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Checking oil - Printable Version

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Checking oil - Ryan Wright - 09-23-2008 08:20

Quick question: When checking oil levels, does it matter whether the
oil is hot or cold? What difference, if any, should I expect to see?

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

Checking oil - Don Bradner - 09-23-2008 09:04

Hot/cold matters with hydraulic fluid, but not so much with engine oil. What
does matter with the latter is that there has been time for oil to drain back to
the pan after the engine is shut off. A few minutes is probably enough to take
care of most of it. For tranny fluid just the opposite is correct - the engine
should be running. Hot check is best, but the typical dipstick will show
hot/cold marks.

Don Bradner
90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
Posting today by satellite from Williamsburg, VA
My location: http://www.bbirdmaps.com/user2.cfm?user=1

On 9/23/2008 at 1:20 PM Ryan Wright wrote:

>Quick question: When checking oil levels, does it matter whether the
>oil is hot or cold? What difference, if any, should I expect to see?
>
>-Ryan
>'86 PT-40 8V92
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Checking oil - Leroy Eckert - 09-23-2008 09:24

Hot / cold does not matter that much with oil. It it mostly related with drainage to the pan. There is a hot and cold check on the tranny. Look at the dip stick and you can see the soecs.. It should be in your manual.
Leroy Eckert
1990 WB-40 Smoke N Mirrors
Dahlonega, GA
Royale Conversion

--- On Tue, 9/23/08, Ryan Wright wrote:
From: Ryan Wright
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Checking oil
To: "wanderlodgeforum"
Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 4:20 PM



Quick question: When checking oil levels, does it matter whether the

oil is hot or cold? What difference, if any, should I expect to see?



-Ryan

'86 PT-40 8V92



Checking oil - Scott Forman - 09-23-2008 10:17

Ryan,

I discovered the hard way that the coach does need to be reasonably
level when checking the oil, inclines can give surprisingly false
levels on the dipstick.

Scott Forman
86 PT38
Memphis

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> Quick question: When checking oil levels, does it matter whether the
> oil is hot or cold? What difference, if any, should I expect to see?
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>

Checking oil - Pete Masterson - 09-23-2008 11:24

The owners manual for my S-60 says "wait 15 minutes" for the oil to
settle in the pan. I haven't been able to note any significant
difference in the oil level due to heat (although hot oil, no doubt,
will have a slightly larger volume).

I suspect that a wait period (to let the oil drain down into the pan)
is appropriate for the 8v92 as well. There might not be any
significant difference due to heat.

Note that automatic transmissions are different and often have hot
vs. cold 'full' marks on their dip sticks -- or some must be 'hot'
when checked.

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
aeonix1@...
On the road near Scranton, PA



On Sep 23, 2008, at 4:20 PM, Ryan Wright wrote:

> Quick question: When checking oil levels, does it matter whether the
> oil is hot or cold? What difference, if any, should I expect to see?
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>

Checking oil - Ryan Wright - 09-24-2008 13:06

Thanks for the tips, gentlemen. I didn't think it mattered, as it
never has on any car I've ever owned, but I wanted to check to be
sure. Smile

Scott, I'll be sure to check that the coach is level, too - that's a
good tip and something I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

Checking oil - Scott Forman - 09-24-2008 14:03

Last year, I took a trip to New Orleans. Checked the oil before I left
home...my parking pad makes the bus high at the rear. When I got to
New Orleans, checked again, and the oil level appeared to have risen
when it should have used some. Called my mechanic, he diagnosed it as
leaking fuel crossover tubes, which is apparently fairly common on the
8v92. This would mean that diesel was leaking down into the crankcase,
which is bad for the lubricity of the oil. The ultimate bad outcome
could be a spun bearing or other lubrication-related problem.

The suggestion was to get an oil change before leaving to drive home
and checking the oil every 100 miles to make sure the level wasn't
rising too quickly. I did as instructed.

Took the bus in after getting home. The drained oil again and analyzed
it for diesel, found none. Pulled valve covers and checked crossover
tubes, looked fine. They were puzzled. Then, by dumb luck, they
happened to check the oil at two different places on their lot and
discovered how the angle of the coach can make a significant
difference.

If the rear is high, oil will register lower than it really is. If the
rear is low, it will register high. By filling by bus to the full mark
when parked on my rear-high parking pad, I was actually overfilling the
crank (which leads to extra slobber and a mess on the back of the bus).

Scott Forman
86 PT38
Memphis

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> Thanks for the tips, gentlemen. I didn't think it mattered, as it
> never has on any car I've ever owned, but I wanted to check to be
> sure. Smile
>
> Scott, I'll be sure to check that the coach is level, too - that's a
> good tip and something I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>

Checking oil - Ryan Wright - 09-26-2008 05:26

Really appreciate your sharing this, Scott. Sounds like you found out
the expensive way. I hate taking the coach to a shop; it's a minimum
of a thousand bucks every time, so I'll definitely remember this tip.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

On Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 7:03 PM, Scott Forman <scottforman75@...> wrote:
> If the rear is high, oil will register lower than it really is. If the
> rear is low, it will register high. By filling by bus to the full mark
> when parked on my rear-high parking pad, I was actually overfilling the
> crank (which leads to extra slobber and a mess on the back of the bus).