Haven't posted in a while. Anyhow, my 2008 is now out of the free maintenance window, so back to doing my own minor work.
Anyhow, I changed the oil with 0W30 Total QuartzEnergy 9000 (one of the few LLA-025 oils in the USA), and everything is great so far. Fuel economy higher (was running 5W40 before).
Anyhow, I drained everything out and filled with 6L of oil. After running the engine to operating temp, shutting it down, and checking 5 minutes later, the oil level is slightly above the 'max' arrow. It is basically right on the dot atop of the hashed part of the stick. So, if the stick read on an exact, sliding scale, it might be 1/3 to 1/2 L beyond the hashed section of the dipstick.
I agree with greekfragma, but in your case it's a tough call. For sure a whole extra quart or two can cause foaming and interference problems, and ultimately lead to higher pressures and potentially blown seals. But I would guess that being 1/3 quart over won't do any harm.
If it's not horribly inconvenient, I'd suggest that you can put your gloves back on and drain out a half quart through the sump. Just back the plug out slowly and hold on to it (yes, it's messy, so put down some newspaper too and count on the oil running up your arm, so do it with the motor cool :roll: ).
If it is horribly inconvenient, I'd just let it ride. IMO, draining it out would be the result of an abundance of caution.
For future reference, while the spec might call for 6 quarts, in most cases you won't get all of the old oil out of the motor. Mine took about 5.5 quarts last change - and I let the oil drip and drain for almost an hour while I did other stuff.
Interesting. I just changed my oil and filter and put over 6 quarts (about 6 and a 1/4) back in before the oil level on the dip measured mid way between the stripes.... Now I'm wondering if I put too much in....
^^^^
I don't think you need to worry overly much, as long as things look OK on the dipstick. I bet there's a little variation in the real capacity due to machining differences etc. And there will always be variation in how much oil is held up in the motor - it might even vary with exactly how the motor stopped, how warm it was etc. However, you might take a look at the dipstick just to make sure it goes all the way in etc. You probably would have noticed by now if it wasn't...
FWIW, the manual is a little ambiguous - it says '6.3 quarts (oil change)' , so maybe I'm the one who's using too little.
This anomaly was discussed a few months ago. Another poster used aquarium tubing from a pet store and a food syringe to suck up oil instead of draining it. I tried the same thing with success. It seems that if you put in 6 litres or 6.3 quarts of oil, the oil level will be above full. I think 5.8 to 5.9 quarts is the correct amount. I will know next month when I change my oil. I have a little extra tubing but it is faster and cheaper to buy it rather than for me to send it.
Changed filter and drained for 45 minutes. I'll take some out. No big deal there. Anyhow, at least this dipstick is easier to read than the one on my 99 9-3 and the 9-5 that I no longer have.
In 20 yrs of working on cars never known of a seal failing due to slight overfill of oil,all my cars have been overfilled by 1/4 litre/250ml non have blown or had seal failure because of this.And my second to last car before the 9-3 did over 190k mls..
Saab's own recommendation for checking the oil on either the 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder gas engines is to check with the motor at operating temperature after being shut off for 3-5 minutes. Checking the oil in this scenario makes it just marginally 1/4 L over the full mark -- just covering the "full" lettering on the 4 cyl dipstick.
I don't really recall perfectly, but I seem to think the dealer was filling it to this level as well when it was under free maintenance.
Mike
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