1st oil change @7k miles -- 3.25qt out, 4qt in?

[t00mies]

hello all --


just checking on what you guys are seeing when you do your oil changes.

i did my first oil change last night at 7k miles.

only 3.25 quarts came out. i know there is residual oil in the oil filter, and maybe coating the insides of the engine, but i left the car in the garage for several days already.

i was able to put in 4qts, maybe just a little more when i put new oil in. the dipstick shows that i am right at the upper end of the hash marks. i ran the engine for a minute in the garage and checked it this morning... it is still at the upper end of the hash.

unfortunately, i didnt check where the oil was on the dipstick before i did the oil change, so i dont know if i was on the low end or waaay below. (maybe i didnt get all the oil i was supposed to get when i bought the car??)


how much oil are you guys able to drain out of the car when you do your oil changes?



thanks,

t00mies

[sjlee]

I never measure the old oil on any of my vehicles when I do an oil change. At most, I check the dipstick to see if there's significant oil consumption before I start.

Surprisingly, the filter holds quite a bit of oil. I prefilled the oil filter last time I changed it and was able to put about 1/2 a quart in after letting the media soak up as much as possible.

[Nathan @ NBO]

I don't think it's abnormal to have less come out then in. Was the car jacked up? Warm when you changed the oil? I bet an easy half a quart could be coating all the internals, so I wouldn't worry about it. I would start worrying when your car is blowing black smoke

[ptsmh73]

If you did the work yourself, may I ask why you did'nt change the filter too. Seems like a small cost for a vehicle you paid tens of thousands of dollars for????

[whizmo]

This sounds about right. There's a few ounces in the filter which won't drain out, you might easily have been a half qt low, and the rest might just be measurement error. Par for the course.

BTW, I think spec is 4.2 (w/filter) and I find it takes about 4.5 for me to get the oil to the top of the hash marks.

- Mark

[Chess Pilot]

You need to change the filter EVERY TIME you change the oil. It costs <$5 more and extends the job <10 minutes.

To answer your question, I can only speak in terms of when the filter is changed too. 5.1 qt in, and ~5+ qt out. I always use an empty windshield washer fluid jug to turn in the used oil and I always have more oil than the 1 gal jug can hold. As far as how much to put in, refer to the capacities as listed in the Owner's Manual. Hope this helps.

[thomasj2]

I'm running the old style larger oil filter. My oil changes take a full 5 quarts.