The latest YouTube video made me do a double take. I have a Ram RHO and if I put 7.5 qts of oil in mine, the oil level is on the one notch before the red, not right at it. If I put 8 quarts in then it goes right up to the red. In the owners manual it shows the ok example as the one notch above max. I've done 2 changes with 7.5 quts going to the ok mark in the attached photo. Would stink to blast a dealership for doing it wrong when they did it right?
Thanks for sharing your results. There could be a subtle calibration difference between vehicles, who knows.
My experience when measuring oil out and measuring oil in is that the SO takes exactly 7.5qts with a filter change to end up around 3 o'clock, the mark that reads max, but not in the red. I verified this with Barry at CTECH-Review on his RHO, he had the same experience but I'll validate again with him.
I also found many folks in the hurricane groups with the same experience, in your image next to "Oil Level Ok", most people say that mark is a result of 7qt fill, not 7.5qt so that's interesting. What then ends up happening is....many overfill it and receive messages.
7qts vs 7.5qts isn't the end of the world as I said in the video, however, when these trucks hit 100k with DI and are maybe burning a little oil, every bit counts IMO. I don't think I was too hard on the dealership. When I talked to them, they offered to send a mobile tech out to top it off, and they told me it should be up to the line I specified in the video. I still stand by my theory though, I think they are trying to prevent overfill messages and just playing it safe with 7qts.
There is likely some variance. I've seen quite a few end up with the "ok" from the above with 7.5 quart fill. When I did my first at 500 without changing filters I used 7 qt and it went back to the same place. I've enjoyed your videos, and came across the channel while truck shopping (had a 6.2 finally drop a lifter on me). The overfill on the Toyota yeah that's actually dangerous. I'm changing mine tomorrow so out of curiosity I added oil to get right up to the red mark... 8 quarts. At this point we're talking probably like 1/16" from the top of a hash mark on a dipstick. Not enough I'd really even blink over. I think there's plenty of legitimate horrible things to get loud about, but I wouldn't have listed this one. My opinion isn't worth anything on the internet and its not my channel, but the internet is full of us lol. I just felt like given the specs and owners manual .... it actually made me think it was just clickbait. I hate clickbait more than I do bad polishing on cranks.
There's some really clever engineering going on that no one is actually reporting on.... Just a hint, do a deep dive on how Stellantis controls NOx emissions in the high output without EGR. It's pretty clever. There's a lot of stuff like that I'd like to see covered more.
AFAIK (and my knowledge is very limited) what does DI have to do with oil use? Intake valve deposits yeah... oil use... low tension rings, undersized ports in the piston, lots of stuff... but what is the mechanism of oil consumption with DI? Cold starts you can get some higher fuel dilution due to wash, but I'm unaware of how it would actually affect oil level.
loneaggie wrote:
AFAIK (and my knowledge is very limited) what does DI have to do with oil use? Intake valve deposits yeah... oil use... low tension rings, undersized ports in the piston, lots of stuff... but what is the mechanism of oil consumption with DI? Cold starts you can get some higher fuel dilution due to wash, but I'm unaware of how it would actually affect oil level.
You are probably right to a certain extent, I may be conflating the result (more oil burn) to DI, when it's more than just DI, it's the overall design that includes DI.
1: Higher cylinder pressures from DI and turbocharging put more stress on the rings.
2: Greater fuel dilution can affect ring sealing over time.
3: Lack of fuel on the intake valves leads to carbon buildup as you said, which can contribute to oil consumption in some engines.
4: Low tension piston rings are used to reduce friction and improve fuel economy, but they can be more susceptible to sticking if deposits build up. It does depend on design here though and choices on cylinder walls.
5: Thinner oils (0W-20, 0W-16, 0W-8 etc.) are more common today. They aren't inherently bad, but there's less margin if an engine starts consuming oil.
6: Longer oil change intervals on some vehicles can also contribute to ring deposits over high mileage, but many people still have oil burn with short intervals.
Here's a revision that would be more accurate 😃. "When these trucks hit 100k+ miles, many modern DI turbo engines start to consume at least some oil, so I personally like having the full specified capacity in the crankcase. Half a quart may not matter on a fresh engine, but it gives you a little more buffer between oil changes as the engine ages."