Did I make a dumb?

[Confused33]

First, hi and thanks for your thoughts in advance. I bought a new car and it was time for its first oil change. It's one of those fancy new cars that doesn't have an actual dipstick - just an electronic oil level gauge on the dash that only works once the oil is hot. So I drained the oil and replaced the filter. The car takes 7.9 quarts of oil per the manual. I didn't want to overfill it, so I put in 7.3 quarts, thinking I would top off as needed.

So I drive the car about 15 minutes until it is hot and turn off the engine and run the oil level test. The oil level gauge has 4 settings: over filled, just right, under-filled, and seriously under-filled/not enough oil to register. When I tested it, I was at the under-filled mark. I drove home added some oil, and now it's at the just right mark.

Did I do any damage while driving that 15 minutes at the under-filled mark? The car has an oil pressure gauge, and my eyes were glued to it for those 15 minutes. The pressure was about 3 PSI lower than normal, but still in the green area. It normally runs at 21 PSI at idle, and the car was at 18 PSI for those 15 minutes. But the minimum green level on the gauge is about 15 PSI.

So maybe make me feel better. If the oil pressure was low but still good, that means I didn't break anything, right? Oil was GC Ow40 - so thanks for that info in advance.

 

[Chris142]

Its fine

 

[Nickdfresh]

A half a qt. won't make any difference either way. I'd probably put it at .25 a qt. low...

 

[Jetronic]

You could have put only 3 quarts in and not have an issue driving gently to warm up the oil.

I you drive for thousands of miles, or towing/high speed driving then it becomes an issue. half fill = half oci. High speed driving heats up the oil a lot more, and half the oil means half the dwell time in the sump to cool down, also more chance of sucking air in the oil pump during cornering or ascend/descend.

 

[eljefino]

Castrol ran an ad for syntec a while back where they put one quart in a car then drove it around a race track without anything blowing up.

 

[JC1]

What car/truck is this?

You'll be fine with what you did.

I wonder if this computer records low oil level conditions and if there ever is an engine warranty issue if the manufacturer uses this data to determine if the repair will be covered.

 

[pbm]

I'm also curious what car this is?.....I never want to own a car without a dipstick.

Also, I seriously doubt you did any harm with that short drive 1/2 a quart low.

 

[pbm]

I wouldn't trust anything presented as 'fact' by the NY Times....

 

[Kuato]

No damage. You learned how much to add @ change time...roll on...

 

[RooflessVW]

Username checks out.

Your car is fine.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

.1 of a quart of oil isn't going to affect the engine operation. Why have a partial quart of oil sitting around? Pour the seventh quart in and get on with it. Way over thinking this.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: Confused33
The oil level gauge has 4 settings: over filled, just right, under-filled, and seriously under-filled/not enough oil to register.
Look at the choices they give you. It answers your question.

 

[dwendt44]

Like HosteenJorje said. That little extra the full 8 qts wouldn't
likely register.
Most all engines can handle a extra 1/2 qt in any case.
I'm guessing the vehicle is a European car and they would
have converted their 'litres' into quarts and not rounded it off.

My 2¢

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
.1 of a quart of oil isn't going to affect the engine operation. Why have a partial quart of oil sitting around? Pour the seventh quart in and get on with it. Way over thinking this.


Except if that 0.1 quart pushes the display into "overfilled". Everything will work just fine, but you will never catch a rising oil level if you've maxed out the gauge already.

 

[Confused33]

2016 Porsche Cayman. Thanks everyone for your advice. I feel better.

 

[Dyusik]

My aunts car was almost 2 qts below the dipstick. I think she had a quart and half in there, about 9.5k on bulk Dino from quick lube place. That was 20k mi ago, car had all but engine trouble.

 

[fdcg27]

Next time, just dump all eight quarts in it.
You'll be fine.
You're fine in this case as well.
No worries and the lower OP was not a consequence of a slightly less than full oil level.
As long as the oil pump pickup doesn't suck air, and it won't even when multiple quarts low, then the pump sucks only oil and oil pressure isn't affected.

 

[plaguef]

Originally Posted By: pbm
I wouldn't trust anything presented as 'fact' by the NY Times....


+1