Honda Car Forum

If you own a Honda like me, you would know how it would roll like my kayak
rolls in the ocean. When the 'oil light' on my Honda lit during cornering, it
means that the engine is a quart low. A few seconds of low oil pressure during
partial throttle is not going to kill an engine. I've done this regularly with
my Honda.

Mike Romain wrote:

> What, did some car salesman teach you that little 'trick' or something.
> He only wants to sell you a new car when you blow the motor and you
> 'will' blow the motor driving like that.

George Macdonald <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote in message news:<m9eqe0506lo3drspi78597k9j0onqb57ed@4ax.com>. ..
> On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 11:20:13 -0400, Mike Romain <romainm@sympatico.ca>
> wrote:
>
> >What, did some car salesman teach you that little 'trick' or something.
> >He only wants to sell you a new car when you blow the motor and you
> >'will' blow the motor driving like that.
> >
> >If you are running that close to the pump sucking air (that is what the
> >red light means) the second the red light comes on on a flat because you
> >haven't taken any turns lately, the engine will be dead.
> >
> >When that red engine light comes on, you must shut down the engine. If
> >you continue even a mile, your engine will be blown.
>
> Hmm, reminds me of when I had my old Beetle - even with the oil at the max
> mark, it was possible to get around a corner fast enough to starve the oil
> pump.

Two words: "baffled sump"

nate

On 9 Jul 2004 08:05:11 -0700, njnagel@hotmail.com (Nate Nagel) wrote:

>George Macdonald <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote in message news:<m9eqe0506lo3drspi78597k9j0onqb57ed@4ax.com>. ..
>> On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 11:20:13 -0400, Mike Romain <romainm@sympatico.ca>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >What, did some car salesman teach you that little 'trick' or something.
>> >He only wants to sell you a new car when you blow the motor and you
>> >'will' blow the motor driving like that.
>> >
>> >If you are running that close to the pump sucking air (that is what the
>> >red light means) the second the red light comes on on a flat because you
>> >haven't taken any turns lately, the engine will be dead.
>> >
>> >When that red engine light comes on, you must shut down the engine. If
>> >you continue even a mile, your engine will be blown.
>>
>> Hmm, reminds me of when I had my old Beetle - even with the oil at the max
>> mark, it was possible to get around a corner fast enough to starve the oil
>> pump.
>
>Two words: "baffled sump"

Well of course but in a Beetle engine? There's no sump and yes, I know
that there were aftermarket baffles but you had to split the crankcase to
get them in.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

Dick C wrote:
> Sanjay Punjab wrote in rec.autos.misc
>
>
>>My accord with 130k is using between 1/4-1/2 quart of oil a month.
>>I was told by many that engines with this age typically do require a
>>top-off each month of motor oil. Is there some type of gadget that you
>>can attach to the top of the oil bottle to make measuring a bit
>>easier? Often I have to add a little oil, then run the engine a bit
>>and then check the dipstick again and repeat to get the oil level to a
>>desired level again. Just want to save some time
>
>
> The proper way to check oil is to do it when the engine has been
> shut off for several minutes, at a minimum. 20 or thirty minutes
> is better. This ensures that all the oil has run back into the
> pan. Running the engine and then checking it moves the oil up into
> the various engine parts, and the oil level will look lower than
> it really is. Adding oil at this point will cause you to overfill
> the engine, which can lead to excess oil consumption, and possibly
> blown seals.
> Also, the add mark on the dipstick indicates that the oil is one
> quart low, depending upon the shape of the oil pan, the distance
> between the marks may not be linear. Ergo, the half way point may
> or may not indicate 1/2 quart. Do not add oil until the level is
> at the add mark. And check it only after the engine has been
> shut off for several minutes.
> The engine does not need to be warm to check the oil either. You
> can go out in the morning and check it before you go to work.
>

I checked my oil level this morning with the engine cold, and it is
actually 1/8" over the full mark. I guess this is because I filled up
the oil while the engine was warm. Do you guys think that is "close
enough", or should I really drain that 1/8"?

"alan" <no-longer-valid@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ccn85i$p2$1@news.Stanford.EDU...
>
> I checked my oil level this morning with the engine cold, and it is
> actually 1/8" over the full mark. I guess this is because I filled up
> the oil while the engine was warm. Do you guys think that is "close
> enough", or should I really drain that 1/8"?

Oil level I believe should go *DOWN* when the engine cools, not the other
way around. Matter expands as temperature goes up.

I would gather it is more a case of all the oil is in the pan cause it
drained down during the night. Checking the oil when the engine is running,
or just recently shut off, not all of it is in the pan.

Check your oil again with the engine warmed up and running (or recently shut
off) and base your decision as to what to do on what you find then. I
suspect you won't have to do anything.

"Seth" <seth_lermanNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:RIFHc.317$l36.316@news02.roc.ny...
>
> Check your oil again with the engine warmed up and running

Whoa.

In rec.autos.misc Seth <seth_lermanNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote:
> "alan" <no-longer-valid@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:ccn85i$p2$1@news.Stanford.EDU...
>>
>> I checked my oil level this morning with the engine cold, and it is
>> actually 1/8" over the full mark. I guess this is because I filled up
>> the oil while the engine was warm. Do you guys think that is "close
>> enough", or should I really drain that 1/8"?

if it would harm your motor it already occured. Let it be, but check every day
so it won't raise more ( by fuel or water mixing)

> Oil level I believe should go *DOWN* when the engine cools, not the other
> way around. Matter expands as temperature goes up.

Oil level will go up when engine cools. Reason is that all oil accumulated in upper
regions will sip down, which might take some time. Oil will certenly reduce volume
a little , but your engine will also reduce it's oil-pan volume during cooling.


> I would gather it is more a case of all the oil is in the pan cause it
> drained down during the night. Checking the oil when the engine is running,
> or just recently shut off, not all of it is in the pan.

You cannot check oil while it's running. Stop engine, wait for a while, then check.

> Check your oil again with the engine warmed up and running (or recently shut
> off) and base your decision as to what to do on what you find then. I
> suspect you won't have to do anything.



--
Peter Håkanson
IPSec Sverige ( At Gothenburg Riverside )
Sorry about my e-mail address, but i'm trying to keep spam out,
remove "icke-reklam" if you feel for mailing me. Thanx.

alan wrote in rec.autos.misc

> Dick C wrote:
>> Sanjay Punjab wrote in rec.autos.misc
>>
>>
>>>My accord with 130k is using between 1/4-1/2 quart of oil a month.
>>>I was told by many that engines with this age typically do require a
>>>top-off each month of motor oil. Is there some type of gadget that you
>>>can attach to the top of the oil bottle to make measuring a bit
>>>easier? Often I have to add a little oil, then run the engine a bit
>>>and then check the dipstick again and repeat to get the oil level to a
>>>desired level again. Just want to save some time
>>
>>
>> The proper way to check oil is to do it when the engine has been
>> shut off for several minutes, at a minimum. 20 or thirty minutes
>> is better. This ensures that all the oil has run back into the
>> pan. Running the engine and then checking it moves the oil up into
>> the various engine parts, and the oil level will look lower than
>> it really is. Adding oil at this point will cause you to overfill
>> the engine, which can lead to excess oil consumption, and possibly
>> blown seals.
>> Also, the add mark on the dipstick indicates that the oil is one
>> quart low, depending upon the shape of the oil pan, the distance
>> between the marks may not be linear. Ergo, the half way point may
>> or may not indicate 1/2 quart. Do not add oil until the level is
>> at the add mark. And check it only after the engine has been
>> shut off for several minutes.
>> The engine does not need to be warm to check the oil either. You
>> can go out in the morning and check it before you go to work.
>>
>
> I checked my oil level this morning with the engine cold, and it is
> actually 1/8" over the full mark. I guess this is because I filled up
> the oil while the engine was warm. Do you guys think that is "close
> enough", or should I really drain that 1/8"?

Leave it. It's close enough, and if you have to add oil between
changes, it will go down on its' own. If not, it isn't high enough
to worry about.

>



--
Dick #1349
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~Benjamin Franklin

Home Page: dickcr.iwarp.com
email: dickcr@comcast.net

> I checked my oil level this morning with the engine cold, and it is
> actually 1/8" over the full mark. I guess this is because I filled up
> the oil while the engine was warm. Do you guys think that is "close
> enough", or should I really drain that 1/8"?

Drain oil if it is more than 1/2 quart overfilled. Otherwise, not
enough to worry about.

JM

Seth wrote:
> "alan" <no-longer-valid@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:ccn85i$p2$1@news.Stanford.EDU...
>
>>I checked my oil level this morning with the engine cold, and it is
>>actually 1/8" over the full mark. I guess this is because I filled up
>>the oil while the engine was warm. Do you guys think that is "close
>>enough", or should I really drain that 1/8"?
>
>
> Oil level I believe should go *DOWN* when the engine cools, not the other
> way around. Matter expands as temperature goes up.
>

Which is MORE than offset by the fact that it takes time for all the oil
to finish dripping back into the bottom of the pan. Engine oil should be
checked with the engine OFF for at least 5 minutes (longer is better)
before checking. Cold or hot doesn't matter- the expansion of the oil is
not significant- much less significant than in an automatic transmission.