Inaccurate oil jug level marks?

Bottom_Feeder · Mar 8, 2016

I bought a five quart jug of Pennzoil Platinum from Wal-Mart to do a change this past weekend. My Accord takes 4.5 quarts during a change plus filter, and the wife's car is down half a quart. Beautifully satisfying when the planets align like that.

I clearly mark the jug with a sharpie where the last half quart in the bottle will be as a dummy-proof reminder. The jug has full-quart and half-quart marks molded in but I'm just making it even clearer. Oil is changed. Oil left in the jug is checked a few times on a level surface while pouring it in. 4.5 quarts (indicated) goes in and I dump the rest in the wife's car. Job done.

So I checked the oil level yesterday and it's half a quart low. Wife's car is overfilled a good bit. I looked at the jug and I confirmed it's marked in the right place. I don't get it.

901Memphis · Mar 8, 2016

Probably has something to do with how much drained out

Gokhan · Mar 8, 2016

The marks on the bottle can't be that off -- it's simple geometry. The only think I can think of is that you accidentally used the 1 qt mark instead of the 1/2 qt mark, despite putting your own mark. If that's not the case, something else went wrong.

69GTX · Mar 8, 2016

That's a good point for those with engines taking less than a 5 qt jug of oil. I've never run into this since all of my cars over the past 20 years have taken 5.5-6 qts of oil. But, it makes sense to pour out 1-2 qts from the jug to save for the final top off on engines with smaller capacities.

You can check the accuracy of the PP jug lines by pouring single quarts back into that empty jug. Something tells me they will be right on. They make a ton of these jugs. They would all need to be off the same amount.

MolaKule · Mar 8, 2016

Originally Posted By: Gokhan
The marks on the bottle can't be that off -- it's simple geometry. The only think I can think of is that you accidentally used the 1 qt mark instead of the 1/2 qt mark, despite putting your own mark. If that's not the case, something else went wrong.

Or, he used the Liter scale.

KrisZ · Mar 8, 2016

Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Or, he used the Liter scale.

I would put my money on that.

Bottom_Feeder · Mar 8, 2016

Originally Posted By: Gokhan
The marks on the bottle can't be that off -- it's simple geometry. The only think I can think of is that you accidentally used the 1 qt mark instead of the 1/2 qt mark, despite putting your own mark. If that's not the case, something else went wrong.

Yep. No idea. But I'm 100% sure I used the 1/2 quart mark.

Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Or, he used the Liter scale.

Negative. Besides, at the bottom of the jug, they would be extremely close anyway.

No idea what the deal was. I did the exact same thing with a jug of Mobil 1 Extended Performance last time and it was perfect. Now my only beef is that a single quart of PP I now need is about $9 when the jug was only $25.

daman · Mar 8, 2016

Dump 5 qts in and call it a day..

HTSS_TR · Mar 8, 2016

I saved few empty quart bottles, I used it to get what-ever amount I need. For example, my E430 needs 8.5 quarts I poured 1 quart from 1 jug and 1/2 quart from second jug. The remaining of 2 jugs went into the engine without problem, right on the full mark.

The error on quart bottle marking, if any, is only 2-3 ounces at most.

raytseng · Mar 8, 2016

I wrote this in the other thread where some guy was freaking out that he got fake oil.

Jug markings aren't a precision measurement device. It's a squishy plastic container made as cheaply as possible to just convey the product, and once it's used once, it's usually disposed.
You can squeeze or dent the jug it and the level goes up or down.
Especially the bigger the container, the more it could be "off" if the bottom is rounded out.

That being said, just by eye, you probably were at MOST off by another .25 quart, cause obviously you put something in your wife's car and you probably know what a whole quart feels like.

if it perturbs you that you're under or over by a fraction of a quart, you need to use a more precision measuring device to satisfy your ocd or use a scale and do it by weight.

CT8 · Mar 8, 2016

You don't buy extra oil for top off when the engine gets to the add mark?

69GTX · Mar 8, 2016

Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder

Negative. Besides, at the bottom of the jug, they would be extremely close anyway.

No idea what the deal was. I did the exact same thing with a jug of Mobil 1 Extended Performance last time and it was perfect. Now my only beef is that a single quart of PP I now need is about $9 when the jug was only $25.

Indeed, those lower marks are close together. And the difference between 1 quart vs. 1 liter is only 5.67% or 1.8 oz per quart.

Buy another jug of PP using the current $10 rebate if you haven't done 2 rebates already. The Quaker State Ultimate Durability $7 rebate is still there too. You can always find use for the other 4 qts. A quart of anything Pennzoil or Quaker State would work too. Not a bad idea to keep an oil change or two ready to go at all times. Rather than spending $8-9 for a PP qt, a $4 qt of Pennzoil Conventional or Pennzoil High Mileage syn blend isn't that far off. I have 4 different grades of extra Pennzoil Platinum / Quaker State Ultimate Durability oils that I wouldn't mind throwing in 1 of these as the last quart.

cmhj · Mar 8, 2016

Originally Posted By: daman
Dump 5 qts in and call it a day..

Ya some people worry too much

KitaCam · Mar 9, 2016

Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
I bought a five quart jug of Pennzoil Platinum ... 4.5 quarts (indicated) goes in and I dump the rest in the wife's car. Job done.

More accurate I think is to FIRST pour the 1/2 quart off in a measured 1 quart container (an empty quart oil container will do fine), then pour the remaining 4.5 quarts into your car.

Stewie · Mar 9, 2016

I absolutely hate the ones in Castrol Edge, I literally can't see anything.

Whether is full or not you can't tell unless you shake it or by looking inside the bottle.

asand1 · Mar 10, 2016

Use the dipstick in the engine, not the marks on a 13¢ bottle. Then use the dipstick on your wife's car. It's a disposable container, not a precision measuring device.

Stewie · Mar 10, 2016

Originally Posted By: asand1
Use the dipstick in the engine, not the marks on a 13¢ bottle. Then use the dipstick on your wife's car. It's a disposable container, not a precision measuring device.

IT should at least be usable.

asand1 · Mar 10, 2016

Originally Posted By: Stewie
Originally Posted By: asand1
Use the dipstick in the engine, not the marks on a 13¢ bottle. Then use the dipstick on your wife's car. It's a disposable container, not a precision measuring device.

IT should at least be usable.

It was, it got the oil from the store into the car(s).

Stewie · Mar 10, 2016

Originally Posted By: asand1
Originally Posted By: Stewie
Originally Posted By: asand1
Use the dipstick in the engine, not the marks on a 13¢ bottle. Then use the dipstick on your wife's car. It's a disposable container, not a precision measuring device.

IT should at least be usable.

It was, it got the oil from the store into the car(s).

Well Is there a 7 quarts jugg? I think NOT.

Try putting few quarts over...

asand1 · Mar 11, 2016

Originally Posted By: Stewie
Originally Posted By: asand1
Originally Posted By: Stewie
Originally Posted By: asand1
Use the dipstick in the engine, not the marks on a 13¢ bottle. Then use the dipstick on your wife's car. It's a disposable container, not a precision measuring device.

IT should at least be usable.

It was, it got the oil from the store into the car(s).

Well Is there a 7 quarts jugg? I think NOT.

Try putting few quarts over...

I said it got the oil from the store into the cars, and it did. getting the correct amount in was OPs job, and the dipsticks would be the correct measuring device.

Inaccurate oil jug level marks?

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