oil change / tank capacity only

[jgurnari]

How much oil is in only the oil tank.. have only a 11qt catch tub and was going to empty the tank first, empty the tub, then empty remaining oil from engine. obviously pulling the plug from engine would overflow my tub! so must do it in stages..
hoping there is > 2qts in the tank

[83_Silberpfeil]

For my '83 SC, I changed the engine oil last Sunday. After draining oil into catch pan, I refilled old oil into the empty containers to get approximate measure/volume

Only 1 QT drained from the side tank --- this was quite a surprise; thought there would be a few QTS.

7QTS from the engine case

Total 8 QTS drained.

I filled with ~ 8.5 QTS of new oil. Haven't started the car yet.

Originally Posted by jgurnari

How much oil is in only the oil tank.. have only a 11qt catch tub and was going to empty the tank first, empty the tub, then empty remaining oil from engine. obviously pulling the plug from engine would overflow my tub! so must do it in stages..
hoping there is > 2qts in the tank

[spuggy]

Hmmm.

If motor is hot, most of the oil will be in the tank, only a few pints in the motor - there's 2x(?) scavenge capacity on the oil pump.

If motor is cold, there will be less in the tank/more in the motor. Exactly how much depends...

If motor both cold & left for some considerable time (months, probably), most of the oil will be in the sump and only a few pints in the tank.

[83_Silberpfeil]

Thanks for chiming in spuggy. Your 3 "ifs" helped answer a Q I had in my mind. My car has sat in the garage for the past 2, almost 3 years. So, this maps to your 3rd "If" statement.

Originally Posted by spuggy

Hmmm.

If motor is hot, most of the oil will be in the tank, only a few pints in the motor - there's 2x(?) scavenge capacity on the oil pump.

If motor is cold, there will be less in the tank/more in the motor. Exactly how much depends...

If motor both cold & left for some considerable time (months, probably), most of the oil will be in the sump and only a few pints in the tank.

[jgurnari]

Silberpfeil Why do you only have 8 QT's? should be at least 13, no?

Sounds like I should get car hot and empty the tank, empty that into container, then drain the engine?

Look at the photo, what in the world is the white milky stuff?! Never had a problem, no knocks nothing!! Car has always runs great.

Originally Posted by 83_Silberpfeil

Thanks for chiming in spuggy. Your 3 "ifs" helped answer a Q I had in my mind. My car has sat in the garage for the past 2, almost 3 years. So, this maps to your 3rd "If" statement.

[83_Silberpfeil]

Yeah, that's what I understand, have heard as well that capacity is ~ 13 liters. But, during oil change, even w hot engine, at most ~ 10 liters is drained; the remaining sits in the network of pipes and oil cooler/trombone, etc. I don't know why I only recovered ~ 8 quarts. May be the oil level was a bit low before the car went into hibernation.

Johannes explains in his oil system restoration (87 Carrera) video here @ 0:40 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbPnvMDWDmc

I've read here in the PP forum (IIRC) where someone goes for a spirited drive to get the engine up to temperature, then just before dropping the old oil, jack up the front of the car a bit so that more/max oil flows back to engine case and out of the drain.

So, yes, steps you describe below should work. That "white milky stuff" inside the oil filler neck --- no idea; have not seen it before.

Originally Posted by jgurnari

Silberpfeil Why do you only have 8 QT's? should be at least 13, no?

Sounds like I should get car hot and empty the tank, empty that into container, then drain the engine?

Look at the photo, what in the world is the white milky stuff?! Never had a problem, no knocks nothing!! Car has always runs great.

[GH85Carrera]

Draining the oil when scalding hot is just nuts. Yea, get it warmed up a bit, and then drain the oil. Working next to HOT mufflers or heat exchangers is no fun at all and down right dangerous.

Just my opinion.

[john walker's workshop]

10 Qts w/filter usually works for most 73-89 NA cars. Leaves the level between the dipstick marks when hot, level, at idle.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by jgurnari

Look at the photo, what in the world is the white milky stuff?!

Water/oil emulsion.

Ideally, the motor would get up to temperature immediately you started it - and so no water or condensation would get returned to the tank. In Real Life, this doesn't happen. Especially not in winter.

Just ensure to drive the car until it's fully warmed up every time. Realize that in winter, if you're not reaching oil temps of 212F (and even if you read that at the temp sensor, it may well be colder in the return lines/tank), the water is not "boiling out" of the oil.

Instead you're "steaming it out" - and this takes longer.

Maybe wipe that crud off the bottom of the filler cap every week or so.

[83_Silberpfeil]

For sure, let the engine and surrounding hot/burning parts cool down before actually working on the car. Keep it safe, very common sense.

Thanks for clarifying and stressing the point GH85!

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Draining the oil when scalding hot is just nuts. Yea, get it warmed up a bit, and then drain the oil. Working next to HOT mufflers or heat exchangers is no fun at all and down right dangerous.

Just my opinion.