Engine oil capacity

[Roxylass]

Drained the engine oil from my lister sr2 

the manual specifies nine and a half pints 

of which I put back in 10/40 lister petter own brand 

didnt even show on the dipstick to get it to show had to put another 5ltr in 

a little above the max mark now had a good run down the river forth 

noticed the oil gauge about same setting as before changing the oil 

then the gauge started slowly dropping 

back in the harbour took about five pints back out 

now not showing on the dipstick again should I put the five pints back in 

quite puzzled by this 

[bizzard]

22 minutes ago, Roxylass said:

Drained the engine oil from my lister sr2 

the manual specifies nine and a half pints 

of which I put back in 10/40 lister petter own brand 

didnt even show on the dipstick to get it to show had to put another 5ltr in 

a little above the max mark now had a good run down the river forth 

noticed the oil gauge about same setting as before changing the oil 

then the gauge started slowly dropping 

back in the harbour took about five pints back out 

now not showing on the dipstick again should I put the five pints back in 

quite puzzled by this 

Is it a pucker marine engine or an ex industral engine. The marine dipstick should be a long one in a tube on the starbourd side. An industrial one would be a short one low down on the port side.  Is the engine tilted down towards the stern at a steep angle. Is the boat listing heavily to port if  the dipsticks on the starboard side and visa versa if on the port side when you dip the oil. Is there a remote oil cooler or extra  remote oil filters piped to the engine. Are you wiping the dipstick first before dipping the oil after running the engine. How much oil did you drain out at first. Is it the correct dipstick, there are 2 or 3 different ones for those engines,

Edited April 24, 2019 by bizzard

[Roxylass]

Pic of the engine 

[bizzard]

10 minutes ago, Roxylass said:

Pic of the engine 

You have the marine dipstick, but it might be the wrong one. I can't see any additional remote oil coolers. so the 9 1/2 pts should be correct. And the angle of the engine looks reasonable..  Did you note how much old oil you draned out in the first place, that is important. If the engine is reasonably level when you dip the oil and you need to add a further 5 litres !!! to get it on the full mark either your not pushing the dipstick fully down when checking the level or its the wrong dipstick ''Too short''.

[Roxylass]

Yes it was 91/2that came out

I will take five litre back out

Give it a small trip and see what the oil gauge is reading

 

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, Roxylass said:

Yes it was 91/2that came out

I will take five litre back out

Give it a small trip and see what the oil gauge is reading

 

I take it that this is a typo and you're not putting litres in instead of pints?

[Roxylass]

Yes it is a typo 9 1/2 pints back out

That will leave 9 1/2pints in

[Sea Dog]

Just now, Roxylass said:

Yes it is a typo 9 1/2 pints back out

That will leave 9 1/2pints in

Oh good - an easy brain fart to have though, so it was worth checking!

 

Careful with going for a trip with incorrect oil levels though - 5 pints too much or too little is a long way out.

[roland elsdon]

You talk about a dipstick and an oil gauge.

you talk of an oil gauge dropping.

i assuming you mean oil pressure not level.

it is of course normal for the pressure to drop as the engine gets hot but not the level.

does it share oil with the gearbox and did you drain that?

[Roxylass]

Yes i do mean oil pressure

Try and get a pic up when I get home from work may have bent the dipstick tube

When fitting a new cylinder head

It is the original dipstick

[RLWP]

1 hour ago, Roxylass said:

Yes i do mean oil pressure

Try and get a pic up when I get home from work may have bent the dipstick tube

When fitting a new cylinder head

It is the original dipstick

The dipstick tube looks fine, and it wouldn't matter if you did bend it, the dipstick always goes down the middle of the tube

 

Is there a number on the end of the dipstick knob?

 

Richard

[Arthur Marshall]

My SR2 takes just over 5 litres, which is what the manual says (9 1/2 pints). The dipstick is a bit odd in that it shows two levels as usual, min and max, but there seems to be only about half a litre between them.  Nothing at all shows on the stick until there's about four litres in.  I can't remember the number on the top - will check when next i go to the boat.

ETA I have a vague memory of being told that the SR2 dipstick should have three marks on it rather than two, and I don't think the number on the top related to anything in the manual when i looked it up, but as it's got the right amount of oil in at the full level I stopped worrying about it some years ago.

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Arthur Marshall

[bizzard]

A dipstick can be made quite simply for these engines. I've had to make a couple in the past including for my own ST2.  Obtain a length of 1/8'' steel gas welding rod, they come in 1 yd lengths or 1 m lengths these days from a good garage or a welder. Also a collar to act as a top stop with a side securing screw to slip over the rod,''I used small Meccano pulley wheel.  Make sure there is the correct 9.1/2 pts of oil in the engine to begin with.  Poke the rod down the tube until it hits bottom, slip the collar on over the top.  Withdraw rod about 1'' and tighten collar stop to retain that position. Withdraw dipstick rod, wipe it and then re-insert it until collar hits the tube top. Withdraw it and mark the max oil level on the rod with a couple of cross wise strokes of a Junior hacksaw. A second mark about 1/2'' below your max mark can also be marked with the saw.  You can bend a loop or an L  shape at the top of the rod as a finger pull.  Cut off excess uneaded rod.    And that's it, one new Dipstick.     The rod will easily adapt itself to the curve of the tube after a couple of uses and retain it. 

[bizzard]

As described above. Made in 2005 for my engine.  As you can see I cut three marks on mine but you only need the one or two. And I did file a flat on the end where the marks are but you don't need to.

Edited April 25, 2019 by bizzard

[Roxylass]

Here’s a couple of pictures of the dipstick 

you can clearly see the max mark

the one with my thumb is the oil level at the moment 

pump sucked out a good ten litres 

took the sump drain nut out sits just behind the starter on the bottom of the sump 

only drips coming out so I know it’s empty 

going down tomorrow morning with a pint bottle make sure it only gets nine and a half pints 

hope it shows up on the dipstick 

[Roxylass]

Forgot to add this is the dipstick that belongs the engine 

[RLWP]

On the end of the brass handle is a number that identifies the dipstick. I have a table that identifies the part number for each dipstick based on that number, and with a parts list I can check you have the right one

 

Richard

[Roxylass]

Ok Richard I will get the dipstick up and take a photo of it 

[Arthur Marshall]

The max mark is more or less where mine is, though mine has another line about 3mm from the bottom.. I've had oil levels up to where your thumb is when I was getting diesel mixed in. But it's only about a litre at most from when it appears on my stick at all before it hits the max line. 

Edited April 27, 2019 by Arthur Marshall

[Roxylass]

Number is 

[RLWP]

Four

[Roxylass]

Yes no four

before I changed the oil the stick always showed on the max or just below 

and like I said only got five litres out and the sump was empty 

so I would like to think it is the proper dipstick 

[RLWP]

5 minutes ago, Roxylass said:

Yes no four

before I changed the oil the stick always showed on the max or just below 

and like I said only got five litres out and the sump was empty 

so I would like to think it is the proper dipstick 

It does look like the correct one. I need to find the right drawing to check

 

Richard

[Roxylass]

Don’t know if this helps any or not 

but when I replaced the oil I poured it down through the rocker covers 

i now know that is not the correct procedure 

[RLWP]

19 minutes ago, Roxylass said:

Don’t know if this helps any or not 

but when I replaced the oil I poured it down through the rocker covers 

i now know that is not the correct procedure 

Yes, that's fine. Most boat engines, you don't get the chance to use the crankcase filler because of all the other stuff in the way

 

And not all engines have a crankcase filler anyway

 

Richard