View Full Version : Damn oil stick
Yes, this is another oil level thread.
Getting really frustrated trying to understand what my oil level REALLY is. Just spent a solid 10 minutes taking the stick out, wiping it, putting it back in, pulling it out and trying to read it. Yes, I did it exactly 5 min after shutting off the engine.
It's ridiculous. I tried putting the stick in slower and without rotating (to minimize smudging). No joy. Before I was able to sort of / kind of figure out what the level is, but now its's all over the place.
Can someone please enlighten me?
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Voice of Reason
10-23-2016, 07:33 PM
Your frustration and inability to read it due to oil wiping is exactly why I ONLY check my oil after it's sat overnight. Pull once and read. For me I am certain that in these conditions a read at the top of the safe zone is exactly filled right. I know this because after getting my oil changed at Roanoke I can check it the very next day and that's the reading I get. They filled it to the right level. I ALWAYS remeasure in these same conditions. I refuse to mess with this warmed up, wait five minutes nonsense because the readings are frankly crap that way.
darbgnik
10-23-2016, 08:37 PM
My 5 minute after shut down vs overnight reading are always the same, so I don't sweat it either........
My 5 minute after shut down vs overnight reading are always the same, so I don't sweat it either........
I was wondering the same thing! Mine are always the same as well. Yet a few members here stated that measuring while sitting overnight is not valid because all of the oil drains into the pan overnight, which makes the level look higher than it really is. One thing that bothers me is that SRT engineers are not clueless and the manual does say 5 minutes. Why would they do that if the level is always the same?
darbgnik
10-23-2016, 08:43 PM
I was wondering the same thing! Mine are always the same as well. Yet a few members here stated that measuring while sitting overnight is not valid because all of the oil drains into the pan overnight, which makes the level look higher than it really is. One thing that bothers me is that SRT engineers are not clueless and the manual does say 5 minutes. Why would they do that if the level is always the same?
No idea, but even if there were a minute difference, at the top of safe cold, still would not be low.
Snorman
10-23-2016, 09:39 PM
The stick will read on an angle as it doesn't sit perpendicular in the sump. Mine is reading on an angle with the low point ~1/8" from the top of the "SAFE" hatch marks on the stick. I've also noticed no difference between 10 minutes after hot to hours after driving to cold the next morning.
S.
My 5 minute after shut down vs overnight reading are always the same, so I don't sweat it either........
^^^^ This.
ViperGeorge
10-23-2016, 10:17 PM
A couple of points. My car reads waaay higher if I let it sit overnight. Second, your dipstick looks like the old style. It was changed some time in 2014. The stick was changed to supposedly reduce wipe from the tube. Not sure it really worked but you can buy the new stick from your dealer.
Jack B
10-23-2016, 11:01 PM
It is far easier to read after the car has sit for a while and there is not a huge diff (on my car) between the two readings. Also keep in mind those same SRT engineers you refer to are the ones that made it hard to read.
I was wondering the same thing! Mine are always the same as well. Yet a few members here stated that measuring while sitting overnight is not valid because all of the oil drains into the pan overnight, which makes the level look higher than it really is. One thing that bothers me is that SRT engineers are not clueless and the manual does say 5 minutes. Why would they do that if the level is always the same?
One Viper Bite
10-24-2016, 12:30 AM
A couple of points. My car reads waaay higher if I let it sit overnight. Second, your dipstick looks like the old style. It was changed some time in 2014. The stick was changed to supposedly reduce wipe from the tube. Not sure it really worked but you can buy the new stick from your dealer.
Echoing this. I have a 13 GTS and my level is completely different (much higher) when I read while it has sat overnight. While I don't experience issues with reading it when it's sat over night, reading it 5 minutes after shutdown is always inconsistent and hard to read. The oil smears all over the stick no matter how carefully I pull it out. I feel the OP's frustration. With the issue we are all aware of with these engines, it certainly makes for a frustrating and nerve racking experience trying to read the oil levels properly on these cars...at least for some of us.
sadil
10-24-2016, 01:03 AM
Not sure why so many struggle with this. Next oil change, completely drain and fill with factory fill. Under the logic that you must check your oil while warm, factory fill will probably sit somewhere above the fill line. Make note of this line. Then after a whole night of sitting, check again. These two lines should be very similar if not the same. Use this as your new fill line. Mark it down with a scribe, whatever you need to do. Now keep checking COLD so you dont have to deal with checking HOT with oil being splattered all over the stick.
swexlin
10-24-2016, 06:09 AM
I experience the same thing in my 13. As an aside, on the 13 stick (before they were changed), does the "safe" zone hash mark area represent a 1-quart or a 2-quart range?
Topplayer
10-24-2016, 12:30 PM
can 2013 years upgrade to the new dip stick? if so anyone know the part number?
ViperGeorge
10-24-2016, 05:05 PM
Ok, so my 2015 TA 2.0 has not been started in a couple of weeks. Oil was just changed with 11 quarts of Mobil 1 15w/50. For sake of argument I decided to pull the dipstick with the engine stone cold and not started for weeks. The first photo is the 1st pull straight out of the tube. Notice the difference between the top of the safe zone and the actual oil level. It is HUGE! Next I wiped the stick and did a second pull. Now the oil level (2nd picture) is closer to the top of the safe mark but it is still what a quart high.
This is why I follow the manual and check within 5 minutes of shutting the engine off. Also note this is the newer dipstick design given the car is a 15.
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swexlin
10-24-2016, 05:53 PM
That's a big difference.
A couple of points. My car reads waaay higher if I let it sit overnight. Second, your dipstick looks like the old style. It was changed some time in 2014. The stick was changed to supposedly reduce wipe from the tube. Not sure it really worked but you can buy the new stick from your dealer.
Nope, its not the old style. It has a bend in it, which is the new style. Still sucks though. I cant imagine how bad a straight one would read.
ViperGeorge - there is no way there could be such a huge difference as the one seen in your 1st pic. It was probably a smudge off the wall of the tube.
Just checked it again. Car sat overnight. Can anyone guess which part is the oil level and which part is the smudge from the tube?
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This is so incredibly annoying!
allans
10-25-2016, 08:22 PM
Looks like it is at the bottom of the "safe" line. Allan
Looks like it is at the bottom of the "safe" line. Allan
How do you figure it's on the bottom? All the hash marks are covered and the stick is facing down. Did you mean it's at the top of the "safe" line?
allans
10-25-2016, 09:16 PM
Just looks to me like, from the the bottom of the safe zone to the top is a "wipe". Now, if the stick was pointing down for some time it could have just "flowed" down. Only you would know. Best, Allan
ViperGeorge
10-25-2016, 10:05 PM
While it might not be apparent from my pictures above the oil level that I marked on the paper was solid all the way down the stick. You would think after the car sitting for at least two weeks that the oil in the tube would have all drained down into the pan so there shouldn't be any wipe on the stick. It was like the tube was full of oil. Really bizarre.
dewilmoth
10-26-2016, 04:52 AM
How do you figure it's on the bottom? All the hash marks are covered and the stick is facing down. Did you mean it's at the top of the "safe" line?
Looks like it's right above the safe line at the tip of one of the arrow tails to me. Above that it isn't spanning he entire width of the dip stick, so I consider that wipe. Mine looks the exact same way when I check it, and I consider the oil level to be where it covers the entire width of the stick.
ViperJon
10-26-2016, 06:06 AM
While it might not be apparent from my pictures above the oil level that I marked on the paper was solid all the way down the stick. You would think after the car sitting for at least two weeks that the oil in the tube would have all drained down into the pan so there shouldn't be any wipe on the stick. It was like the tube was full of oil. Really bizarre.
It is not possible to have a 2" difference in oil level hot versus cold with an oil pan that when full with 11 quarts in the pan is in the 2.5"-3" range, as per Jack B's measurements here: http://driveviper.com/forums/threads/15980-Oil-Level-Reality-versus-Misinformation. Why you are getting that reading I do not know but it is not accurate and you are the only one getting such a huge variation.
swexlin
10-26-2016, 06:17 AM
Looks like it is at the bottom of the "safe" line. Allan
Agree - looks like bottom of the safe line, but there is enough higher that it may indeed be higher. Very confusing.
Just looks to me like, from the the bottom of the safe zone to the top is a "wipe". Now, if the stick was pointing down for some time it could have just "flowed" down. Only you would know. Best, Allan
It was pointing down, but I took the pic literally 3 seconds after pulling it out.
Now you guys see how idiotic the whole thing is.
I swear I would pay an extra grand for a freaking built in oil level sensor that would show a correct oil level.
bluesrt
10-26-2016, 11:21 AM
the lowest point on your stick is the correct level, the highest is false
swexlin
10-26-2016, 06:39 PM
I lurk on the Hellcat forums, and their dipstick is just as whacky as ours - and there are the same oil lever threads over there, with the owners complaining! Must be a Mopar thing!
senior racer
10-26-2016, 10:34 PM
I lurk on the Hellcat forums, and their dipstick is just as whacky as ours - and there are the same oil lever threads over there, with the owners complaining! Must be a Mopar thing!
Not quite. My GT350 dipstick comes up directly under the strut tower brace.making it no easier to check than my ACR. It however has a hole drilled through it that catches the oil, so that you know the oil is at least that high. I'm contemplating drilling a small (1/8") hole in the ACR dipstick to emulate that, it does seem to make it easier to read.
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