I'm designing a very shallow aluminum oil pan. I need to know how much oil is not in the oil pan while the engine is running (this will make sense below). Since my engine is out of the car, I was hoping a kind soul could do this for me.



Check the oil level on you dip stick without the engine running.

With the engine running, check the oil level on the dip stick again.

Note the difference in oil level (i.e 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" etc.)



Thanks a bunch.



P.S. My oil pan will only be about 1 5/8" deep.

 

ill do this later for you because I was going to check my oil level any way after tracking the car last night 8 runs I should have used a quart!

 

Great!

How long is a run? (drag, autocross?)

 

no it was just 1/4 mile runs

sorry it took so long for me to reply



1.I checked the oil level with the car very cold (sitting for 1 day) it was right at the F

2.Then I checked it after I had let the car warm up and had it shut down for 5 min same exact result

3.Then I checked it while it was running after it had fully warmed up...same exact thing again



hope that answered your question. If there was a difference it was so small I couldn't tell it looked identical every time. I can measure with a fine ruler if you'de like when I go home next week.

 

thanks snook. I guess the engine just doesn't hold a whole lot of oil while it's running.

 

if it matters I have a single turbo and the oil lines are a little different



im sure theres lots of little factors that change it like idle and stuff but the main idea is that a lot of oil is stored in the oilpan until you get some real oilpressure I guess