Wrong dipstick?

[jlaird]

No clue, I would drain it into a something I could reuse the oil from and start over measuring carefully to check the dip stick.

 

[CLEAH]

Dan,

You say the engine was rebuilt 3,000 miles ago. Did you do it yourself or see it done? I ask because I have seen great gobs of crud in the bottom of oil pans, which could easily account for overfilling.

 

[Billm]

Dan
My first assumption (probably wrong) is that you drained the oil from the transmission and added to the engine.
You may want to verify which port you used to drain the oil in the first place.
BillM

 

[DanLewis]

Hugh,

You say the engine was rebuilt 3,000 miles ago. Did you do it yourself or see it done? I ask because I have seen great gobs of crud in the bottom of oil pans, which could easily account for overfilling.

I bought it from Mickey Pleasant down in southern CA who had rebuilt it. Mickey does great work, and I know for a fact that he had everything boiled out before putting it all back together, so I'd be surprised if there was any crud in the oil pan.

Bill,

My first assumption (probably wrong) is that you drained the oil from the transmission and added to the engine. You may want to verify which port you used to drain the oil in the first place.
BillM

'Been working on cars since I was 16. I don't think I would make such a mistake - especially since I'm the one who rebuilt the ribcase transmission that's in my Bugeye now. :friendly_wink:

'Best,

Dan

 

[Billm]

OK Dan
It was just a hunch (which I have seen before)
I don't have any other thoughts
Bill

 

[DanLewis]

Hi Bill,

OK Dan
It was just a hunch (which I have seen before)
I don't have any other thoughts
Bill

No problem. I might have suggested the same.

I know one day I'm just going to have to let it drain all day and then refill it just to double check the amount of oil required to bring it up to the full mark. I know it isn't that hard to do, but procrastination is winning the day with me right now. :joyous:

"Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?"

Dan

 

[Keith_M]

I've been watching this thread for a while now, and based on what's been said so far, I can only come up with one explanation. When you drained your oil, a piece of sludge clogged the drain hole and preventing you from draining the oil completely. Was the old oil getting dirty? If so, the oil in the crankcase now should be a mixture of the old and new and shouldn't be the nice amber color of new oil. What does the oil in the crankcase look like?

 

[DanLewis]

Hi Keith,

I've been watching this thread for a while now, and based on what's been said so far, I can only come up with one explanation. When you drained your oil, a piece of sludge clogged the drain hole and preventing you from draining the oil completely. Was the old oil getting dirty? If so, the oil in the crankcase now should be a mixture of the old and new and shouldn't be the nice amber color of new oil. What does the oil in the crankcase look like?

The drained oil was black, but I do change the oil frequently - probably more frequently than necessary. For example, even though the engine only has about 3,000 miles on it, this was (IIRC) the third time I've put new oil in - counting the first fill after it was rebuilt. In part, I did this because the engine was new and I thought that the engine break-in would require a flush. As I understand it, conventional oil turns black from hydrocarbons long before it needs to be changed, so I'm not sure that the color means as much as perhaps the viscosity. Remember, however, this is a 50W oil (Valvoline VR-1 Racing oil), so it's going to be a bit thicker anyway. It didn't seem to resemble molasses, however, so I would be surprised if there was any sludge in it at all.

Dan

 

[Keith_M]

Hi Keith,



The drained oil was black, but I do change the oil frequently - probably more frequently than necessary. For example, even though the engine only has about 3,000 miles on it, this was (IIRC) the third time I've put new oil in - counting the first fill after it was rebuilt. In part, I did this because the engine was new and I thought that the engine break-in would require a flush. As I understand it, conventional oil turns black from hydrocarbons long before it needs to be changed, so I'm not sure that the color means as much as perhaps the viscosity. Remember, however, this is a 50W oil (Valvoline VR-1 Racing oil), so it's going to be a bit thicker anyway. It didn't seem to resemble molasses, however, so I would be surprised if there was any sludge in it at all.

Dan

I wasn't criticizing your oil changing habits. You're entirely right about oil color. I was just trying to see if didn't drain the oil completely. The critical question is: What color is the oil in the crankcase now? If it's not the nice clean amber color of new oil, it's probably a mixture of the old and the new. If it looks clean and new, then my idea is wrong.

 

[DanLewis]

I wasn't criticizing your oil changing habits. You're entirely right about oil color. I was just trying to see if didn't drain the oil completely. The critical question is: What color is the oil in the crankcase now? If it's not the nice clean amber color of new oil, it's probably a mixture of the old and the new. If it looks clean and new, then my idea is wrong.

Ahhhh..... 'Sorry, I obviously missed the point. And a good one. If time permits today, I'll take it for a drive to warm up the oil and then drain it, measure it, refill it and get back to you. If not today, then tomorrow at the latest.

Dan

 

[paulsherman]

I am missing the dip stick tube on my 1275, but have the dip stick. I always thought that the dip stick reaches all the way down to the pan. Am wrong? If so, how far above the pan should the dip stick reach? Dip stick tube is still on my "gotta find list".

Paul

 

[Keith_M]

Ahhhh..... 'Sorry, I obviously missed the point. And a good one. If time permits today, I'll take it for a drive to warm up the oil and then drain it, measure it, refill it and get back to you. If not today, then tomorrow at the latest.

Dan

Hi Dan,
Can you tell from the oil on the dipstick? Seems a shame to drain and refill...
Keith

 

[DanLewis]

Hi Keith,

Well, you hit the nail on the head! I decided to bite the bullet and re-drain the oil today:

First, I let the engine idle until the temperature reached 185F. What's interesting is that at 170F the bottom of the oil pan was NOT hot to the touch - actually only luke warm at best. So I let it continue until 185F at which point the oil pan was getting a lot warmer. I think that may have been my mistake the other day when only 1 quart came out. I only let it get up to about 160F, and now I know that the temperature of the head (where my sensor is located) is always way ahead of the oil temperature! :fat:

Then I drained the oil and yes - it was BLACK! You could tell that it was a mix of old and new, but it was still black, which tells me that there had been a lot of old oil that had never drained out the last time, and which explains why I was almost an inch above the MAX line on the dipstick after adding only 3 quarts!

It took four full to the brim quart sized oil containers to hold everything that came out. Given that the containers hold a bit more than 1 quart, I guess that means that about 4.5 quarts were in there, which explains why the dipstick was 1" over the MAX mark.

Then I put new oil into it. After three quarts I measured it with the dipstick, and this time it was right on the MAX mark. I then ran the engine for a while to make sure that the all the nooks and crannies were filled, shut off the engine, waited about 5 minutes and remeasured - still sitting on the MAX mark.

Anyway, I think the lesson here is that if you're running a heavy weight oil like the 50W VR-1 Racing Oil, it's really important to be sure that the oil is nice and warm before draining the oil pan!

Thanks for the suggestion - you were right on the money!

Dan

 

[Keith_M]

More than happy to have been of help. Thanks for letting me know!

 

[smaceng]

And BTW, always SLOWLY pour the oil into the oil filler hole. Too fast and it overfills the top of the head and then spill out over your nice, clean, painted, valve cover and engine.
Scott in CA

 

[59diamond]

Well I am glad that got resolved. By the way Dan if you go to the BUGEYE PARTS website you will see John Felts Sprite on the first page. I believe those are the rims that I bought from you awhile back that the White Wall Tires are mounted on, and Scott I am pretty sure those are the Hubcaps that came with 60 Frog. The white wall tires are from me. So the three of us contributed to make that car shine a little brighter.

 

[DanLewis]

Hi Bill,

Well I am glad that got resolved. By the way Dan if you go to the BUGEYE PARTS website you will see John Felts Sprite on the first page. I believe those are the rims that I bought from you awhile back that the White Wall Tires are mounted on, and Scott I am pretty sure those are the Hubcaps that came with 60 Frog. The white wall tires are from me. So the three of us contributed to make that car shine a little brighter.

That's one nice looking Spridget! I had seen that photo before, but never knew about the rims. Thanks for letting me know, and I'm glad they found a good home.

Dan

 

[59diamond]

It is an amazing Sprite. It has less then 2000 original miles on it. It came with original Dunlop tires that John has put in storage for now.