[RaymondT]

I just did my first oil change last week. Level ground, new filter, Mobil1 5W30 EP. Manual sez 4.75L/5.25qt w/filter. Just so happens, that's the exact quantity of the jug I bought at Walmart. BTW, the size of jugs Mobil packages their oil in varies a lot. I've seen 5L jugs, 4L jugs, 4.4L jugs, and finally this last one 4.73L.

So after the car's back on the ground, I put most of the jug in, run her up, check for leaks etc. Then I checked the dipstick - low! So I add the rest of the jug - still low, about 1/3 of the way from add to full. So I wind up putting about 2/3 of another liter/qt to get it to the full line for a total of 5.4L/6qts. And each time I add, I'm waiting a few minutes before checking it. Finally got it right on the full line. I figure the manual must be wrong, after all, I must have checked the level almost a dozen times getting it right on.

Fast forward 1 week. Checked the oil (paranoid now thanks to all the posts...) and I find I'm over the full mark. How much, I can't tell thanks to the lousy cable design of the dipstick. So I drained it out into a clean pan. No sign of fuel contamination - good! The oil's very warm, almost hot so it pours really well through the engine and right into the sump. I wind up leaving out the extra 2/3L and it's right on the full line. Manual was right! Can't explain the discrepancy other that the new oil was cold at the time and maybe took much longer to drain down to the sump. Next oil change, I'll pour in exactly 4.75L and check it after I've run it a few times.

Why am I boring you all with this? I work at a dealership and like to think I'm fairly skilled under the hood. If this could happen to me, it could happen anywhere. And I've had to drain off excessive oil on another 2.4 in an HHR for my in-laws after they got it back from the dealer. I wonder if the 2.4 design slows down the flow of oil into the sump. Maybe the oil baffle in the valve cover or it winds up flowing into the timing chain passage which takes awhile to drain down, or something else in the block passages.

And just maybe some of those high oil levels in other threads were not all fuel contamination but just an oil change with too much oil.

 

[Are-Ex-Eight]

I had to laugh when I was reading this. When I add too much oil to my RX-8 I just redline it for a while to burn the excess off.

Probably not a good or efficient idea in this Nox or Terrain.

Good info to know that the manual is correct. One question, when you drained your oil was your Equinox level or leaning back with the front tires on ramps?

 

[wrusprod]

what got my attention was the '5.25qt w/filter. thats the second time I have heard that amount...My manual says. 5qt.

 

[rjketche]

So after the car's back on the ground, I put most of the jug in, run her up, check for leaks etc. Then I checked the dipstick - low! So I add the rest of the jug - still low, about 1/3 of the way from add to full. So I wind up putting about 2/3 of another liter/qt to get it to the full line for a total of 5.4L/6qts. And each time I add, I'm waiting a few minutes before checking it. Finally got it right on the full line. I figure the manual must be wrong, after all, I must have checked the level almost a dozen times getting it right on.


This happened to me too, and I checked the dipstick about 10 times over maybe 15 minutes, The level never did get up to the fill line.
I had a 5 litre jug and poured in only the 4.75L recommended at first. Finally, I poured the remainder of the 5L jug into the engine and called it quits.
The next week I checked the dipstick, and found the level to be over the full mark as well. I couldn't really see where it was on the stick either - crappy cable design; but didn't drain any out at this time.
That was my first oil change at 2000kms, and I plan on changing again at about 5000kms (currently at 3400kms) as I wanted to get the original break in stuff out.
I figure hat it won't hurt to leave the extra bit of oil in the crankcase for a few months.
Also, interestingly, when I drained the FF out, it didn't all fit back into the old 5L jug. No smell of fuel or anything, but it certainly looks like the FF was in excess of 5L too!

 

[2011LT2]

I put 5 quarts in and it showed full. The manual says 5 quarts. too much oil is a bad thing for many engines, so good to drain excess. Plus this dipstick is stupid, hardest one I have even seen to read. I can never tell where it is, just that I see oil all the way up it to the cable. When I checked the oil with the factory fill, it seemed over full, although it did fit in the 5 quart container, but it seemed a little more full than when I bought it (bottle is a little more than 5qts, but comes with 5 qts in it), so probably factory fill was too much.

If by run her up you mean you ran the engine, then you need to wait several minutes before checking the level, because it will always check lower than when it all drains back down. Its almost better to check without running the engine at all, but I like to run the engine to warm it up and then shut it down and set for about 5-10 minutes.

I read another forum member say that a dealer technician said they put 5.5 quarts in, where are they finding this? Its not in my manual unless the 2010 manual is different.

Another potential reason may be the oil filter didnt seat correctly, do you attach it to the filter cap and spin them both on as one unit?

 

[RaymondT]

Good info to know that the manual is correct. One question, when you drained your oil was your Equinox level or leaning back with the front tires on ramps?

On stands, but the rear was still on the ground. The drain's at the back of the sump so this is ideal.

 

[RaymondT]

what got my attention was the '5.25qt w/filter. thats the second time I have heard that amount...My manual says. 5qt.

Your manual is correct. 5qt/4.7liters - I just checked. I was trying the conversion in my head late last night.

 

[RaymondT]

If by run her up you mean you ran the engine, then you need to wait several minutes before checking the level, because it will always check lower than when it all drains back down. Its almost better to check without running the engine at all, but I like to run the engine to warm it up and then shut it down and set for about 5-10 minutes.

I read another forum member say that a dealer technician said they put 5.5 quarts in, where are they finding this? Its not in my manual unless the 2010 manual is different.

Another potential reason may be the oil filter didnt seat correctly, do you attach it to the filter cap and spin them both on as one unit?

I let it drain for plenty of time as I was doing other things during the service. The filter is attached to the cap before inserting it into the block. You can feel the nipple enter it's passage before the cap threads touch.

 

[mjwalsh74]

I put 5 quarts in and it showed full. The manual says 5 quarts. too much oil is a bad thing for many engines, so good to drain excess. Plus this dipstick is stupid, hardest one I have even seen to read. I can never tell where it is, just that I see oil all the way up it to the cable. When I checked the oil with the factory fill, it seemed over full, although it did fit in the 5 quart container, but it seemed a little more full than when I bought it (bottle is a little more than 5qts, but comes with 5 qts in it), so probably factory fill was too much.

If by run her up you mean you ran the engine, then you need to wait several minutes before checking the level, because it will always check lower than when it all drains back down. Its almost better to check without running the engine at all, but I like to run the engine to warm it up and then shut it down and set for about 5-10 minutes.

I read another forum member say that a dealer technician said they put 5.5 quarts in[/color], where are they finding this? Its not in my manual unless the 2010 manual is different.

Another potential reason may be the oil filter didnt seat correctly, do you attach it to the filter cap and spin them both on as one unit?

This is what the Mechanic at the dealership said," Now remember this engine holds 5.5 quarts of oil and I have seen some issues with people not putting in enough oil".

 

[barhoc11]

Thanks for the post, I must mention that reading the oil level on this car is very hard. Is there a 'better' way to ready the dipstick after an oil change when fresh oil makes it even harder? To be honest, my first change I just did was hard to figure out... I guess the key is to drain as much out as possible and then put in 5quarts of new oil and call it a day?

 

[2011LT2]

I let it drain for plenty of time as I was doing other things during the service. The filter is attached to the cap before inserting it into the block. You can feel the nipple enter it's passage before the cap threads touch.

The main question would be is if you run the engine and then check the level, because it will take several minutes to drain it all back into the pan to get the correct level.

 

[Old Salt]

My last car was a Caddy with a 3.6L v6. The manual said 6+quarts per change. I had the dealer do it the last time, and the engine started "banging" after about twenty minutes of driving. After a week of this, I finally read the dealer's work order - the mech had put in 8 quarts of oil. I pulled the dipstick, and oil was about an inch and a half over the "full" mark. the book says too much oil will lead to engine damage. I suspect that that was what my "banging" was. Traded in on the Nox.

 

[2030louie]

I am trying to compare what owners drain out when changing oil with what I drain out. I was using Mobil 5000 and when drained I am 2 quarts short. Next time I used Pennzoil Platinum and when drained I was 1 1/2 quarts short. I always add 5 quarts of 5w30. Change my oil exactly every 5000 miles. I am now trying Mobil 1 fully synthetic and hope this will reduce the oil consumption.
Is there anyone out there who has found a motor oil that has reduced oil consumption on there 2.4L engine?
Can anyone else tell me what the rate of oil consumption with their particular brand or type of oil is?

 

[2030louie]

:help:

 

[RIT333]

After 5K, I usually end up with much less than a quart short of the fill-amount. I use 50% synthetic and 50% dyno. (my home-brew synthetic-blend - since no mfg will tell you what %age synthetic they use in their blend - my guess is that it is much closer to 1% than 99% - IMHO)

 

[RNOX]

Never had any oil loss on the Nox. 5 quarts (approx) come out and 5 go in. Current changes are syn blend (1st was concevtional). Since I drive low mileage I do change every 4 months

 

[WTHUNTER]

Did my first oil change last week. 5 quarts came out and I put 5 qts of full synthetic back in. The dip stick is the most difficult stick to read. I almost want to go to the dealer and ask them to show me how to read the dam thing.

 

[tsduke]

Yea, the dipstick on this thing is a joke indeed.