over filled or under filled oil

[jackcramerr]

Can't tell if I over filled or under filled oil... Does anyone else have problem with dipstick not showing oil level properly?

I filled in about 7 liters.

[juicestop]

Yes I can never tell. One side of the dipstick shows low and the other high! I believe 6.5 litres is the recommended amount for an oil change. You should be fine as long as you don't rev the engine too high for the next 200 miles, during which the excess oil should burn off.

I was also wondering what level is the oil at when the 'oil low' warning comes up on the dashboard display. It would be nice to know how much to top it up by, even if it is an approximation.

[madasahatter]

2 hours ago, jackcramerr said:

Can't tell if I over filled or under filled oil... Does anyone else have problem with dipstick not showing oil level properly?

I filled in about 7 liters.

Just done mine today you are correct a pain. I put 6 and a half litres in same as last time.

[Texas]

8 hours ago, juicestop said:

You should be fine as long as you don't rev the engine too high for the next 200 miles, during which the excess oil should burn off.

Hi, first post having just joined the LOC (technically not actually an owner yet!) because I am actively looking for a IS 250, I have been an active forum member (user Paul05149) on the TalkFord web forum for a number of years in relation to the Mondeo MKIII and it gives my great pleasure in helping owners diagnose and sort problems on their vehicles so I do have a insight into what actually happens under the bonnet but I draw the line at DERV's as there is a lot of silly pressures and its hocous pocous sometimes for an home mechanic to diagnose let alone fix!

so now I am about to retire from work I want to treat my self to a nice motor and step up to a Lexus and after doing some homework around this site it reinforces my thoughts into staying clear of the heavy oil versions! So on the hunt for a as good as I can get for my budget IS250 SE-L (mm)

but back to the quote I have dragged down, please can you explain this as I understand the bit about not revving too high ( if oil level is too high then when the crank rotates it may dip into the surface of the oil level -now above normal-and at high speed could whip the oil up into a foamy state and cause havoc with ring blow by and also blowing any crank seals) but what I don't understand is the 'excess oil should be burnt off' how? I would be upset if my Lexus burns of oil to any appreciable level! And if it does won't it continue to burn off and not actually stop at the level you want.

paul m.

[johnatg]

The official oil capacity for an oil change including filter replacement is 6.3 litres.

You need to take the dipstick out whilst filling with oil. Otherwise the oil can't get up the dipstick tube properly as it is airtight (more or less) with the dipstick in place.

It can be hard to see the oil level on the dipstick when it's fresh oil - it's nearly invisible. Just angle it so that the light reflects off it - the reflectivity of the oily part and dry part is quite different. Overfilling with oil risks damage to the cats and the oxygen sensors - it won't burn off (at least in the engine) - it gets blown into the cats and burns there, which is not good for them at all

Oh - and you should never get to the point where the dashboard oil light illuminates - that is very much a last resort thing. Check the oil weekly - as instructed in the handbook!

[jackcramerr]

I will take a few pictures and maybe you guys can suggest if it is over filled. Because I cannot.

As for dipstick, I kept it half way out when draining and filling.

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

The official oil capacity for an oil change including filter replacement is 6.3 litres.

That is 5.8 + 0.5 for oil filter. 7l is a bit over top, I would say 0.2l extra won't hurt, but I would be extra careful with 0.7l, that could end-up badly. Usually, I have no problems when changing oil, but top-ups are hard to do. Good thing is that my high-miler doesn't burn much oil, so I generally don't need top-ups if changing oil every 5-6k miles.

Obviously, you probably know that oil level needs to be checked on warm engine? but not just after driving... So basically you warm engine up to working temperature, turn it off and wait for 5-10minutes to get most accurate measurement. Yet I still have same problem as OP, dipstick on IS250 is bit hit and miss. Not only it seems to show random oil level, but as well it always smears oil while being pulled out.

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, Texas said:

so now I am about to retire from work I want to treat my self to a nice motor and step up to a Lexus and after doing some homework around this site it reinforces my thoughts into staying clear of the heavy oil versions! So on the hunt for a as good as I can get for my budget IS250 SE-L (mm)

I suggest you to create new topic so everyone can help you out. 

My quick point would be:

• Don't afraid high miles car if they have service history, Lexus IS250's are bulletproof if maintained.
• Sat-Nav is complete waste of money, better buy Tomtom or even free app (such as waze) can run circles around Lexus Sat-Nav. ML speakers are good, but depending on source and music you listen might be total waste (e.g. you you listen to radio or mp3 via aux-in). If you find car for the same price with ML and Sat-Nav ... why not (and is quite possible as well), but in my opinion they are not worth even extra penny over already good equipment as standard.
• Be prepared to grease and maintain brake calipers and replace front rotors quite often.
• SE-L is the best value for money, much better standard SE-L than say SE-I or SE + leather + ML + Sat-Nav.

[Verbout]

It is difficult to read the oil level, but not impossible. As John says the oil on a clean and wiped dipstick does show, new oil is more difficult but there is a line, again as said above, use the light to show the refraction of the oil.

All my recent cars and the wife's Seat Mii are terrible for this, but they can be read.

[chr15gb]

I thought my days of scrabbling about under cars were over.
On my old 5 Series I could suck the oil out using a pella suction pump through the dipstick tube, the filter unscrewed from above. Life was so easy, interim oil changes at a whim and you could do it all wearing a suit.

With this weird dipstick tube (difficult enough getting the flat bladed stick down), and the backward idea of having a bottom facing oil filter, it's back to the oil pan, plenty of rags and old clothes.

[madasahatter]

19 minutes ago, chr15gb said:

I thought my days of scrabbling about under cars were over.
On my old 5 Series I could suck the oil out using a pella suction pump through the dipstick tube, the filter unscrewed from above. Life was so easy, interim oil changes at a whim and you could do it all wearing a suit.

With this weird dipstick tube (difficult enough getting the flat bladed stick down), and the backward idea of having a bottom facing oil filter, it's back to the oil pan, plenty of rags and old clothes.

Mine was easy to do stood in a pit at work. But all joking aside, i checked my oil this morning and reading was showing on both sides on the nail.

[MIKEDAVIDN]

The best way that I found to read the oil level on the dipstick was to remove the dipstick when the engine is still warm and leave out for a few hours or overnight then wipe it clean and then insert / reamove and read. This way it stops any oil smearing on the dipstick making it hard to read, always worked for me. 

[jackcramerr]

So safe to say I can ignore the smear?

If so then warm is on the nail and cold 1cm above the nail. It is still confusing though. The 1cm above the nail also looks like smear.

[Linas.P]

It actually should be lower while cold, unless you check when engine is on.... engine must be off and in my experience takes ~10 min for oil to seep back to pan (or where ever dipstick measures it).

[jackcramerr]

Sorry I meant to say, when cold it is on nail and warm above nail by 1 cm.

Can I live with this or do I need to drain it?

[johnatg]

On 06/03/2017 at 9:09 AM, johnatg said:

 

It's probably OK - don't make a habit of overfilling though!

[Linas.P]

I personally would drain it... at least 0.5l. It is not problem if you have little bit extra, but 0.7l is not what I consider "little bit".

[jackcramerr]

I will need to check again how much I filled in. Might have been less than 7 liters. One of the 2L is used for topping up another car ... so I cannot tell for certian.