Trying to avoid possibly repeating an overfill that likely fouled my plugs. Online sources indicated capacity is 4qt if you don't change the filter, 4.5qt if you change the filter. It has integrated red cylinder filter housing (paper Mann style filter) so I'm assuming 4.5qt. I pumped the oil out of the threaded dip tube. I then refilled with 4.5qt. Dipstick showed no oil in the checkered space. So I add a 1/4 qt at a time checking the dipstick. No change visible. After another .5qt bringing total added to 5qt, the oil barely touches the low end of the checkered space on the dipstick. I'm assuming at least .4qt remained in the pan with the pump method so after a 5qt fill the total could be 5.4qt which might be in the danger overfill zone. See image of dipstick. I've read that these are unreliable because of variation in the tube bend and lengths which is disconcerting.
I'm pretty certain I fell into this trap last season and may have overfilled as my plugs were fouled this year on opening day and we limped off the water in guardian mode thinking we had cylinder misfire based on engine vibration. Changed the plugs which were fouled. Some oil on threads and odor of oil. Pressure tested cylinders around 225psi on average. Fuel pump pressure tested within normal range low side 16psi high side 68psi. Fuel pickup in tank was clean. Before season started I pumped out old fuel and filled with non-ethanol 87 which is what we have used the past 4 seasons.
Replacing plugs corrected rough idle/vibration situation but now I'm worried about repeating the same mistake as the dip stick seems way off published capacities. AI is claiming these engines all have the same size oil pan and true capacity is 4.5-5qts. Here I sit with 5 added to whatever remained after pump out and you can see the dipstick looks like I'm nearly a qt low?!! Guessing 5.4qts total in the engine right now which might be borderline too high. Last season I filled to nearly the high mark on the dipstick which likely was 3/4qt overfull if 5qt capacity is the real baseline possibly causing plugs to be fouled.
If anyone has experience with this, please let me know. Do I ignore the dipstick altogether? If I filled to dipstick high checkmark, I would have added 5.75qts + residual = 6qts which is way over published capacity. What's a safe amount of oil to add? I did try to level the engine before reading the dipstick but there's not a flat section on it to place a level. It appears that "full" for this is barely touching the check marks? Hate to run it too low but running high is just as bad. I've had cars that varied from published capacities depending on date of production because of multiple pan designs. AI is adamant that this engine capacity is identical in all configurations 4.5qt.
I'm pretty certain I fell into this trap last season and may have overfilled as my plugs were fouled this year on opening day and we limped off the water in guardian mode thinking we had cylinder misfire based on engine vibration. Changed the plugs which were fouled. Some oil on threads and odor of oil. Pressure tested cylinders around 225psi on average. Fuel pump pressure tested within normal range low side 16psi high side 68psi. Fuel pickup in tank was clean. Before season started I pumped out old fuel and filled with non-ethanol 87 which is what we have used the past 4 seasons.
Replacing plugs corrected rough idle/vibration situation but now I'm worried about repeating the same mistake as the dip stick seems way off published capacities. AI is claiming these engines all have the same size oil pan and true capacity is 4.5-5qts. Here I sit with 5 added to whatever remained after pump out and you can see the dipstick looks like I'm nearly a qt low?!! Guessing 5.4qts total in the engine right now which might be borderline too high. Last season I filled to nearly the high mark on the dipstick which likely was 3/4qt overfull if 5qt capacity is the real baseline possibly causing plugs to be fouled.
If anyone has experience with this, please let me know. Do I ignore the dipstick altogether? If I filled to dipstick high checkmark, I would have added 5.75qts + residual = 6qts which is way over published capacity. What's a safe amount of oil to add? I did try to level the engine before reading the dipstick but there's not a flat section on it to place a level. It appears that "full" for this is barely touching the check marks? Hate to run it too low but running high is just as bad. I've had cars that varied from published capacities depending on date of production because of multiple pan designs. AI is adamant that this engine capacity is identical in all configurations 4.5qt.
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