So I changed my oil for the first time today. Not the first time it's been changed, just the first time I did it myself. I got the change kit with the filter and gallon of synthetic oil... Everything went hunky dory until I went to put in the fresh oil. Looked all over the manual for how much to put in. Finaly found in the specifications that it says "Oil capacity: 3.07 liters". Does this include the filter? And if I have a galloin jug of oil...how in the heck do I know how much 3.07 liters is? So I guessed. Since a gallon is about 3.7 liters I figured if I left about a half a liter in the bottle Id be good. But of course I put more in than Id planned. The dip stick shows oil about 1/4 inch over the hash mark. So NOW the question....anyone know any tricks to getting a little oil out? I sure dont want to play the "unscrew the plug/splash oil everywhere..measure and repeat" game.

Alas...I think Im stuck playing the silly game. Suggestions?

Thanks.

 

well.let see.....probly wont hurt to bea litle over.........but u can use a turkey baster..i am sure your wife has one...asuming u r married......and if not go to the hardware store and buy one........or u could ruin an antifreeze test and suck it out that way

 

Check owners manual.....some dipsticks are calibrated to be checked without threading back into the motor....in which case, you'd be right on, or even a hair low.

 

Just rechecked....

I did it exactly as the manual describes...let it run for a few minutes on a level surface and then checked it via the dipstick exactly one mintue later. It was right at the top of the hash mark. I waited a couple of minutes the first time. I guess this lets to much oil drain back down? Is a LITTLE to much oil a bad thing, or will it be ok?

Thanks

 

Mine says not to thread it in, so I didnt.

 

I dont think a little over will hurt......it will probly spash up on the botom of the piston and get used till it is the right amout,and a little more is better than not enough

 

The thing most people don't realize is how much oil is up circulating around the engine when it running and not in the crankcase. I had a race car back in the dark ages and with a 9 quart pan and a windage tray I wasn't worried about oil supply. On the chassie dyno one day I did get to wondering how much oil was up in the engine when running. So I installed a 1/2" diameter clear hose site tube on the side of the oil pan and when I filled it I mark for each quart. At idle the was 1 1/2 quarts up in the engine. At 2000 there was 3 1/4 quarts and at 6000 there was 6 quarts in the engine, all this was with a high volume oil pump. So a little extra won't hurt anything.

 

Good... My better half tried to take off my head with the knife she was holding (my first mistake) when I attempted to liberate the turkey baster from the confines of the kitchen. I tried to explain how much more useful the baster would be in the garage (my second mistake), and she told me to stop whining. A man can't even mak a valid argument anymore without being accused of whining. Sheeesh!

 

just to warn you- the 400 air cooled motor should be checked with the dipstick screwed all the way in. Some of the owners manuals were printed wrong. They also do not like to be over filled as they tend to run a little funky after they warm up- actually I usually see 1 or 2 of them a year come in with "performance issues" and its due to them being over filled with oil. I do remember cat telling me about this at service school but I don't think they ever issued a serivce bulletin. The best thing you can do when you change the oil is fill it half way up the hash mark on the dipstick and then it will leave some room for error or fuel contamination if you trailer it for a long distance with the gas on. The 650 is that way also but it will blow oil through the breather into the air box and then the oil drains back in the carb causing it to spudder and smoke. I wouldn't go to any extremes trying to get the oil out but if you run into it being sluggish or acting funny chances are it's because there is too much oil in it.....

 

Hey Mudpuppy... I just checked in my "official" AC service manual (not to be confused with "owner's manual") and they specify in there too, that the dipstick should not be screwed in to check oil level. Since this agrees with my owner's manual, I've been doing it this way since I bought them. Can AC really be wrong in both places?