Checking engine oil

[Sweep]

Hi I did search for this but did not have much luck.
When checking the engine oil should it be checked after the engine has been run, so that the oil has been thinned out and has been coated on engine internals? Because when I check it cold it reads over full I take it all oil has dripped into sump and has thicken up, but when its been run it reads at half way. So am right in thinking that it should read full when shes warmed up an run?
Thanks

[vipfto]

best checked cold

[SG]

I was wondering that as i changed the oil the other day for the first time... searched everywhere because it looked like i overfilled it... a lot of people say to check at operating temperature as thats the main time the car is running and thats when you use the most performance of the car but whether enough oil in at op temperature is what the 'line' refers to as full is another matter.

A lot of dealers do it when warm now but thats not saying old cars are not set up for cold checking.

Although in the manual i got from NZ it says check at operating temperature...

"With the engine turned off and at operating temperature, check the oil level on the oil 'dipstick'.
1. To get a true reading the vehicle should be parked on level ground. After turning the engine off wait a few minutes
to let the oil settle on the bottom of the engine. Pull out the dipstick and wipe it with a rag.
2. Re-insert the dipstick and push it in as far as it will go.
3. Pull out the dipstick again and look at the level, if it is between 'F' and 'L' it is ok if not it should be topped up to"

and thats all it says...plus a few pictures.

although since it says F and L it may not be referring to a FTO.

However they do suffer from oil starvation issues the mivec engines so i would bet on full marker when warm.

[I8A4RE]

Seriously you can check it either cold or hot bu the main thing to take into consideration is if you are checking it hot you need to leave it at least 5 mins, 15 minutes is even better after turning the car off to let all the oil around the engine get back to the sump

[Bennoz]

How far over did I get it Sweep?

[Sweep]

Ben it was me that overfilled it, I checked the oil when it was hot and it was just under half so I added some more oil and when shes cold its a bit over full. Should I be worrying about this?
If i allow the car to cool down for 15 mins should it read full at that point. And not worry about what its at when its cold?
Since I degreased the motor I havent noticed it leaking any oil and that was including the drive to qld so im happy about that!
Thanks

[Bennoz]

Ah ok, what sort of distance on the dipstick over the full line is it when cold? If it's anything up to sort of 4-5mm I wouldn't worry too much about it. It'll burn out eventually.

[SG]

I think if you leave the engine to cool for more than 5-10 mins the reading will be inaccurate... As its meant for operating temperature...

[I8A4RE]

The engine hardly cools that much in 5-10 mins

[Sweep]

Ah ok, what sort of distance on the dipstick over the full line is it when cold? If it's anything up to sort of 4-5mm I wouldn't worry too much about it. It'll burn out eventually.

After leaving it to cool down for 15-20mins its reading 1/2 inch over full what do you recon?

[SG]

If the engine doesn't cool very much in 15 mins i need to drain some oil... thought it would have been slippery enough to fall back to the bottom in 5 min, should be dripping after that?

Mine is about 50% over full when cold but it has been fine.... I have heard people filling oil up to the cams + cam cover.. that is what you call over full, although crank hitting oil can reduce performance. There has been a dyno test that has proven that but it makes sense anyway to me.

[Bennoz]

Knife-edge your crank ftw!