ODD issue with DIPSTICK...car eats but then stops

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SumpChump

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2013 Camry 2.5L 2AR-FE 4cyl. with 6speed U760E owned since new, has 55k miles 70% highway@ 55mph/30% city. No problems no CEL, all is well except for one odd thing.

Car has been religiously maintained. 0W-20 Full Synthetic Toyota Genuine or Mobil 1 the entire time changed at 5k intervals.

Issue: When oil is changed by me or rarely, by dealer, it of course is filled to the full dot. Yet it drops down to appx a quarter inch below the full mark reliably within the first maybe 1200-1800 miles of a run. Then stays.

So, is it a dipstick error and I am eating the slight overfill being vaporised or WHAT else could account for this nonlinear loss and the "custom full" mark where it stops eating and stays put the rest of the run?
 
This isn't really an uncommon issue. A number of cars just seem to be happier at less that full on the dip stick. Some of the reasons are escaping me right now but I'm sure someone else will chime in with some thoughts.
 
Did you say Lycoming?
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: 09_GXP
This isn't really an uncommon issue. A number of cars just seem to be happier at less that full on the dip stick. Some of the reasons are escaping me right now but I'm sure someone else will chime in with some thoughts.


Thanks for your comments. Following comments are for further readers to add detail...... Its so odd, lol , eats down to its "preferred" mark and then stays there. I initially didnt notice it because I would do quick level checks but when I paid attention to it then I was able to narrow it to loss at only the beginning of the run and down to the "new normal" level below full dot. I topped it off a few times during the 30k-50k series of OCI and she went back too that same mark. I beleive on this motor it is a 1&1/4 quart range between full and low dots so a quarter inch below full shouldnt be starving the oiling system at highway rpm. I''m baffled but no longer too worried I guess.
 
Guess the answer is figure out how much oil gets it to that point at an oil change, then fill it to there. Sounds weird, usually a little overfull won't cause consumption.
 
Our EJ subarus used to do this. Likely a function of PCV resonance as a factor of the crankcase volume.

4 cyl drastically change enclosed volume of crankcase as they cycle. Take off the 710 cap and feel the pulses!
 
Could just be the way the sump area is configured. Like a gallon jug, maybe it gets narrower at the top. Less volume so a small amount of oil registers a bigger move on the stick..
 
I have always thought this was due to the crankshaft rotation vaporizing the oil in the windage tray. When the oil level is reduced the oil in the windage tray is reduced.
 
Next time you change the oil fill the level to where it ends up after it "eats", and see if it drops from there. That might end up being your new fill mark.
 
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