Rodney you Plonker

[Joloke]

Pritstick?
 

[cort16]

wrong dipstick?  My mate had a BX with the wrong dipstick in it, he only found out when he topped it up (with about 3 litres of oil) and it started smoking like an absolute bastard. I also had a BX at the time (I had a GT and he had a GTi) and when we took the dip sticks out mine was about 4 inches longer. God knows what his had come out of.

[gordonbennet]

A quick look in the handbook for facelift 124's shows the E220 4 pot capacity 5.8 litres engine oil, can't see the 230E being a lot different.

 

The 6 pots take around 7 litres.

[Richard]

I've always treated the oil capacity figure as a guide. It depends how much of the old oil you get out. Often there's an oil only and an oil with filter figure quoted, are you sure you have the right one?

[Richard]

I think it's more common than you realise, it's just more noticeable when the capacity is more than a full can of oil.

[billyboy406v6]

If its the correct dipstick, I would use those marks as a guide.

[twosmoke300]

So if I read this correctly - this thread is because a car holds slightly more oil than the manual says ?

 

Thrilling reading !

 

Tomorrow - "my car doesn't reach the official mpg figures "

[matty879]

what year is it?according to autodata theres many versions of the m102,having said that ive looked at a couple and it states 5 litres

[twosmoke300]

I would say over half the cars I work on take a different amount of oil to what Autodata or my oil suppliers look up says

[Kiltox]

Capacity surely always has a tolerance for people fucking up or there being some left in

 

I'm amazed you managed to drain out as much as you did to be honest

[lisbon_road]

Like Kiltox says.  There is a tolerance on the dipstick in particular and there are tolerances on everything else, plus good points above about filters, if that is all you have to worry about............

[danthecapriman]

When ever I do an oil and filter change I only ever go by the dip stick. I top it up so it's near or on the max mark, run the car for a bit to fill the filter up and check for any leaks. Then switch off and let it sit while I tidy up or have a cuppa.

Then check the level, if it's lower than the max mark I top it up until it's at or very close to the max mark.

In theory as long as it's between the min and max it should be ok but always go for as close to max as you can and never overfill.

I honestly couldn't tell you what the oil capacities are on any of my cars.

[HillmanImp]

It has never occurred to me to fill a car up based upon the capacity in the handbook, I have always just used the dipstick as a guide.

 

I did check the capacity the first time I changed the oil in my Jag though to see how much I needed to buy. Made me want to cry.

[tommotech]

So if I read this correctly - this thread is because a car holds slightly more oil than the manual says ?

 

Thrilling reading !

 

Tomorrow - "my car doesn't reach the official mpg figures "

Have you purchased a VW then?

 

Sometimes people just need help and reassurance, and that's as thrilling as it needs to get.

[twosmoke300]

You are right - cos I'm working on cars day in and day out it becomes easy to mock people over what seem silly questions . The kind of silly questions I ask about nearly every other subject bar car/bikes .

Sorry and as you were .

[Guest Lord Sward]

You might find that if you left the engine to drain down/out overnight, the 'missing' oil may very well appear.  My TD5 is like this and I'm sure Rover's L-series was similar.