Dry Sump

[kemo]

I have been reading about oil blow by onto the air filter and one of the causes is over filling and one of the cures is to lower the oil level so my question is does having low oil level cause any harm. Is it like in a car engine if the oil is low you can start sucking air causing the oil to foam. Does having low oil cause the oil temp to rise, what are other bad effects. What if you are a qt and a half low any problem.
kemo

 

[glider]

By "lower the oil level" it refers to lowering it between the full and add marks on the stick, generally 1/2 quart lower than full.

It will have some effect on the oil temps being it is circulating faster (less of it) and does not have the same time as the full measure would to stay in the tank and "cool" but the difference would be marginal at best.

It will really cause no ill effects to the engine in any case. The pickup is in the sump of the engine and as long as there is some oil in the system being the pickup is at the lowest point in the engine, it wouldn't have any problems related to picking up air into the system.

Being a quart an one half low would cause the remaining oil to run hotter but it shouldn't have a negative effect on the engine. It's not a good practice to run it that low.

 

[Hoople]

A Quart and 1/2 low on a 3 quart capacity? That does sound like a bit much to be low but I have seen engines which measured Nothing on the dip stick and they survived.. It was not pretty but they survived.

 

[sanec1]

Hi Kemo. Never thought I would be answering one of your posts. I think what you are reading is a trouble shooting guide and they are suggesting to lower the level if its too high (above the recommended level). I don't think they would suggest running an engine with less than the recommended amount. I think you would potentially run into high temps etc. Just my two cents since no one else has jumped in...

 

[Jack Klarich]

We have to remember what the boss said about the quart of old oil left in the crank case and oil galleries when we change our oil, minus that from the equation and we should be OK JMO:s

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

If you saw the video of the "complete oil change" it took awhile for a quart of oil to be pumped out, and like Capital Jack said, there is a lot of oil circulating and expending the heat on the way back to the cool oil tank, so I would think the temperature rise would be not very much if a quart or so down. That is why I drain my oil the first time to find out where exactly is too much (when it seeps out when parked on the side stand) and level on the dipstick so I do know the 3 quarts is too much (1/8" down from full mark when hot), and 2.5 quarts, 1/2 way between full mark and 1 quart down mark...via trial and error.