Check Your Engine Oil Level!!!!!

[Geotrash]

Very hard to get an accurate level check within a centimeter or so. That's not enough of a difference to indicate a problem, in my opinion. Someone sitting in the passenger seat or a drop of oil on the wall of the pickup tube would be enough to throw the reading off by that much. Send it!

 

[Fireman591]

UPDATE----December 21st I took the Tahoe to the dealer for the headlight and airbag harness recall. They also performed an oil change and filled the engine with 8 quarts. When I got home I let the vehicle cool down and sit for a few hours. I checked the oil level and it was the same. So to make a long story short the engine with 8 quarts in it looks like it is overfilled but at least I know where the real full line is on the dipstick since the cross hatched area is pretty much useless. I had them pull a sample and I will send it to Blackstone Labs for testing. I doubt there is much fuel if any in the oil but better to be safe than sorry. The dealer ( Serra Chevy in Saginaw MI) was awesome. The gave me a 2021 Tahoe as a loaner and performed everything in the same day free of charge. I will post up in a few weeks with the test results. It was weird changing the oil at 900 miles but the lesson to be learned is check your oil level when you have 2 miles on the odometer LOL . Had I had a baseline I would not be as worried about fuel contamination.

 

[Stbentoak]

I owned a Ram Cummins that held 12 quarts. It took 13 to get it to register full on the crosshatches of the dipstick. For over 10 years I've put 13 qts in it. Doesn't mean a dang thing. Doesn't use a drop. If it was an 1/8 of an inch above full, I wouldn't begin to worry about it. On an 8 qt. engine even being overfilled by a quart is probably no reason for concern. Higher is def better than lower....
I check my vehicles oil level once a week.. Its usually pretty boring...

 

[Fireman591]

I owned a Ram Cummins that held 12 quarts. It took 13 to get it to register full on the crosshatches of the dipstick. For over 10 years I've put 13 qts in it. Doesn't mean a dang thing. Doesn't use a drop. If it was an 1/8 of an inch above full, I wouldn't begin to worry about it. On an 8 qt. engine even being overfilled by a quart is probably no reason for concern. Higher is def better than lower....
I check my vehicles oil level once a week.. Its usually pretty boring...

My main concern was not the level of oil it was is there any fuel in the oil. Now that I know the correct level on the dipstick with 8 quarts in it i can monitor the level to make sure it is not increasing instead of staying the same or decreasing. between the TSB on fuel in the oil and what happened to our Terrain years back I am paranoid LOL

 

[iamdub]

I'm gonna be that guy again: You sure the dealer obtained the sample per Blackstone's requirements? Or, are you even sure they obtained it from your engine and didn't just pour a few ounces of new oil in the sample bottle?

Not being pessimistic, just realistic. I ask because I, personally, have no reason to trust any GM dealership sales or service departments.


Back to the concern at hand: What is your MPG looking like? Is it close to what you should be getting? With such low mileage, it's likely to be lower than what it should or will be. But, if you were dumping enough gasoline into the crankcase to raise the level on the dipstick, even after accounting for what evaporates and gets burned through the PCV, your fuel economy would be suspiciously low.

 

[Fireman591]

I'm gonna be that guy again: You sure the dealer obtained the sample per Blackstone's requirements? Or, are you even sure they obtained it from your engine and didn't just pour a few ounces of new oil in the sample bottle?

Not being pessimistic, just realistic. I ask because I, personally, have no reason to trust any GM dealership sales or service departments.


Back to the concern at hand: What is your MPG looking like? Is it close to what you should be getting? With such low mileage, it's likely to be lower than what it should or will be. But, if you were dumping enough gasoline into the crankcase to raise the level on the dipstick, even after accounting for what evaporates and gets burned through the PCV, your fuel economy would be suspiciously low.

The gas mileage is around where it should be. Our dealer is owned by a friend of the family and we have been doing business with them for a long time. I usually pull my own samples but I wanted to make sure they got an accurate measurement of how much oil was in the engine when they drained it. They pulled out just over 7.5 quarts and whatever was left in the filter. I trust them and they are well aware I pull my own samples and will be testing my oil for the next two to three oil changes When you are spending 65k on a vehicle you plan to keep 10 years it is better to be safe than sorry.

 

[iamdub]

The gas mileage is around where it should be. Our dealer is owned by a friend of the family and we have been doing business with them for a long time. I usually pull my own samples but I wanted to make sure they got an accurate measurement of how much oil was in the engine when they drained it. They pulled out just over 7.5 quarts and whatever was left in the filter. I trust them and they are well aware I pull my own samples and will be testing my oil for the next two to three oil changes When you are spending 65k on a vehicle you plan to keep 10 years it is better to be safe than sorry.

You're fortunate to have a trustworthy dealer. I agree with the routine oil analyses. Looking forward to the results!

 

[Fireman591]

I got my lab results today. For the most part everything seems normal for a new engine with original oil. I will send in another sample from my second oil change and hopefully the metals and silicon number will be down.

 

[91RS]

I'm gonna be that guy again: You sure the dealer obtained the sample per Blackstone's requirements? Or, are you even sure they obtained it from your engine and didn't just pour a few ounces of new oil in the sample bottle?

Not being pessimistic, just realistic. I ask because I, personally, have no reason to trust any GM dealership sales or service departments.

Seriously? Wow. Do you trust your CPA or Doctor? Good grief. It would take more effort to get somebody else's used oil out of a drain bucket to put in the sample bottle and anyone with half a brain could tell if the oil in the sample bottle was new or used. Why would that even be a consideration even for the biggest hack when they were already standing there draining the oil?

 

[Fireman591]

Seriously? Wow. Do you trust your CPA or Doctor? Good grief. It would take more effort to get somebody else's used oil out of a drain bucket to put in the sample bottle and anyone with half a brain could tell if the oil in the sample bottle was new or used. Why would that even be a consideration even for the biggest hack when they were already standing there draining the oil?

We have been friends with the owner of this dealership for decades and the service folks are friends of mine so I doubt they would cheat. Besides the sample reflects the stuff you would find in the break in period. Going forward I will be pulling my own samples. I had them pull this one so they could measure what came out volume wise since the dipstick showed an overfill situation along with a TSB talking about fuel contamination. Plus this oil change was a free due to the overfill but it is looking like GM messed up the dipstick on this 5.3 v8. Now I know what 8 quarts looks like on the dipstick vs the info in the owners manual. Call me paranoid but once you pull an extra 3 quarts out of a vehicle (2010 Terrain) due to fuel contamination tell me how you feel going forward LOL