Greg, you 're paranoid!
 

...if you had your way, you'd have a dry sump, and a separate lube oil tank with a sight glass!!

RLeo, That is a good idea.... I have a stainless steel tank from a pressure washer that would be just the right size..... gotta go get it.......it is buried under a fire ant mound... But I will stick a Dipstick into IT to measure it...

Something faulty in the logic here.....

"It's relatively easy to test the sender (unless your car burns zero oil)... just let the level get down to the MIN mark and see if the light ever comes on! "--gsxr

So if the light is burned out on the dash.... you have just driven your car until it has NO OIL.....

I rest my case. :D

Go to a junkyard and pull the system off any Toyota Previa. Toyota realized that not many people are going to lift the driver seat to check the oil so such a system is standard equipment. Owned a Previa from 90K - 120K and never had to add oil to the reservoir except for once when a bad crimp in an oil filter leaked the fresh fill away. It also has a reservoir low oil warning light so I caught it before the reservoir emptied (van was with my mom at the time). Otherwise it's like an MB oil cooler in that it doesn't drain with the sump. I have to wonder how old the oil was in there.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

So that Previa system is just an " oil level' system ? Or are you saying you did not change the oil from 90 to 120 K ?

I mean the Previa has a separate tank with 2 quarts of oil and a level sensor in the sump and reservoir. The sensor in the sump triggers a squirt of oil and the sensor in the tank triggers a dash light. I don't remember if there's a sump level warning.

Contrary to how it looks and what you hear about it, it's a very well thought out van. Much roomier than a Grand Caravan. Spark plugs are only slightly more work to replace than 603t glow plugs. The back plugs on a V6 Caravan are more work. The yucky job on a Previa is adjusting the valves. Hard to get to and it uses shims so you're down for a while if you have to get different shims because you're not putting all that back together to go get shims.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

At the risk of being a little off topic, I am a little less concerned about the quantity of oil and more concerned about oil pressure at the bearings. You can have plenty of oil in the sump , but if your pump's not pushing it (and this may be due to low oil level, but could be other reasons) your engine is toast. I really need to put in a more fail-safe dual system like I have in my Rabbit P/U. There, I installed a gauge to back up the "idiot" light VW gave me. That "idiot" light saved my bacon one day when the oil cooler hose popped off. I immediately shut it down, pulled over and added about two quarts, but had I only had a gauge that MBZ gives us, I doubt I would have seen the problem in time. I think VW and MBZ use the same fitting size so, I think a VW oil pressure sender ( to light up at .7 bar or so ) should work.

Rick S

Plan on using oil...
 

Cummins Centinel System (http://www.cummins.com/au/pages/en/products/genuinepartsandservices/extendedlifeproducts/centinel.cfm).

Burn it off in the engine and replenish on a regular basis.

Does that Previa use an iteration of the infamous 3VZ-E engine?
 

If so, I'm surprised that it doesn't have a large supplemental coolant tank about the size of the cargo area....

Signed,
R Leo
(Hater of Toy's V-6 engines)

Not quite. Every time you start the car, all the idiot lights come on. The idea is people are intelligent enough to recognize a bulb out and get it fixed! :cool:

RS899, For most people it would be better to add a BUZZER... many people don't look at their guages very often... and it only takes a minute to lose too much oil pressure....

That is why really important warnings in Aircraft have both big flashing lights at eye level and audible warnings... much more attention commanding....

My lawyers are contacting Toyota as I type this. It was MY idea.

Windshield wipers too!

:)

Ken300D

Ken300d, Good Luck, How old are you ? The first guy to invent the variable windshield washer electrical control circuit was in court about 15 years.... of course he got more money in the end because every car was using it by then...

Re: Does that Previa use an iteration of the infamous 3VZ-E engine?
 

No, 2TZFE. In-line 4 lying on its side. Like an extremely raked gullwing M189 complete with really long intake runners.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Yes. I'm familiar with the windshield wiper story - thought maybe that would sound familiar to people.

I'm also the person that developed the 50 mile-per-gallon carburetor back in the 60's that was suppressed by the oil and motor companies.

:)

Seriously though - I had never heard of anyone actually using a motor oil reservoir. Interesting to hear Toyota tried it.

Ken300D