Oil Level "Between L & H"
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Joined: Sep 2011
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Oil Level "Between L & H"
Hey guys,
Did a bunch of searching on here today and noticed something.
Most on this forum fill their oil to the top "H" mark on the dipstick despite sometimes being over the recommended 5.1 quarts (even BIllm). I think this might be wrong.
The "H" might stand for "High" and NOT "Full" (like on the clutch reservoir for instance, it reads "full"). The Manual reads to fill the oil until it reads BETWEEN the L & H and does not say to fill to the H. I think filling to the H makes users add too much oil, especially when they add over 5.1 - 6 quarts to get there. I think "H" stands for on the verge of too high, where "L" stands for on the verge of too low and we should aim to be in the happy middle. I think Honda's intention was for us to try to avoid the 'H" just as much as we all already avoid the "L". Am I wrong in what I did by keeping the oil at the 3rd hash mark (cold check) this whole season.
Did a bunch of searching on here today and noticed something.
Most on this forum fill their oil to the top "H" mark on the dipstick despite sometimes being over the recommended 5.1 quarts (even BIllm). I think this might be wrong.
The "H" might stand for "High" and NOT "Full" (like on the clutch reservoir for instance, it reads "full"). The Manual reads to fill the oil until it reads BETWEEN the L & H and does not say to fill to the H. I think filling to the H makes users add too much oil, especially when they add over 5.1 - 6 quarts to get there. I think "H" stands for on the verge of too high, where "L" stands for on the verge of too low and we should aim to be in the happy middle. I think Honda's intention was for us to try to avoid the 'H" just as much as we all already avoid the "L". Am I wrong in what I did by keeping the oil at the 3rd hash mark (cold check) this whole season.
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 7,340
Likes: 110
disagree. I want the most oil possible that honda has engineered the motor for, for two reasons. One, less chance of starvation during spirited driving and secondly, more oil=more tbn,cooling effect,etc. Think about under high cornering load, how much oil can possibly get displaced in the pan...
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 422
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From: Ewa Beach HI
I agree with starchland. Ive never heard of there being a problem of too much oil (barring the obvious oil all over the place scenario). I wouldnt recommend filling it past the H but filling to it should be just fine. Honda would not make an indicator on something like a dipstick indicate a DO NOT PASS OR DAMAGE MAY OCCUR *seriously. The dipstick is a pretty ballpark measuring device too so Im sure honda and all other manufacturers build in quite a bit of tolerance.
On you being wrong what you did, I dont think you did anything wrong. There was just some room left for more oil.
On you being wrong what you did, I dont think you did anything wrong. There was just some room left for more oil.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 37,305
Likes: 18
I don't know where people come up with these ideas. In the whole history of the modern day automobile and internal combustion engines, "H" equates to "F" (full), depending on who makes the dipstick. Some dipsticks won't even have a letter at each end, just a bunch of "X's" or "diamonds" for those who are X-challenged. Some even just have 2 etched lines on the stick just in case it creates sleepness nights for the few who seem to just have to analyze it to death. "H" does NOT mean overfilled. "H" is simply a designation by which the owner uses as the indication of where to aim for as the most oil an engine should have. In fact, it can have a little more. As much as 0.2 to 0.4 will cause no ill effects. The S2000 even has a "windage" tray under the crankshaft. Go ahead, look it up and see what that means. Even those engines that don't have one can still take a slight overfill without anything bad happening.
Similarly, the "L" mark at the bottom of the dipstick is just an indicator of when to add some more oil. Running it a bit below is also not life threatening to the motor. I've seen people run their S2000 motors down so low, it took nearly 3 qts (or L) to bring it back up and it suffered no lasting effects. So long as the oil sits somewhere within the "hash" marks, all is well. You don't even have to measure it in with a syringe or check it 20 times repeated just to make sure it's where it should be. Be more concerned about the quality of the gas at your neighborhood Centex discount gas station.
The topic of oil always seems to generate such "over thinking". Are people really that bored? Do they stay up nights coming up with weird notions of how things ought to be? Get laid. Sleep. This is a fairly worthless concern. I think I have now heard it all. I can ride into the sunset with complete contentment in the knowledge that I've pretty much heard every dumb automotive question there is.
Similarly, the "L" mark at the bottom of the dipstick is just an indicator of when to add some more oil. Running it a bit below is also not life threatening to the motor. I've seen people run their S2000 motors down so low, it took nearly 3 qts (or L) to bring it back up and it suffered no lasting effects. So long as the oil sits somewhere within the "hash" marks, all is well. You don't even have to measure it in with a syringe or check it 20 times repeated just to make sure it's where it should be. Be more concerned about the quality of the gas at your neighborhood Centex discount gas station.
The topic of oil always seems to generate such "over thinking". Are people really that bored? Do they stay up nights coming up with weird notions of how things ought to be? Get laid. Sleep. This is a fairly worthless concern. I think I have now heard it all. I can ride into the sunset with complete contentment in the knowledge that I've pretty much heard every dumb automotive question there is.
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 5,539
Likes: 6
From: McKinney, TX
I don't know where people come up with these ideas. In the whole history of the modern day automobile and internal combustion engines, "H" equates to "F" (full), depending on who makes the dipstick. Some dipsticks won't even have a letter at each end, just a bunch of "X's" or "diamonds" for those who are X-challenged. Some even just have 2 etched lines on the stick just in case it creates sleepness nights for the few who seem to just have to analyze it to death. "H" does NOT mean overfilled. "H" is simply a designation by which the owner uses as the indication of where to aim for as the most oil an engine should have. In fact, it can have a little more. As much as 0.2 to 0.4 will cause no ill effects. The S2000 even has a "windage" tray under the crankshaft. Go ahead, look it up and see what that means. Even those engines that don't have one can still take a slight overfill without anything bad happening.
Similarly, the "L" mark at the bottom of the dipstick is just an indicator of when to add some more oil. Running it a bit below is also not life threatening to the motor. I've seen people run their S2000 motors down so low, it took nearly 3 qts (or L) to bring it back up and it suffered no lasting effects. So long as the oil sits somewhere within the "hash" marks, all is well. You don't even have to measure it in with a syringe or check it 20 times repeated just to make sure it's where it should be. Be more concerned about the quality of the gas at your neighborhood Centex discount gas station.
The topic of oil always seems to generate such "over thinking". Are people really that bored? Do they stay up nights coming up with weird notions of how things ought to be? Get laid. Sleep. This is a fairly worthless concern. I think I have now heard it all. I can ride into the sunset with complete contentment in the knowledge that I've pretty much heard every dumb automotive question there is.
Similarly, the "L" mark at the bottom of the dipstick is just an indicator of when to add some more oil. Running it a bit below is also not life threatening to the motor. I've seen people run their S2000 motors down so low, it took nearly 3 qts (or L) to bring it back up and it suffered no lasting effects. So long as the oil sits somewhere within the "hash" marks, all is well. You don't even have to measure it in with a syringe or check it 20 times repeated just to make sure it's where it should be. Be more concerned about the quality of the gas at your neighborhood Centex discount gas station.
The topic of oil always seems to generate such "over thinking". Are people really that bored? Do they stay up nights coming up with weird notions of how things ought to be? Get laid. Sleep. This is a fairly worthless concern. I think I have now heard it all. I can ride into the sunset with complete contentment in the knowledge that I've pretty much heard every dumb automotive question there is.
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,601
Likes: 103
From: Toronto
