CivicSpoon

My friend has a turbocharged H22A. He regularly puts 4 quarts of oil in it, for every oil change. Helms manual calls for 5.1 quarts for a regular oil change. The problem is, the dipstick reads overfilled (quite above the top hole) with just 4 quarts. It's the same dipstick that he's had when he purchased the engine. He's even compared it to other dipsticks that he has laying around, from various other engines he's rebuilt or disassembled (B18C1, B18A1, B16A, B18B1). None have read the same, and certainly none read any better. Being turbocharged, he should have a little more oil than a stock engine would require. This is obviously not normal, and certainly not very comforting.

So my question is, has anyone ever ran into this issue before? My friend remembers reading a similar post somewhere, with multiple people claiming the same thing, with no reasoning for this issue. I'm still trying to find that thread. Any and all thoughts or insight is greatly welcome.

Sparksman

Ive seen this before, especially on older higher mileage engines. When was the last time he dropped the oil pan and scrapped the sludge build up out? Ive seen half a inch or more of sludge on some nasty pans.

Think if your pan has sludge taking up volume of the oil pan it will take less oil to reach the full mark on the dip stick. It should be a regular thing every couple oil changes to drop the pan, clean out the sludge and any metal that may settle at the bottom. Not 100% necessary, but is good car maintenance.

minilogoguy18

It would be better to run 0-30 synthetic oil and change it every 2k to clean the engine rather than trying to remove the sludge by hand. Seen engines get locked that way since you break everything loose which will clog the oil pump.

You could drop the pan and see what's going on, valve cover though reveals whether an engine has anything built up in it since the oil vapor rises.

Could also try looking at it with the oil cap off to relieve any crank case pressure and let it sit for 20 mins before checking, of course wiping the stick clean and being on level ground first.

Sparksman

I go OCD on it when i drop it, I use degreaser, the garden hose, and a cloth to clean it before it goes back on. If you do a half *** job, just scrape what you can and throw it back on you may clog something. Do it right and no worries, and dont check while car is running "like a auto trans", or when its cold. Oil expands when its heated.