Couple easy oil questions... sorry for ignorance but trying to be extra careful here. My 355 is roughly 800 miles from its last oil change/service. Through 400 miles it didn't appear to be burning much, if any oil (middle of the stick) but now is right around the min line. My understanding from searching on here is that the 355 will burn a reasonable amount of oil over a few hundred miles if driven spiritedly. I've also heard from owners who don't burn any, but usually aren't pushing the car. Every trip I take involved crossing 5000 if not 8000 so I'm comfortable with this. The car currently has pennzoil ultra 5w40 which I can't find ANYWHERE so have ordered online. However, I want to drive the car a decent amount this weekend so two quick questions: 1) Is this safe with oil around "min" line? If not, is there another weight of oil (that I can find at the store... I know they carry 5W30) that I can mix with whats in there safely? 2) How many quarts do you think it will take to get from "min" to the "middle". Have heard horror stories about overfilling (and yes, I always check with car running and then again shortly after). Thanks as always for the help.
1) being around the min line is fine for cruising around. The system has 10 quarts (litres?) and being down to 9.5 or 9 isn't going to harm anything. It is very easy to get inconsistent readings on the dipstick as it depends on how quick you check it after shutdown (or running). If you are coming up anywere from the min line to max line you are fine. 2) I don't know exactly. If I was wanting to put some in in your situation I would add half a quart and check it again. In your case I would not add anything as you don't have the same oil on hand.
No problem. If you look at the oil tank in person or in a diagram you can see how it is designed to make oil starvation nearly impossible. The oil pulls from the bottom which is narrower than the top of the tank and there are baffles in the tank to minimized the effects of g-forces on the oil in the tank. You would have to be way, way, way low on oil to have any chance of starvation. The amount of wear on the engine over a year and 2,000 miles of driving wouldn't be any different from 9 quarts vs 10 quarts in the system the whole time. On the otherhand being overfilled is a real and serious problem that can cause internal engine damage in extreem cases.
I am sure several on this forum would disagree but you are fine being in the middle with your oil level and adding a quart or two of another good quality simular oil will NOT harm a thing.
