AZS2KDancer

windhund116

Top it off. Keep an eye on the level, with every fill-up.

At least, this is what I'd do.

zeroptzero

you are still in the very safe zone for typical street driving, you could top it off or go a bit longer it depends on how anal you are about it. I lost an engine so after that I kept it topped full at all times. It really doesn't get dangerously low until you are below the lower mark, and usually on a track doing high -g cornering. Better safe than sorry though.

HarryD

Two x's below the top when completely cold overnight?

So, it's not even at the halfway point??

I'm surprised some of you guys are saying top it up. Haven't you heard of oil expanding when the motor is hot?

If you have it at the absolute top on a cold motor, it'll be 1-2 X's ABOVE the max line when hot...

I top mine up when it's near the bottom 2 X's on a cold motor (because at that level, it's near the halfway/mid mark on a hot motor). But I've learned how much my motor slips after years of careful, habitual checking at each gas fill-up.

rrounds

Also on a cold engine like after sitting all night the filter "could" leak oil back to the pan. That "could" give you a slightly false reading. I run a filter that holds more than twice the oil of the Honda filter and I always check it when I fill up(gas) or before a long spirited drive when the engine is hot. But I don't top off till I can put in 3/4 qt.

ROD

darcyw

the difference in volume change cold VS. hot oil is imperceptible (coefficient of expansion stuff here).

darcy

rpg51

I top it off in that situation.

freq

plankfarm

I'd top it off.
What do you have to lose?
You said you plan to have it forever- treat it well.
AP1s are notorious for catastrophic events due to low oil.
You'd kick yourself hard if something happened and you knew you could have prevented it with less than $5 worth of oil.

HarryD

Haha. Oil threads on s2ki are generally [oil] pissing matches, so I'll bite.

Let's say the motor oil temperature after a spirited drive is 250°F and on a cold start on a cold morning at rest, it's 60°F -- that gives us a Delta T of 190°F.

Volumetric Coefficient of Expansion of "Oil (unused engine oil)" is ~0.0004 (in units of (1/°F).
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/v...ion-d_315.html

Assuming:

• 5.1 quarts of motor oil (V0 - initial volume)
• 0.0004 (β - volumetric temperature expansion coefficient (1/°F))
• 60°F (t0 - initial temperature)
• 250°F (t1 - final temperature )

Change in Volume - dV - (quarts): 0.3876
Final Volume - V1 - (quarts): 5.4876

Quoting xViper, "ALL of the 'hash marks' (or X's) equal ONE QUART. I believe there are 5 X's, so each one would be 1/5 qt [0.2 qt]."

So we're looking at a change of ~0.3876 quarts, which should appear as [almost] 2 X marks!

P.S. Here's an article from Click and Clack on "When should you check your oil?"
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=20020725&id=Px0VAAAAIBAJ&s jid=5QMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6788,2706616

But in all seriousness, ignore my gibberish above and here's a note from our very own Billman: