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Oil question

9

97vulcan

CEG'er
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
456
Location
Wisconsin
How low can you let the oil go on the 2.5 before you should start worrying about spinning a rod, or bearing failure. Not that I have any intention of letting the engine do such, but I don't wanna be topping the engine off every couple hundred miles or whatever. I know its good to have it filled past the full mark, but i am wondering for normal driving, and not hard cornering and redlining. :shrug:

Adam
 
3,000 miles or 3 months. witch ever comes first. and having it above the full line is just fine for normal driving. call it cheap insurance. and just because your oil is black doesn't mean it needs to be changed. that means its doing its job and cleaning. yes i change my full synth that often just because i can.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info :) What I meant is where is a safe level on the dipstick? How low can the level on the stick get before you should start worrying about bearing failure, or throwing rods?


Adam
 
The answer you're looking for is this: don't let the oil level drop outside of the crosshatch area. Ideally, the oil level should always be at the fill line, so keep it there. Sound good? I thought so. Take care, man. :cool:
 
Ha! LauraSVT That sounds great! So what I get from your post is anywhere in the crosshatched area is good news? I never let it go halfway past the crosshatch area, I just don't want to add unless I have to. Ya know?

Adam
 
97vulcan said:
Ha! LauraSVT That sounds great! So what I get from your post is anywhere in the crosshatched area is good news? I never let it go halfway past the crosshatch area, I just don't want to add unless I have to. Ya know?

Adam
Click to expand...

FoMoCo built a cushion in, obviously. You're safe in the crosshatch area under normal driving conditions. I would not go leaning on it without a completely full crankcase, however. I use 6 quarts of oil -- the manual calls for 5.8. The bottom of the crosshatch area means "Add 1 qt." If you're halfway down the crosshatch, you're probably about a half-quart down, by the same logic. Keep it full as often as possible.
 
yeah I have gotten away from 3k mile oil changes ... on standard oil I go about 4k miles now and on mobil1 I go for about 5k or so ....

definately just check the oil lvel from time to time and make sure there is enough in there ... fill 6 to 6.5 qts and you should be fine
 
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