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BMC 1.5 Oil Level


john cowie

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Dear fellow BMC 1.5 owners,

I would be very grateful if someone could lie down alongside their engine(!) and measure as accurately as possible the distance between the bottom of the crankcase and the oil level. I guess the least painful way of doing this would be to place the dipstick against the side of the engine and mark opposite the max and min marks and measure from these to the top of the sump/base of crankcase. 

The reason for doing this is that my engine was originally bought on ebay and came with a dipstick hole on both sides and a selection of dipsticks with markings in many different places. I am not sure they are even off the same engine.

Your help would be greatly appreciated

John

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2 minutes ago, john cowie said:

Dear fellow BMC 1.5 owners,

I would be very grateful if someone could lie down alongside their engine(!) and measure as accurately as possible the distance between the bottom of the crankcase and the oil level. I guess the least painful way of doing this would be to place the dipstick against the side of the engine and mark opposite the max and min marks and measure from these to the top of the sump/base of crankcase. 

The reason for doing this is that my engine was originally bought on ebay and came with a dipstick hole on both sides and a selection of dipsticks with markings in many different places. I am not sure they are even off the same engine.

Your help would be greatly appreciated

John

If your changing the oil and filter drain it out and put the recommended amount in it including for the filter, as per your handbook, about 7 1/2-8 pts. Start the engine to fill the oil filter. Stop the engine and try the dipsticks to find one that reads full or the higher mark. If there aren't any mark one yourself with a stroke or two with a junior hacksaw.

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14 hours ago, bizzard said:

If your changing the oil and filter drain it out and put the recommended amount in it including for the filter, as per your handbook, about 7 1/2-8 pts. Start the engine to fill the oil filter. Stop the engine and try the dipsticks to find one that reads full or the higher mark. If there aren't any mark one yourself with a stroke or two with a junior hacksaw.

This is what I had to do, I drained it popped in a gallon of oil which went well over the max [an inch over] and marked that as full and about 2 cms lover i marked empty no idea why but maybe the wrong dipstick who knows, It doesnt drip oil so I am assuming all is well

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Thanks for all these replies.

The sump seems to be non-standard - its not got the same shape as the one in the manual. So I can't just put in 7-8 pints.

Tony's idea of looking out for someone with a bmc and comparing dipsticks and heights is a good one but I thought I would ask you lot first!

cheers - John

 

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Quote:-

This is what I had to do, I drained it popped in a gallon of oil which went well over the max [an inch over] and marked that as full and about 2 cms lover i marked empty no idea why but maybe the wrong dipstick who knows, It doesnt drip oil so I am assuming all is well

 

 

Personally I would be a bit wary of doing this. I find more often than not the engines take LESS than the recommended amount of oil to fill to full having run it etc. I feel doing this is very Ilkley to result in perpetuate an overfill situation. Overfilling a dies le with oil can be expensive if the engine sucks oil through the breather and forma a hydraulic lock. It bends con-rods.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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15 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Quote:-

This is what I had to do, I drained it popped in a gallon of oil which went well over the max [an inch over] and marked that as full and about 2 cms lover i marked empty no idea why but maybe the wrong dipstick who knows, It doesnt drip oil so I am assuming all is well

 

 

Personally I would be a bit wary of doing this. I find more often than not the engines take LESS than the recommended amount of oil to fill to full having run it etc. I feel doing this is very Ilkley to result in perpetuate an overfill situation. Overfilling a dies le with oil can be expensive if the engine sucks oil through the breather and forma a hydraulic lock. It bends con-rods.

Or if it sucks lube oil up past the rings, runs away and you can't stop it before it self destructs :wacko:

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This thread is of interest to me as I have a BMC 1.5 in my boat and putting 8 pints of oil in would way overfill it from marks on the dipstick. I always slightly overfill it from the dipstick mark as it probably takes about 6 pints to reach the full mark on the dipstick . I'm sure my boat has the standard J4 van sump not a marine sump but the J4 workshop manual shows oil capacity of 8 1/4 pints [ 4.69 ltrs] including filter which holds 1 1/4 pints [ .7 ltrs] . I thought I might have the wrong dipstick and sourced another one but that was the same . One observation when I drop the dipstick in there is a noise that sounds like the dipstick touching the bottom of the sump which I'm not sure it is supposed to do . I have had my boat over 30 years and  running with about 6 pints of oil hasn't caused any problem so far but I do change the oil and filter regularly . I'm with Tony on the dangers of overfilling with oil but I will watch this thread with interest . I'm not at my boat at the moment but maybe the question should be asked of 1.5 owners 'How long is your dipstick ?' in fact I'm sure that would make an eyecatching header for a new thread . I would also be interested in whether their dipstick touched the bottom . Wow what an opportunity for double entendre.

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21 hours ago, bizzard said:

If your changing the oil and filter drain it out and put the recommended amount in it including for the filter, as per your handbook, about 7 1/2-8 pts. Start the engine to fill the oil filter. Stop the engine and try the dipsticks to find one that reads full or the higher mark. If there aren't any mark one yourself with a stroke or two with a junior hacksaw.

I thought there were different sumps that could be fitted to these engines, so they need different amounts of oil to reach the "full" point.

However if you know the engine has a standard sump, then the quoted volume in an original BMC manual is actually 8.25 pints (4.66 litres) to include the filter.

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10 hours ago, john cowie said:

Hi - does anyone have a bmc1.5 close to Worcester? Would you mind letting me have a look at your setup and make measurements?

Cheers - John

 

Droitwich?

However, my dipstick touches the bottom of the sump and so without knowing the correct postion my policy is to keep a level over the max mark, so if you looked at mine I feel you'd be none the wiser.

My dipstick is at the front whereas I beleive some are in the middle.

I am intrigued at your conclusions (with respect to bottom of the sump!)

 

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7 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

I thought there were different sumps that could be fitted to these engines, so they need different amounts of oil to reach the "full" point.

However if you know the engine has a standard sump, then the quoted volume in an original BMC manual is actually 8.25 pints (4.66 litres) to include the filter.

Lots of variable when dipping engine oil on boats, that's why I said 'about' and check the handbook, either the road vehicles book or the  BMC Marinie one. apart from possible different sumps there is the fore and aft angle which is likely to be more than in a road vehicle and cause the oil to accumulate towards the rear of the sump and away from the drain plug, likewise  to a list of the boat one side or the other, probably in most case there is always a pint or so in the sump that can't be drained out. The person dipping the oil will probably be on the dipstick side causing a list to that side as well. And then there's probably some sludge in the sump occupying oil space too, Hence folk saying on this thread that 6pts or so reads full on their dipsticks.

Edited by bizzard
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Thanks to Mikexx for the offer of Droitwich. Someone did mention that some dipsticks touch the bottom of the sump. I've got the offer of some advice from Calcutt Boats who've been using bmcs for years. If I get a definitive answer I've let you know. If not I'll arrange a visit and lie around in your bilge with a tape measure.

Cheers - John

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On 09/05/2017 at 13:06, Tony Brooks said:

Quote:-

This is what I had to do, I drained it popped in a gallon of oil which went well over the max [an inch over] and marked that as full and about 2 cms lover i marked empty no idea why but maybe the wrong dipstick who knows, It doesnt drip oil so I am assuming all is well

 

 

Personally I would be a bit wary of doing this. I find more often than not the engines take LESS than the recommended amount of oil to fill to full having run it etc. I feel doing this is very Ilkley to result in perpetuate an overfill situation. Overfilling a dies le with oil can be expensive if the engine sucks oil through the breather and forma a hydraulic lock. It bends con-rods.

Its got a BMC sump on it I have checked it against three other engines but my dipstick is different to theirs it doesnt have a stop on it and it goes down until it hits the sump bottom

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From memory the automotive "tin" sumps are only half length for the part that actually contains oil while the Newage marine ones are cast iron and full length. I can not recall a stop on a 1.5 dipstick apart from a small rubber "cap" that falls off over time and slides up the dipstick anyway. There are at least two dipstick positions depending upon what application the base engine was originally designed. Not sure how far that gets us though.

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On 09/05/2017 at 14:04, john cowie said:

Thanks for all these replies.

The sump seems to be non-standard - its not got the same shape as the one in the manual. So I can't just put in 7-8 pints.

Tony's idea of looking out for someone with a bmc and comparing dipsticks and heights is a good one but I thought I would ask you lot first!

cheers - John

 

You would have to make sure the sump  is the same as on your engine   Using the markings on a dipstick from another engine for comparison only holds good if the sump, filter, is the same as yours.Careful looking over is required

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In fact if you could describe the shape and material of your sump someone here may recognise it as being the same ass theirs and measure their dipstick for you. The only problem I see is that we will also need to know exactly where the dipstick is located. photos may help.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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