Oil Capacity Question/Verification

[jfoj]

When the oil is completely poured out, not 8 quarts, but 8 liters of oil fit into our engine, this is absolutely accurate))) and 8 liters is already 8.45 quarts. Next, we have a nuance in how to insert the dipstick))) you can do it like in the photo and there will be a maximum level, or you can turn it 90 degrees to the side and we will get only half the level. So most likely 8 quarts, shows half the level in one position, or the dipstick is empty when turned 90 degrees)

Vladimir2306,

Thank you for your reponse, which is they type of reply I was looking for. I did not want to hear the crowd chiming in that the spec indicates 8 quarts, I can read just as well as the rest of the crowd. I felt something strange was up here based on my first crack at the L87 6.2l. As mentioned I checked the oil level before drain and fill as I wanted to see where the level was showing on the dipstick. When I started with 7 quarts to make sure I would not over fill, I was rather surprised/shocked when even at 8 qts was not showing on the dipstick and i need to the 9th qt.

I will test the dipstick position/rotation as this is the first I have heard of this. My 2005 6.0l Denali has a flattend dipstick tube and twist in the dipstick, so it was rather strange how this dipstick was installed and there was only a few ways he dipstick would fit in the tube. Since having my 2005 for 20 years, after clearly learning how much oil the engine took, after the first few oil changes, I felt very comfortable putting the 6 quarts in the engine and moving on.

After hearing about the L87 oil useage, engine failures and so forth, I wanted to make 100% the oil level was correct and I was macthing the factory oil fill on the dipstick. Given these direct injected engine also tend to contaminate the oil with fuel so easily, starting out with the proper oil level is crucial. I think many of these engine engine bearing failures are probably related to low oil level and fuel dilution of the engine oil. The 0W20 oil is already so thin, add fuel to the oil and now you are lubricating the engine with a solvent rather than oil!!

I just went out and and checked the engine oil after the vehicle has been sitting for 4 days and the dipstick shows full, not over full. I quickly tried different rotations of the dipstick and so far there is no variation that I noticed. I will continuely watch for the dipstick position as well as possible oil level increase over the top hash marks, but at this moment, the dipstick matches the factory fill level I had when first checked and this is with 9 qts, not 8 qts. I also fill pre-fill the oil filter before installing as well. Note if you do this, many filters take a while for the oil to purge the air out behind the filter material, so fill the filter while you are draining the oil and keep topping it off before the final install! And for the ones that want to question my process, this oil filter prefil was planned fromt the total 8 qts I expected the engine to require, not prefill the filter, then add 8 qts to the engine. My current situation is 9 qts total for oil filter prefill and crankcase.

The quesion about what oil filter I am running, currently as standard size Purolator BOSS PBL22500. The way oil filter is nested in next to the oil pan, you cannot run a larger diameter filter, you could possibly run a longer filter if you found something compatible. I am also running 2 FilterMAG units on the the oil filter, tight fit between the oil pan and a magnetic oil drain plug. I also plan on oil analysis for every oil change to track engine wear and fuel dilution. Not sure what OCI I plan on following, but most likely 4000-4500 miles, no way am I relying fully in the OCI/OLM. I will watch that as well based on the type of driving/engine hours, but I expect for my driving style, 4000 miles my be my OCI. I will also be watching oil consumption closely, checking every 500 miles to see how, much, if any oil is being consumed.

So until I see that the dipstick tells me otherwise, I will be running 9 qts of oil in my engine.

Does anyone know/can confirm if and when the Low Oil Level will trigger in these engine? How many quarts low before this message/sensor is triggered? I have had my 2005 6.0l Yukon Denali for 20 years and I have NEVER seen this low oil level light/indication. I became pretty confident in the behavior of my 6.0l, but even at almost 300k miles, I am probably a bit lax about regular oil level checks, but I have NEVER had any sort of Low Oil Level indication. I know from other manufacturers that often do not even have a dipstick you need to rely 100% on the low oil level indicator, but I have seen many of these sensors malfuction as well, so I still do not put 100% of my trust in the oil level sensors in any vehicle/engine.

My goal is to hopefuly have this L87 6.2l have bearing failures like many owners have suffered from. I really do not trust the 0W20 oil recommendation along with fuel contamination on direct injected engine, but I will wait and see what the oil analysis indicates.

As the world turns, we will see what others seem to find with their L87's in the Yukon/Tahoe/Surburbans.

 

[Vladimir2306]

Vladimir2306,

Thank you for your reponse, which is they type of reply I was looking for. I did not want to hear the crowd chiming in that the spec indicates 8 quarts, I can read just as well as the rest of the crowd. I felt something strange was up here based on my first crack at the L87 6.2l. As mentioned I checked the oil level before drain and fill as I wanted to see where the level was showing on the dipstick. When I started with 7 quarts to make sure I would not over fill, I was rather surprised/shocked when even at 8 qts was not showing on the dipstick and i need to the 9th qt.

I will test the dipstick position/rotation as this is the first I have heard of this. My 2005 6.0l Denali has a flattend dipstick tube and twist in the dipstick, so it was rather strange how this dipstick was installed and there was only a few ways he dipstick would fit in the tube. Since having my 2005 for 20 years, after clearly learning how much oil the engine took, after the first few oil changes, I felt very comfortable putting the 6 quarts in the engine and moving on.

After hearing about the L87 oil useage, engine failures and so forth, I wanted to make 100% the oil level was correct and I was macthing the factory oil fill on the dipstick. Given these direct injected engine also tend to contaminate the oil with fuel so easily, starting out with the proper oil level is crucial. I think many of these engine engine bearing failures are probably related to low oil level and fuel dilution of the engine oil. The 0W20 oil is already so thin, add fuel to the oil and now you are lubricating the engine with a solvent rather than oil!!

I just went out and and checked the engine oil after the vehicle has been sitting for 4 days and the dipstick shows full, not over full. I quickly tried different rotations of the dipstick and so far there is no variation that I noticed. I will continuely watch for the dipstick position as well as possible oil level increase over the top hash marks, but at this moment, the dipstick matches the factory fill level I had when first checked and this is with 9 qts, not 8 qts. I also fill pre-fill the oil filter before installing as well. Note if you do this, many filters take a while for the oil to purge the air out behind the filter material, so fill the filter while you are draining the oil and keep topping it off before the final install! And for the ones that want to question my process, this oil filter prefil was planned fromt the total 8 qts I expected the engine to require, not prefill the filter, then add 8 qts to the engine. My current situation is 9 qts total for oil filter prefill and crankcase.

The quesion about what oil filter I am running, currently as standard size Purolator BOSS PBL22500. The way oil filter is nested in next to the oil pan, you cannot run a larger diameter filter, you could possibly run a longer filter if you found something compatible. I am also running 2 FilterMAG units on the the oil filter, tight fit between the oil pan and a magnetic oil drain plug. I also plan on oil analysis for every oil change to track engine wear and fuel dilution. Not sure what OCI I plan on following, but most likely 4000-4500 miles, no way am I relying fully in the OCI/OLM. I will watch that as well based on the type of driving/engine hours, but I expect for my driving style, 4000 miles my be my OCI. I will also be watching oil consumption closely, checking every 500 miles to see how, much, if any oil is being consumed.

So until I see that the dipstick tells me otherwise, I will be running 9 qts of oil in my engine.

Does anyone know/can confirm if and when the Low Oil Level will trigger in these engine? How many quarts low before this message/sensor is triggered? I have had my 2005 6.0l Yukon Denali for 20 years and I have NEVER seen this low oil level light/indication. I became pretty confident in the behavior of my 6.0l, but even at almost 300k miles, I am probably a bit lax about regular oil level checks, but I have NEVER had any sort of Low Oil Level indication. I know from other manufacturers that often do not even have a dipstick you need to rely 100% on the low oil level indicator, but I have seen many of these sensors malfuction as well, so I still do not put 100% of my trust in the oil level sensors in any vehicle/engine.

My goal is to hopefuly have this L87 6.2l have bearing failures like many owners have suffered from. I really do not trust the 0W20 oil recommendation along with fuel contamination on direct injected engine, but I will wait and see what the oil analysis indicates.

As the world turns, we will see what others seem to find with their L87's in the Yukon/Tahoe/Surburbans.

The low pressure sensor is triggered approximately when there are about 5-6 liters of oil left in the engine. But this is already a disaster, if you see a low pressure signal, it means that most likely the engine has already received a problem. As for the fuel in the oil, yes, it is, there are many cases when up to 4-5% of fuel is found in the oil, this is if there is a lot of calm city driving, so it is recommended to let the engine run at high rpm, at least 3000-3500. To do this, you can switch to manual automatic transmission mode, and forcibly switch to gears below. And also, the engine can overflow the oil level, up to 0.5 liters without problems. Most likely, this is the reserve for filling the oil with fuel. 4-5% is about 300-400 milliliters))

 

[jfoj]

Vladimir,

I assume you meant Low Oil Level vs Low Oil Pressure? because you mentioned 5-6 liters of oil.

Assuming the engine really requires effectively 8.75 liters/9 quarts and the Low Oil Level sensor does not alert you until there is 5-6 liters oil left in the engine, this means you are about 3 quarts low on oil for lubrication, cooling AND if this smaller amount of oil has fuel contamination, you are effectively lubricating your engine with a SOLVENT! give 0W20 with fuel dilution. Not a very good situation for long term life out of any engine!

 

[Vladimir2306]

Vladimir,

I assume you meant Low Oil Level vs Low Oil Pressure? because you mentioned 5-6 liters of oil.

Assuming the engine really requires effectively 8.75 liters/9 quarts and the Low Oil Level sensor does not alert you until there is 5-6 liters oil left in the engine, this means you are about 3 quarts low on oil for lubrication, cooling AND if this smaller amount of oil has fuel contamination, you are effectively lubricating your engine with a SOLVENT! give 0W20 with fuel dilution. Not a very good situation for long term life out of any engine!

Yes, of course, I meant low oil levels. To prevent the oil from being wasted by fuel, the car must be allowed to run regularly at above-average speeds, so that the fuel evaporates from the oil. Well, and monitor the oil level with a dipstick. My oil consumption is like this, about 2500 miles after changing the oil, the level does not change, and then every 600 miles I add about 0.5 liters. But, we decided to conduct a small experiment, carried out some work on the engine. There is a suspicion that oil consumption will decrease. So far I have driven about 600 miles, of which approximately 200 miles was driving on the highway at 110 mph and the oil level has not decreased. But we are watching

 

[jfoj]

Fuel dilution on these Direct Injection engines seems to be a funtion of how many cold starts with short drives are made, ambient outside temps (more of a problem in the Winter months), city driving with a lot of idle and stop and go driving without much highway or long duration sustained higher RPM driving. I think there may be a baseline amount of fuel dilition on all these Direct Injected engines, but how the vehicle is used, the climate contions and driving conditions as well as how much City vs Highway driving if in the mix. Really a wild card for each owner, so it would be false for one member to say they have no fuel dilution and have others think because one member does not have much of a problem that they should not worry about fuel dilition. Fuel dilution will start to contribute to higher oil consumption as well.

Thank god these engines still have a dipstick, so many new engines don't. Check your oil at least every other fill up (approximately every 500-600 miles depending on driving conditions) BUT ALSO SMELL THE OIL FOR FUEL!!!! Rather than trying to smell a dipstick, wipe the oil on a clean cloth/paper towel and then smell the paper towel and/or also remove the oil fill cap and smell the bottom of the oil fill cap. It really harsh Winter conditions, I often pop the hood, pull the oil fill cap after the engine and oil is fully warmed up and allow the crankcase to vent fuel and water vapors out until the engine cools. Keep a baggy handy if you choose to do this and put the bag with the oil fill cap somewhere you will see it before you start the engine and drive off! If you pull the oil fill cap, maybe bring it inside the house and put your keyfob on it so you do not accidently remote start the engine without the oil fill cap installed!!

Clean oil at the appropriate level is the lifeblood of any engine and these newer engines with all the DFM/AFM and so forth, it appears to be even more important.

As they say, oil is cheaper than steel!

 

[Kpwweb]

The absolute last word on this would be how much oil came out of the engine? If you refilled the new oil containers with the old oil, like I do, how much old oil did you put in the new containers?

I have changed my oil since day 1. Two containers at one gallon each and done. I also put some in the filter (horror!). But my engine has been 8 qts all the time. Extra tow, heavy duty cooling, etc…

 

[fondupot]

So let me ask you this, playing devils advocate. If you continue to run 9 quarts and eventually have engine troubles. You're warranty claims will be denied because you are not using the specified amount of oil. You are willingly neglecting it.

You can run around the logic in your head as much as you want. But the spec is 8 quarts! Why mess with it. Overfilling oil leads to aerating the oil, which leads to foaming, which leads to oil starvation, oil starvation = bad.

Sorry if that's not what you want to hear. You came here asking for advice, the correct advice was supplied.

 

[jfoj]

The absolute last word on this would be how much oil came out of the engine? If you refilled the new oil containers with the old oil, like I do, how much old oil did you put in the new containers?

I have changed my oil since day 1. Two containers at one gallon each and done. I also put some in the filter (horror!). But my engine has been 8 qts all the time. Extra tow, heavy duty cooling, etc…

I rarely see 4 quart containers readily available, most of what I see are 5 qt containers, but you must buy something special.

While you indicate that you fill your containers with what came out of the engine, the oil filter will not easily and completely drain with the oil drain back valve and the filter media holding oil.

I am starting to wonder if anyone ever really uses and looks at their dipstick closely?

 

[Jay P Wy]

My 19 Denali 6.2l had a weird issue like you describe. The dealer actually found it when they did the 1st oil change. The tech put in 8 quarts like it supposed to take and almost nothing on the dipstick (just barely touching the bottom of the dip stick). Tech calls me back to show me and the service writer what he sees. They went and got a dipstick out of a new 6.2l on the lot and bingo oil is full. They compared the two and the one from my truck was shorter than the other. I got the dipstick out of the new truck and they ordered on for the new truck. Service guy said that was the first time he had ever had a dipstick issue in his 20 years.

 

[jfoj]

So let me ask you this, playing devils advocate. If you continue to run 9 quarts and eventually have engine troubles. You're warranty claims will be denied because you are not using the specified amount of oil. You are willingly neglecting it.

You can run around the logic in your head as much as you want. But the spec is 8 quarts! Why mess with it. Overfilling oil leads to aerating the oil, which leads to foaming, which leads to oil starvation, oil starvation = bad.

Sorry if that's not what you want to hear. You came here asking for advice, the correct advice was supplied.

I plan on running what ever amount of oil is required to read full on the dipstick. First change was 9 quarts, assume future changes will be the same? I am not worried about an engine failure for being on the high side of the oil level, the low side sure this will be a problem!

Just to correct your last statement, I dd not come here asking for advise or for how much oil should be put in the engine, I specifically asked if anyone had used/required 9 quarts for an oil change to show full on the dipstick. One poster clearly stated 8.0 liters/8.5 qts is what he needed, but he was using Liter bottles or Liter multples so this pretty much backs up what I was seeing. 1/2 qt or 16 oz difference spread over the are of the upper part of the oil pan would be very hard to detect, but I specifically matched the level on the dipstick based on the factory fill level.

Additionaly I have searched a lot and found since the 6.2l was out even a number of years back, I found many comments about 9 quarts for these engine was being used. Some indicated it shops put 8.5 qts in and charged/billed for 9 quarts.

I am basing everything on the dipstick level, which if anyone pays attention too it seems to barely or not even register once the engine is 1 qt low. Unlike the 6.0l where you would have the ability to read oil at 2 to 2 1/2 qts low, not on these engine. I refilled my engine to the exact level on the dipstick that the engine was delivered from the factory. I even started out with 7 qts and worked my way up to 9 qts due to the fact that 7 and 8 qts would not even register on the dipstick.

Again, I do not want to hear about the "spec" I have seen it, read it and found it in my case to be incorrect.

Glad everyone seems to find their dipsticks show full to the top of the hash marks with 8 qts, but this is not the case on my vehicle.