Dipstick

[Guest WildJackal]

If you drain the oil hot and don't replace the filter, how much oil is needed? Three quarts for a 2003 Sport?

[Gio]

I reckon on ~2.5 litres without a filter change, and ~3.0 with.

 

Gio

[Guest pasturej]

So, Jonathan, what did the piece cost?

 

Docc, if I remember correctly it was £18 or thereabouts, which seemed like quite a lot of money to spend just so that you can tell how much oil is in the sump!

 

Maybe I should have spent the money on an eye test instead

 

Jonathan

[docc]

i ordered one but don't have a price yet. I was thinking that not only is the fluted plastic stick awkward to read, you can't see the color or condition of the oil.

 

I'm looking forward to the new stick.

[p6x]

I fished this thread from the medieval times in case anybody has something new to add to it.

I check my oil level before any trip as everyone else does.

On my first attempt, I immediately noticed how difficult it was to get an accurate level on a dipstick that needs to be rotated, with ridges, grey colored, with level control to be carried out when the oil is warm, so less viscous.

I did not really care as long as I could tell the oil level was above the minimum.

Now, I have an oil leak. It is a seepage, and I am having a hard time finding its origin. It coats the right side of the engine on long rides. I wanted to take differential measurements in order to find how much oil I am losing per trip. That proved almost impossible.

I browsed all the threads on this forum, with "dipstick" as the key word, and checked them out.

This thread seems to be the closest in description to my issue.

Has anybody tried to make the part of the stick top and bottom level as an eyelash brush?

My rationale:

Using a hacksaw, I would make some notches at regular intervals to help retain oil better. It would also help as measurement vernier.

MGCycle sells an oil dipstick with the rod in blackened steel. (Please check your dipstick length prior to ordering.) were there V11 with different oil dipstick lengths?

Are the MGCycle oil dipsticks easier to read than the grey plastic stock ones?

 

[docc]

FWIW, I used the metal dipstick for a while, but disliked having to use a tool to remove it. Back to the plastic original for at least the last fifteen years.

[p6x]

2 hours ago, docc said:

FWIW, I used the metal dipstick for a while, but disliked having to use a tool to remove it. Back to the plastic original for at least the last fifteen years.

The one on their website does not require a tool to remove. It is the same as the stock one, with an aluminum cap and a black rod to gauge oil level. 
I was wondering if the oil level is easier to spot.

[GuzziMoto]

3 hours ago, p6x said:

The one on their website does not require a tool to remove. It is the same as the stock one, with an aluminum cap and a black rod to gauge oil level. 
I was wondering if the oil level is easier to spot.

I simply drilled a bunch of small holes in the stock plastic dipstick, in the range between the marks on the stick. The holes hold oil, making it easier to see the level of the oil on the dip stick.

[p6x]

35 minutes ago, GuzziMoto said:

I simply drilled a bunch of small holes in the stock plastic dipstick, in the range between the marks on the stick. The holes hold oil, making it easier to see the level of the oil on the dip stick.

That's what I figured. Thanks.

[p6x]

Just for conversation' sake; does anyone know why we need to check the oil level warm?

In the old days, the recommendation was to always check when the engine was cold and the oil fully collected in the sump. With a wet sump of course. Dry sump required to have the engine running to check the oil level, as for the Honda CB 750.

Why would Guzzi recommend running the engine for a few minutes, stop it, and then check the oil level? I am thinking, and correct me if I am wrong, synthetic oils expend a lot more than mineral oils. My guess is, that dipstick is calibrated to be accurate with synthetic oils, meaning with a cold engine, the oil level would be shown lower than if you followed the recommendation to check with warm oil; making you possibly top off the oil when it is not needed.

 

[docc]

My observation is that the oil check after the pump stabilizes the oil distribution (not necessarily "warm") has more to do with how much volume is distributed through the engine, and into the rocker/valve covers ( a lot!), in order to ensure adequate oil volume remains in the sump for the pick-up.

[Lucky Phil]

1 hour ago, p6x said:

Just for conversation' sake; does anyone know why we need to check the oil level warm?

In the old days, the recommendation was to always check when the engine was cold and the oil fully collected in the sump. With a wet sump of course. Dry sump required to have the engine running to check the oil level, as for the Honda CB 750.

Why would Guzzi recommend running the engine for a few minutes, stop it, and then check the oil level? I am thinking, and correct me if I am wrong, synthetic oils expend a lot more than mineral oils. My guess is, that dipstick is calibrated to be accurate with synthetic oils, meaning with a cold engine, the oil level would be shown lower than if you followed the recommendation to check with warm oil; making you possibly top off the oil when it is not needed.

 

Probably because it's a more indicative indication of the level when running as opposed to the level when every last bit of oil possible has drained back to the sump which is not really the case in operation. Could also be because for long journeys and top offs the engine is more likely to be warm when oil is added, who really knows they are Italian and I doubt there's really that much thought or science involved along with the typical translation vagaries. It's of little consequence whichever way you do it really. Might reflect a few hundred ML of difference. Not sure the differential expansion between mineral and synthetic has anything to do with it as I doubt there's any real difference between the two anyway. If anything I would have thought it would be the other way around with the Mineral oil relying on Viscosity Index Improvers that expand as the oil temp rises unlike Synthetic oil which doesn't need them.

Ciao  

[docc]

12 minutes ago, Lucky Phil said:

Probably because it's a more indicative indication of the level when running as opposed to the level when every last bit of oil possible has drained back to the sump which is not really the case in operation. Could also be because for long journeys and top offs the engine is more likely to be warm when oil is added, who really knows they are Italian and I doubt there's really that much thought or science involved along with the typical translation vagaries. It's of little consequence whichever way you do it really. Might reflect a few hundred ML of difference. Not sure the differential expansion between mineral and synthetic has anything to do with it as I doubt there's any real difference between the two anyway. If anything I would have thought it would be the other way around with the Mineral oil relying on Viscosity Index Improvers that expand as the oil temp rises unlike Synthetic oil which doesn't need them.

Ciao  

Yep. That's what I meant to say.

[Lucky Phil]

27 minutes ago, docc said:

Yep. That's what I meant to say.

I didn't want to get into "pumping losses" and drain back speeds etc. Honda RC30's when they first started racing them were destroying big end bearings because the oil pumped into the heads couldn't drain back to the sump fast enough so the oil level dropped enough to cause cavitation. Robert Dunlops bike in the pits at the WSB round back in 88 or so had extra external drain back lines from the head to the Crankcase but I think the real fix was to reduce the qty pumped there to start with. Honda had excess oil going to the heads so they fitted restrictors in the end I think.

Ciao

[Weegie]

I found getting anything near a reliable reading next to impossible, especially with the Roper plate in situ which can catch the dipstick.

I followed Phil's advice on my HiCam and Sporti (the V11 broadsump should be the same) and "overfilled" to just below the level of the Roper Plate which you can see by looking through the dipstick hole.

This works a treat for me and I have not experienced any problems with pressurization