oil level

izzizm · Post by **izzizm** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:45 am

what engine oil level do users recommend ? .. ive always been advised to run half way between low and full on the dipstick but the factsheet appears to suggest it should be full
cheers IZ

haydn callow · Post by **haydn callow** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:34 am

Always fill mine to the full. Easier to monitor any loss. Done it this way for 46 years

Colin Lambert · Post by **Colin Lambert** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 12:44 pm

If you fill ANY car with the factory quoted quantity of oil after a drain, it will reach the full mark.
Why should one want to run with the oil only halfway on the dipstick??? It is not logical.
Colin (author of the Lubricants fact sheet) Lambert. ex Shell Retail Lubricants didvision.

Rhod · Post by **Rhod** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:07 pm

Well, there can be a reason on some engines - though probably not a Bongo. Old BMW boxer (bike) engines tend to vary quite a lot in the level at which the oil wants to sit at. Fill them up to the maximum mark & some engines will sit there quite happily, others will quickly blow off all the "excess" oil until it sits at "their" level full. On my bike for instance, there is no point in filling up beyond 3/4, but once it's blown off any excess it will sit there for quite a time (these engines do burn oil off). Anyway, I think that this is probably a quirk of older air-cooled engines of this type, so I'd agree that you'd probably want to fill a Bongo to the maximum mark.
Rhod

dandywarhol · Post by **dandywarhol** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:10 pm

Same with 1980s VW Golf/Polos............the factory recommended level was midway cold.

izzizm · Post by **izzizm** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:00 pm

everything is quickly becoming clear

been running alfa 33 boxer engines for years .. sold two of them to make way for the bongo

put 6 litres in the bugger today

cheers everyone