Just got back from dealer. The tech double-checked and I was indeed down. They added another 2 qts to get to min line. I’ll repeat oil check in 500 miles. Total down ~ 6 qts.
Update, 200 miles since I added 4 quarts and THANKFULLY no decrease in the reading. This confirms in my opinion that low readings on the rod are not from usage!
Is this generally because they are not doing proper service or proper oil change for you at a year interval or issue on delivery?
FWIW I asked my SA to check the oil level on my tdf which came back normal after going through this thread (>1000 miles) He did say that they usually set the oil levels low due to whipping of the oil during spirited driving, where if if filled high it could get into the intake Just the messenger here
If you are at 2500 miles, never added oil, and the dealer never changed the oil, this is probably normal. Most members have noted 3-5qts low from factory. So to be down 6 qts at 2500 miles would probably be accurate. I will be checking my oil level today when I hit 2500 miles. I put 3 qts in at about 1500 miles to bring up to probably 1/3 up from minimum on the dipstick. Will update on how many quarts go in. Also, like others have said, on a dry sump system you have to measure this way because of the plumbing for the oil. Similar to why you check an automatic transmission while running.
Oil level check completed at 2500 miles. Consumed approximately 1 quart of oil in 1000 miles. I filled it once again to just about 1/3rd up from minimum which was 1 quart Image Unavailable, Please Login
I wonder if it would still be accurate to simply check your oil while the car is idling, and then repeat using the whole procedure and note the difference between the two. Do you all here think that difference, which may only be a cm or so, will remain constant over time?
Well the whole thing is not very accurate, there is no graduation on the stick and no numbers representing how many quarts, just min and max with about a two inch gap. The procedure for checking it seems way too complicated for a WAG which is what the measurement accuracy of the stick appears to provide. As I said, I checked the stick with the car off after sitting for an hour but with the engine warm and then with it running after returning from a drive. The difference was slightly above MIN in the running case and slightly below in the MIN in the sitting case.
The amount of oil between min and max is 1.43 quarts. If we measured that, we could find graduation marks for the stick Image Unavailable, Please Login
Unless the tank area the dipstick is inserted into is an uneven shape, and thus non-linear on the stick.
I just checked the oil with engine cold and off and it is exactly midway between the bottom of the stick and the minimum level mark. At dealer yesterday the tech very carefully made sure the oil was exactly at the minimum level mark. I will also check it idling and hot after going for my next drive.
I would be curious if we could find consistency to measuring cold compared to hot. My thought is the oil level should always be higher when cold. So if below minimum cold, you are most likely going to need oil
It might be a good first check to rule in whether you’ll need to go thru the whole rigmarole of getting engine oil to ~200F, 4100 rpm for 1 min, idle 2-3 min with oil cap removed. I would guess that if you check it cold and it is near the bottom of the stick then go thru the procedure to verify level; if it is above midway to minimum level mark or higher then you might be okay as it is. Seem reasonable to the mechanics/engineers out there?
Mine was right at midway between bottom of stick and min level cold, and I know yesterday with correct procedure it was exactly at minimum level so if you check it cold and it is just below minimum you run the risk of overfilling. I’m sure we agree that no one should ever make decision to add oil without going through procedure as outlined in owners manual.
Agree, always do the procedure before adding oil. I’ll start checking cold before driving every time and see if there seems to be any close consistency. As a YouTube PHD in engineering, I deem this very scientific and it makes complete sense. I also looked at how much a replacement oil tank was to check it for volume, but at $1800 it seems a bit expensive just for confirming a volume. Will probably see if someone in service knows the volume, or could check and find out.
Checking it cold is a waste of time. If there was a consistent corollary to the stated procedure then they would just publish it instead. There isn't so you have to do the procedure to meet spec. Running the engine at 4k for one minute loads the heads full of oil and pushes fluid throughout the system of plumbing and cooler. Taking it back to idle and checking within a specific period of time accounts for things to settle but not too much. If you wait too long you have to start over. Not sure why anyone would think they know better especially with the big concern of overfilling.
You are correct, you should never fill based on a cold check. As far as it being a waste of time, that's what I'm trying to determine. Nobody is trying to "outsmart" the Ferrari engineers here. The reason I want to check cold is to see if I need to do the full check on my oil level before setting off. I don't baby the car, so I want to make sure I keep my oil level well set. I'll be consistently checking to see if the oil level flows back to a consist level regardless of volume of oil still in the system. If you can look at the dipstick while cold and visually see it could be low, better do a check, that could be a lot of time saved over ownership of the car. Won't know without testing. But once again, I will clarify, I would never recommend putting any oil in the car without doing the full check as outlined in the manual to avoid an overfill.
I verified this with my car. When this thread first started I measured cold and the level was all the way to the bottom of the stick. When I added oil the car was warm from being driven to the Autozone and three quarts got it to minimum. Now I have measured it cold, running at idle and warm stopped, the latter two don't show much difference and the cold measurement concur's with italiafan so I think it's fairly consistent. I am comfortable with whatever level of oil is in there right now as being adequate, not too much, not too little. I think we could also conclude that if you want to measure the level cold that halfway between the bottom and middle of the stick probably corresponds to minimum level under the proper measurement conditions.
Data Point: 1285 miles since new, 3 months old. After reading this thread had it checked at dealer per procedure, took 4 quarts. Tech said it was not an issue. Will drive a bit and check again. Love this car
Here is a schematic of a generic dry sump system. It does not show the oil filter after the pressure pump nor the oil coolers but the Wiki page does a decent job of explaining the basic system. Various articles on aircraft dry sump engines are also an excellent read but a bit overly complicated as an overview. It will become quite clear pretty quickly that the system is dynamic and the oil level in the reservoir tank is only accurate if there is proper flow of oil and separation of the gasses. Since there is very little volume in the 'dry' sump it is critical not to overfill; however, there is more room in being a bit low in the reservoir tank before the pressure pump starts sucking air. Temporarily sucking air in the 'dry' sump is expected in some engines during high Gs and the scavenge pump(s) are designed for it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_sump Image Unavailable, Please Login
