2000 Camry LE 4cyl 3 3/5quarts capacity
I noticed when switching to AMSOIL/MOBIL synthetic oil, it is a lot harder to read the oil dipstick.
When I check the oil in the morning, the stick shows that it is near FULL capacity, but when I go around town and come back (wait about 30min) and check the stick, it shows about 1/2 quart low, though there are some residual readings riding up the dipstick, but I don't know whether I should count that.
Then I wait for it to cool for several hours or check the next morning and it's back to the near full level.
Could this be because synthetic sticks better to metal, and it just takes a long time for the oil to drain from the engine back tot he pan? Maybe its just my low capacity of oil of 3 3/5quts that causes such a big difference when the engine is hot and cold.
With Dino oil, there's a clear dip in the oil where the oil sits, but with synthetic I just get odd readings and some slosh around like this below:
http://www.autoxreview.com/image/dipstick.gif
How should I read this?
I've redipped over and over and get the same thing, also made sure to read both sides.