W2's pointless question of the day

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I realize that eventually it all gets circulated through the engine, but I'm curious;

On average, what percentage of a vehicle's oil remains in the oil pan when the vehicle is being driven under normal conditions? What about at near redline RPM's? We'll assume the vehicle is operating with the oil level "full".

Thanks in advance,
W2
 
It would probably vary greatly by engine. There might be an easy way to check. Start the car and pull the dipstick. Unless you have an engine that drains oil on the dipstick you should be able to tell.

-T
 
Varies immensely depending on engine design.

Back in my mis-spent youth, a mate had an Isuzu that while doing burnouts would send so much oil to the top end that it couldn't drain back quickly enough...engine smoke and flickering oil light.

A recent motorcycle magazine was warning that the current generation supernikes shouldn't be idled for lon periods, as there was only marginal flow to the top end at idle (less power draw and to minimise flooding at high revs)
 
Baffle design in the sump is supposed to help with with cornering and going up and down hills. We do see more oil consumption going up and down the hill that we live on compared to say freeway though.
 
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