Date:         Sun, 22 May 2011 23:19:51 -0700
Reply-To:     Kim Springer <kimspringer@ASTOUND.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Springer <kimspringer@ASTOUND.NET>
Subject:      Re: Between the notches -- rudimentary oil level question
In-Reply-To:  <BANLkTimiHMLTOzWuwXS-+S6rDOjmtvfApQ@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Reminds me of a family story: My dad, who is 91 now and a fine furniture
maker, and I delivered a piece of furniture he made to a clients home,
probably 25 years ago now. Really nice place, even the driveway was
beautiful.

We delivered it in his '66 single cab, which he still has. After we had
taken the piece of furniture into the house, set it in place and collected
the check, we went back to the truck. The homeowner commented that the truck
left oil on the driveway.

To that my dad said,"I don't worry about the engine when it leaks oil, I
worry when it stops leaking oil".

I think the same can be true for the water cooled motors, but I guess it
depends where the leak is. (Vanagon content added intentionally). In any
case, no need to shoot for the top line on the dipstick in my opinion.
There's still plenty of oil flying around in the case when it's running at
3K RPM when the level is near the bottom line.

Kim

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Paul
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2011 8:45 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Between the notches -- rudimentary oil level question

Oil is relatively cheap and I'm putting it into a 25 year young engine. To
be honest I'm just glad it gets me down the road, with envious eyes checking
me out. Maybe it's the smoke screen they be lookin' at, nah it's gotta be my
ride....
everybody gotta take tings a litttle less seriously cause it's no fun being
on call all the time. it is what it is run with it until it stops and then
go further............if you can
I'm Gandhi,
happy trails
paul r

On Sun, May 22, 2011 at 10:50 AM, <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote:

> ---- Paul <wognacious@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > I've found, over the years, that you can never ever put to much oil in a
> > 1.9L. No matter how much I put in it will always show half way on the
> > dipstick, at some point. But seriously it seems like that's the way it
> > works.
>
> If that is what is happening, the extra oil is leaking out or is being
> burned.  And that would be true for any vehicle.  Of course, most modern
> vehicles come with a manufacturer claim that it is "normal" for the
vehicle
> to "use" some oil so that the dipstick level declines over time.  I have
> generally not found that to be true.
>
> dmc
> >
> > On Sun, May 22, 2011 at 9:33 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <
> > camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > If the oil level is at the bottom notch on the dip stick, how much
> > > should I add to bring it back to some midway point. I don't want to
> dump
> > > in too much.
> > >
> > > 1.9L engine.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Rocky J Squirrel
> > > '84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> > > '74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> > > Bend, OR
> > > KG6RCR
> > >
>
> --
> David McNeely
>