The V8 Owners Forum -

Hi guys, I've filled my 3.5 engine with 5.5 litres of oil and .5 ltr in the oil filter i've no oil cooler and the oil is is way above the maximum oil line.

The dipstick tube length is 200 mm to the top of the block.

The blade length is 550 mm that's from the tip to the bottom of the little locating cup at the top of the stick.

The min mark is 15 mm from the bottom of the stick.

The full mark is 48 mm from the bottom of the stick.

The oil is registering 120 mm up the dipstick that's 72mm above the maximum fill point!

Think I may have the wrong dipstick, any chance some one could measure theirs.

Cheers Paul

The under bonnet sticker on my P6 says 8 imperial pints or 4.5L.

It now has a 4L cross bolted bitsa engine, but still only takes 4.5L

Richard

Yup - different sumps seem to have different capacities. And need a matching dipstick. My SD1 is 5.5 litres including filter. But with normal oil change and new filter takes less than that.

DaveEFI wrote:different sumps seem to have different capacities. And need a matching dipstick

Don't believe that is strictly true.

Sump capacity is only relevant to how much oil you can get in before you reach the level it needs to be at relative to crank (web throw). That is the level that is measured using the dipstick.

If you assume that level to be the same for all RV8 engines (i don't know if that is true) then the length of dipstick and where the marks are on it is determined by the length of the tube into the block top face that the dipstick slides into.

The dipstick and it's marks are matched to the tube and required oil level relative to the crank NOT the sump capacity.

As such, adding wings to the sump and increasing it's capacity as much as you like does not at all effect the oil level you want to achieve.

I bought my P6 with a 4L CB engine already in it, but it did have the standard 3.5L dip stick and knowing what a mess the PO had made fitting the engine, I read up on it.

I found that the maximum level on the dip stick was sufficiently below the level of the crank throw so it would not splash into the oil when cornering hard, braking heavily or whatever else you do to surge the oil around.

With the stroke of the 3.5L identical to the 4L I conceded that it was correct and would be the same level.

If however, you have the 4.6L crank, then the maximum oil level would be lower as the stroke is longer, hence the dipstick should be different.

That's how I read it anyway. I may be wrong, but am unlikely to admit to it

Richard

When I said different capacities I should have included different shapes. If a sump runs evenly all along the engine, the oil level relative to the block may be different compared to a sump all at one end.

Dip stick tube on mine moves in and out
So if yours is similar and the dipstick sits on the top of the tube at what level is the high mark as it differs depending on how hard you push the tube into the block!

Seriously though
Fill to a mark on your dip stick
Drive a thousand miles and then mark again, I presume second mark will be lower level.
Mark that level and drive another 1000 miles
If that new level is the same you have the level for your engine!

Ian

I'm looking into renewing my dipstick and tube at the moment, seems like you can get long or short tubes, obviously the stick length will be different for each one.
Seems like you may have a short tube & long stick. From what I can see it looks like there is about a couple of inches.

I'll have the sump off mine soon, I'll take a measurement from the sump mount face to the max limit, may help you.

Managed to get out and do some measuring.
My setup uses a short tube (53mm from deck face), around 150mm shorter than yours, and the stick is 388mm measured from tip to the underside of the cup face, the face which will locate on the top of the tube.
So my stick protrudes 335 below the deck face, yours is 350.

My Low mark is 20mm up the stick or 315 below the deck, yours appears to be 335.
Distance between Low and High in my stick is 30mm similar to yours at 33 m.
So it would appear your stick is going to measure deeper than min but only by about 15mm

When I drained my sump I removed around 6 litres, prior to this my oil would have been at around the high mark.

Seems like your sump is quite small, either a low base or smaller (shorter) deep section, hence gIving a higher level for a similar volume of oil. .

For reference I also measured from the sump locating face to the stick marks and got the following.
Sump face to High mark - 50mm
Sump face to Low mark - 70mm
Sump face to end of stick - 150mm
Sump face to pickup pipe - 150mm

Hope some of that helps.

Thanks guys, looks like I’m a bit short on capacity think I’d better add an oil cooler just to be on the safe side.

paulsv8manta wrote:Thanks guys, looks like I’m a bit short on capacity think I’d better add an oil cooler just to be on the safe side.

Do,you know what your sump is from and has it been modified? Can't imagine how much oil I'd have to add to raise it 50mm or more.

I’ve just managed to measure the sump, it’s 25 to 30mm deep at the front with the main sump being 7” square with an 1” wing on the side.

Forgot to say, the sump is 5 & 1/2” deep.

paulsv8manta wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:34 pm

I’ve just managed to measure the sump, it’s 25 to 30mm deep at the front with the main sump being 7” square with an 1” wing on the side.

Hi Paul, I think this may be your issue, your sump volume is a little on the small side. I can't make an estimation of the volume of the wing or wings as I don't have enough information but it sounds like your main sump is around 18cm square giving an area of 324 Sq cm. From previous measurements the Max mark sits 50mm below the block-sump interface so the depth of oil in the sump is 5.5" -5cm
Or 14-5=9cm
So volume to max will be 324*9cc or 2.916litres (plus the wing capacity).

If you could give a little more information about the wing(s) we could take that into account too.

For comparison my sump has a deep section about 300mm long, 180 wide so area is 540 sq-cm
540 * 9= 4860cc / circa 4.9L to max which is around about in line with what I took out (I was conservative with my sump measurements)

Thanks for your help GDCobra, Happy New Year!

So just to confirm all measurements, the width of pan is 180mm, 25mm at the front, the deep section is 135mm deep x 180mm x 180mm square, there's a single wing of 140mm long x 80mm high x 30mm deep.

I'm looking at fitting an oil cooler Overall Size: 330mm Long x 180mm High x 50mm deep

Core Size: 310mm long x 150mm high x 50mm deep

Inlet / Outlet Size: AN-10

I'm hoping this is going to give me enough volume of oil.

Cheers Paul