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Old 08-18-2012, 11:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikethezipper View Post
I recently bought an 84 300SD, and well... its nice to buy another POS to fix up and make all nice again.

My issue is that the oil level (as shown by the dipstick) changes drastically when I check it several times a day. Sometimes it says I am OK, halfway between the two marks, then an hour later, it'll be at the lower limit, then another hour later it'll be four inches above the top mark. Any Ideas?

On a somewhat related note, could this be a sign that the oil isn't getting pumped around like it should? On my 300D, I noticed that there was something gunking up the oil nozzles (don't know what you would call a pipe with holes in it) that spray oil onto the cams, which scared the crap out of me. My crazy neighbor (obviously a trustworthy source of car information, I know.... ) recommended that for the 300D, I try putting in some ATF, let it run for a few minutes, and then do an oil change. He believes the high detergency of the ATF would break up any clumps/gunk that might be plugging stuff up. Is this an acceptable practice?
Thanks everybody!
According to the Tech Manual the difference in the amount of Oil in a Dry Engine and one that has had Oil in it like during an Oil Change is one liter.
The means after you drain the Oil out of the Pan some where in the Engines system one liter of Oil that you cannot drain out is trapped. My guess is the Fuel Injection Pump and the Oil Cooler system have most of that.

If you mixed ATF with the Oil and drained it when you change the Oil you would have 1 liter of un-drainable Oil+ATF left in the Engine.
You could switch to full or partial synthetic Oil and get everything cleaned out and later go back to regular Oil.

I park my Car in the same spot and check the Oil in the Morning before I run the Engine. That way I always have the same reference and I the Oil has had all night to drain back into the Pan.
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel
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