Oil level

neilmcl

C'mon OP can we have some details please?

pendulum

On a scale of min to max, I'd be happy with anything 3/4 up the dipstick to max. If it's less than 3/4 then that means I'll be wanting to top it up, and I shouldn't have to do that right after an oil change.

There is no reason why it has to be exactly on max, but it shouldn't be too far short.

GolfBravo

pendulum wrote: »

On a scale of min to max, I'd be happy with anything 3/4 up the dipstick to max. If it's less than 3/4 then that means I'll be wanting to top it up, and I shouldn't have to do that right after an oil change.

There is no reason why it has to be exactly on max, but it shouldn't be too far short.

Ditto.

Apart from garages not being able to get the new oil level right there is another worrying trend: using suction pumps to remove old oil instead of draining it properly through the sump plug.

Some garages are so lazy they can't be bothered to take the bottom engine cover off to remove the sump plug (3 self fastening clips and 4 bolts on my car), they just remove the old oil through the dipstick hole, leaving all the crap at the bottom of the sump. You may as well not even bother with an oils change then.

lil.smartie

Actually you CAN get all the oil out with a pump! Smarts don't come with a sump plug as std so need to use a pump, some have an aftermarket one and you can get more out with a pump than the sump plug!
I would say between min & max was fine, half way would be ideal. It's just as bad to over fill a car as under fill it.
Was the service quoted as a set price or was the oil priced per litre?

Kate

jaydeeuk1

lil.smartie wrote: »

Actually you CAN get all the oil out with a pump! Smarts don't come with a sump plug as std so need to use a pump, some have an aftermarket one and you can get more out with a pump than the sump plug!
I would say between min & max was fine, half way would be ideal. It's just as bad to over fill a car as under fill it.
Was the service quoted as a set price or was the oil priced per litre?

Kate

Why does it have to be under or overfilled though? Halfway certainly isn't ideal imo. If a mechanic isn't capable of filling the engine with the correct amount of oil then they've in the wrong career. Oil isn't like petrol, you can run around on petrol fumes ok but you really don't want to be doing that with oil. What happens if you go around a corner quickly causing oil to slosh to one side starving the pump?

GolfBravo

lil.smartie wrote: »

Actually you CAN get all the oil out with a pump! Smarts don't come with a sump plug as std so need to use a pump, some have an aftermarket one and you can get more out with a pump than the sump plug!
I would say between min & max was fine, half way would be ideal. It's just as bad to over fill a car as under fill it.
Was the service quoted as a set price or was the oil priced per litre?

Kate

Only because a Smart doesn't have a sump plug doesn't mean you can use a oil pump to remove old oil from every other car.

There are two very popular diesel engines that must have a proper oil drain via the sump plug: PSA 2.0 DW10 and 1.4/1.6 DLD engines.

So that covers all your 1.6 and 2.0 Peugeot and Citroen HDi engines, plus Ford 1.6 and 2.0 TDCi engines, plus 1.6 diesel Mini, 40/50/60 series diesel Volvo and Mazda CiDT. There is a circa 2009 dealer service bulletin issued by these brands advising dealers not to use oil pumps to change oil, as there is evidence that links them to premature turbo failure, ie. unable to remove all of the old oil from the sump, hence contaminating new oil.

These engines are designed to rely on gravity to remove oil.

colino

While some cars, totally for cost saving reasons, have been fitted with a drainless sump doesn't make it good engineering practice.
No matter what the manufacturer, garage or tech tells you, the garages are not equipped with stripping pumps and far from all of the oil is removed.
Being realistic though, in a quick service, even with the good practice of draining oil first and replacing last, there will also be a reasonable amount of old oil lurking in the system too. Rarely will you get, or need to get it all out, but the tale that the straw sucking systems are "better" is just nonsense.

G_M

Many thanks for all the thoughts/replies.

The oil level post oil change was midway between min/max.

However, I have recalled another relevant factor. When I returned to collect the car there was a delay as on road-testing the oil warning light had come on. On checking again, they realised the wrong filter had been supplied by the dealer's parts dept, so they got a new one and fitted.

I'm now guessing the 2nd filter change involved some loss of oil which should have been topped up but wasn't as I was waiting to go.

But an interesting debate folks - actually I'm surprised how many people seem to think a low top-up is OK!

pendulum

The thing you've just mentioned as an afterthought, about the oil light coming on, is in fact much more concerning than your non-issue with a mid-way-up-the-dipstick oil reading. That light appearing = rapid engine wear.

I don't know any business that would test drive a car on-road after a routine oil change. They probably discovered the oil light wasn't going off whilst stationary, so after changing the filter again, took it for a test drive to make double sure there were no issues.

Throbbe

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Oil isn't like petrol, you can run around on petrol fumes ok but you really don't want to be doing that with oil. What happens if you go around a corner quickly causing oil to slosh to one side starving the pump?

Min/max oil levels will almost certainly also allow some tolerance for 'user error'. Vehicle manufacturers are well aware of the number of people that wouldn't dream of checking their oil level between services.

You're right though, anything else than topping it up is risking increased engine wear for the sake of a quids worth of oil.

If you're cornering hard enough to risk oil starvation, get a baffled sump (and do it on a track).