Why'd my oil change take 7 qts. of oil?

[Hank3]

I've done three oil changes in the past year with PP 5W-30 and all of them required between 5.5 to 5.75 qts. with filter. The manual states 6 qts. when changing out the oil w/filter. Yesterday, I made the switch to Rotella Synthetic 5W-40 to hopefully help with the smoking turbo issue. Who knows when and if Mazda's resolution will surface for this. Oil level on the dipstick read right at the MAX mark.

I let the old PP 5W-30 drain for a good three hours. At that point oil was dripping every 15 seconds or so. I figured that would be enough. I put in 6 qts. of the Rotella and the oil was below the MIN mark. I thought that was odd. Went out and purchased one more qt. this afternoon and put the entire bottle of that in. I put in a little at a time to monitor the level (I waited 10 -15 minutes between each pour so the oil could settle into the oil pan). At the end, I just poured in the rest and now it's right at the MAX mark. There are no traces of oil leaking that I can see on the floor and I looked all around the engine and oil pan today when I had the car up on ramps.

Anything I should be concerned about or looking for? I thought this was very strange and caused me to worry since I had to add an extra quart in (confused)

 

[liquidflem]

I've done three oil changes in the past year with PP 5W-30 and all of them required between 5.5 to 5.75 qts. with filter. The manual states 6 qts. when changing out the oil w/filter. Yesterday, I made the switch to Rotella Synthetic 5W-40 to hopefully help with the smoking turbo issue. Who knows when and if Mazda's resolution will surface for this. Oil level on the dipstick read right at the MAX mark.

I let the old PP 5W-30 drain for a good three hours. At that point oil was dripping every 15 seconds or so. I figured that would be enough. I put in 6 qts. of the Rotella and the oil was below the MIN mark. I thought that was odd. Went out and purchased one more qt. this afternoon and put the entire bottle of that in. I put in a little at a time to monitor the level (I waited 10 -15 minutes between each pour so the oil could settle into the oil pan). At the end, I just poured in the rest and now it's right at the MAX mark. There are no traces of oil leaking that I can see on the floor and I looked all around the engine and oil pan today when I had the car up on ramps.

Anything I should be concerned about or looking for? I thought this was very strange and caused me to worry since I had to add an extra quart in (confused)

Did you start the car and let it idle up to temp for a minute or so before checking the oil?

 

[Hank3]

I drove it last night for about ten minutes after the first 6 qts. were put in. Checked this morning and it was below MIN mark.

 

[oaklandopen]

you let it drain for a really really long time, that could be why it took more than normal.

engines that are bone dry (like when you're rebuilding) always take more oil than the manual says the first time.

but if you're still worried you can drain some until the level goes between full and empty, and not so much on the full line. it's better that way anyway.

 

[oaklandopen]

and btw...proper oil level checking technique for this car is as follows per owners manual:

allow engine to get to proper operating temp
shut off
wait 5 minutes and check the dipstick

 

[Guest20182]

Sounds stupid, but makes sure you didn't check your oil while the car was on an incline (been their, done that lol.)

 

[Hank3]

and btw...proper oil level checking technique for this car is as follows per owners manual:

allow engine to get to proper operating temp
shut off
wait 5 minutes and check the dipstick

Did that yesterday afternoon aftre I did the oil change. Started up the car and let it idle until operating temp. Shut it off and then checked the oil level and it was at MIN mark. Then went out for a drive at night. Checked it this morning and it was right at MIN mark. I'll check it tomorrow after work and drain as needed. I'll know next time not to drain it for that long. My simple/stupid logic and reasoning was to get as much of the PP 5W-30 out as possible. How long do you guys typically drain your oil for?

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Hank3]

Sounds stupid, but makes sure you didn't check your oil while the car was on an incline (been their, done that lol.)

Hehehe...nah. I'm checking it when the car is parked in the garage.

 

[Saskatchewan17]

You didn't take out your balance shaft while you were in there, right?

If not, I'd have to agree with Oakland.

 

[Hank3]

You didn't take out your balance shaft while you were in there, right?

Nope. And to be honest, I don't even know exactly where that is.

 

[BillTheCat]

You didn't buy those newfangled metric quarts, did you? Hehheh.

 

[Hank3]

Hmmm...not that I know of.

 

[BlackCherry06]

You can't rely on the reading on the first pull after the car has sat overnight. I don't know what phenomenon is taking place in the pan that causes the first pull to read low, but you have to pull, wipe clean, stick again and read on these engines. I had the s*** scared out of me once by this dipstick, because mine read below "low" until I re-stuck it...then it read full. You might consider draining a quart out...you're overfull at the moment at 7 quarts.

 

[sephiroth]

you let it drain for 3 hours? <_<
3hr drain periods are bad mmkay..

 

[Hank3]

you let it drain for 3 hours? <_<
3hr drain periods are bad mmkay..

mmkay

 

[sumthaiguy]

 

[sephiroth]

mmkay

mkay?

 

[oaklandopen]

I usually let mine drain until i see it go from trickle to drip. If i had the right tools (wider oil pan) i would probably start with the drain plug and keep it off until i was done replacing the filter

 

[MikeHTally]

Does sound pretty strange. Mine takes around 6 1/2 qts using the B3000 filter. It was a bit under six quarts when I used the smaller filter.

 

[liquidflem]

Does sound pretty strange. Mine takes around 6 1/2 qts using the B3000 filter. It was a bit under six quarts when I used the smaller filter.

I've always only had to use about 5 and 3/4. I usually only wait about 5 minutes to drain. I try to get it in between the Min and Full line too because i'm anal.

Keep in mind, the difference between full and min is 3/4 qt