the marks at all times


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onlynamenotused (Oct 10, 2018)
Old Oct 10, 2018, 06:16 AM
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I've run my oil a little above the max line mark on the dip stick sometimes and no issues. I do 1-2 autocross events a month and still running like a champ.

Last edited by CaptainSquirts; Oct 10, 2018 at 06:41 AM.
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onlynamenotused (Oct 10, 2018)
Old Oct 10, 2018, 06:58 AM
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Didnt see a larger oil pan in your spec. Running a larger pan w/baffles should give you more protection from heat & oil starvation issues

Just a thought
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kyoo (Oct 10, 2018)
Old Oct 10, 2018, 07:03 AM
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totally agree and given that I have spun a bearing in the past an aftermarket pan is an item very high up on my shopping list. Sadly money is hard to come by in WA currently.
Old Oct 10, 2018, 08:30 AM
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yup - for hpde's i would run full but probably not ideal for oil starve potentials - that said, i was always on street tires and not crazy fast.

i've since upgraded the pan to a ~6.5qt capacity, and comfortably run with the oil juuuust under max, at the lower angle of the max wedge of the dipstick
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Old Oct 10, 2018, 10:28 AM
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To really know you need the pan off and the dipstick inserted. What you want is the oil level below the rotating assembly.
Old Oct 10, 2018, 12:25 PM
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Originally Posted by barneyb
To really know you need the pan off and the dipstick inserted. What you want is the oil level below the rotating assembly.
Static oil level doesn't matter. You want dynamic oil level (engine running) to be below the rotating assembly. And even at that, you need to determine at what RPM you want the oil level to drop below the rotating assemble.

OP, run the engine at the full mark or a little over, you're not going to hurt anything. Autocross guys routinely run 1qt overfull to try to prevent oil starvation.
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onlynamenotused (Oct 11, 2018)
Old Oct 10, 2018, 03:59 PM
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i always keep mine over filled... cause i pull some decent G's on my typical sunday drive.
Old Oct 11, 2018, 04:36 PM
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I go 5.5qt, oem pan, buschur baffled, few mm over line and the car pretty much just sees straights. OP your OCD might be worse than mine If you bend the tube it can read off too, when I bent mine to go behind the magnus intake it was way off (FYI in case yours isn’t stock in stock location).




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