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How to check the oil

Joined
8 March 2016
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961
Location
SF Bay Area
I wanted to check the oil level after my last track event to see if the car is burning oil (not uncommon).

I vaguely noticed what looked like an electronic oil level checker function in the dash display and tried to use it. Turns out it DOES NOT check the oil level, but rather takes you through a process of checking the oil-- a process that is a bit comical.

I read the electronic owners' manual on how to check the oil.

The process is:

1. Warm up car (dash shows when it is warm enough).
2. Idle in neutral while parked on flat surface for about two minutes (dash tells you when you have waited long enough).
3. Turn off engine
4. Wait two more minutes
5. Pop the rear hatch and remove right side of engine cover (lift straight up, rocking back and forth gently to pull free of rubber pins (observe stickers on bottom of engine cover to learn when that part passed QA inspection).
6. Check oil with dipstick / add oil if needed.
7. Replace engine cover.

The issue is that, under normal driving and/or idling, THE ENGINE NEVER GETS WARM ENOUGH to check the oil.

After trading calls with Sergio (NSX tech), the official procedure (contrary to owners manual) is to bring the car to temp by putting in Sport+ mode in neutral and hold the throttle at 3K RPM. Computer will drop RPM after a couple of minutes. Release throttle and mash again to bring up revs. Repeat until warm enough (indicated in the "oil check assist" dash function). Then proceed to Step #2 .

Anyway, after some serious hard driving, my oil was just a bit over the "full" markers. I was expecting it to be down by 0.5 to 1.0 liters during "break in." Car doesn't seem to burn any oil at all, even under very hard use.
 
Have you tried checking the oil level when the engine is cold? Just wondering how different the oil level indicator is between a cold engine and when you do the proper oil check procedure. If I recall, I had to do something similar with my E39 M5: warm up engine, let idle for 30 seconds or so, then wait for a minute before checking oil level. I never noticed a significant difference in oil level when doing that vs. just checking on a cold engine.
 
Have you tried checking the oil level when the engine is cold? Just wondering how different the oil level indicator is between a cold engine and when you do the proper oil check procedure. If I recall, I had to do something similar with my E39 M5: warm up engine, let idle for 30 seconds or so, then wait for a minute before checking oil level. I never noticed a significant difference in oil level when doing that vs. just checking on a cold engine.
I recall it being a cold or mild check on a E39 (S62b50 engine) as that isn't dry slump.

When I check dry slump cars in the shop i always make sure there is some oil, (albeit a low level when call due to how dryslump works)
Warm the car up to 80/90c then check, it's pretty universal procedure for nearly all dryslump cars, a good drive is also good.

According to Ferrari,
- Run the engine at about 4500 min–1 until reaching a temperature of 80÷90 °C.
- Keep the engine idling.

Although i recall GM on a ZR-1 tell's you to shut the engine down for 2 minutes.

I don't do it like that as i refuse to rev engines that are cold (e.g. have sat all night) I idle them warm (fan's come on then warm it up further)
I do recall that a good generic OBD reader will allow you to see oil temperature.
 
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If it makes you feel any better, I have to go through the same procedure on my Can-Am Spyder motorcycle with it's semi-dry sump system:
Ride bike for at least nine miles, place bike on level surface, leave engine on until the radiator fans cycle on and off twice, stop engine,
remove the oil check panel, check oil within two minutes, else start over.
 
Hi everyone. I am an asshat. A spamming asshat to be exact. But please pity me. I am an orphan. My parents killed themselves because I am an embarrassment who chooses to be a worthless piece of shit spammer.

Baba booey to y’all
 
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Thanx for this post!!! I just bought my NSX a couple days ago. Thought it would be prudent to check the oil. Tried to follow the 14 steps in the manual.....never could get the car warm enough 😂😂😂. Then, to make matters worse, the car just shut down....not sure why? Tried to restart it....ran for a couple seconds and shut itself down again....I'm assuming it is some sort of safety feature or the fact that at idle the car's alternator cant produce enough power to sustain the battery over a long period of time???? No clue. Let it sit for a while went out started it and drove to and from work....no problems. I did check the oil when it shut down...it was right at the top.....no worries...😎
 
BTW I just checked the oil again using the above procedure suggested by the tech. It worked. It took about 15 min to get the car sufficiently warmed up. Let idle timer run out...let sit for 2 min...checked level... It was much higher this time than when I didn't get the car warm enough. So, if you don't follow the procedure you could easily over fill the engine....not good.
 
Just checked my oil level following the manual instructions. Like others have noted, on a cool day driving it normally the oil never reaches the proper checking temp. Tried it driving a lot more aggressively, from light to light, finally got the temp up high enough to satisfy the computer. Anyway, my oil level is frighteningly high, above the full mark by 1/4" to 3/8"! Car has only 2,300 miles on it. Was delivered to me from an Acura dealer in Chicago with 3 miles on odometer. How can the factory fill be this overfull?

On an 80 degree day here in Texas, I drove it normally and it did reach the proper temp. to check.

Checked with my local dealer's NSX tech. He told me they are all delivered that way, nothing to worry about? Not sure I buy this. He said he has talked to the factory engineers about the delivery oil being overfilled, and they told him they do it on purpose, something about additional additives on top of the regular level fill.
 
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Welcome to the site.

If you aren't comfortable with the info, contact the NSX Specialists at Acura Corporate.

They are great folks and will address your asks.
 
I talked to those folks before on the thermostat recall and was not satisfied with their answers. I was told by the dealer that it was ok to drive it, but my thermostat was bad. This was counter intuitive to me. I thought I would get a better explanation from the factory folks. I have an Engineering background and have serviced, maintained, and repaired all of my cars for over 50 years. Mostly Porsches with an occasional BMW thrown in. I wrote a highly technical query to them asking specific engineering questions about why/how the thermostats were deemed to be bad and were failing and needed to be replaced.

They did not even attempt to answer my specific questions. It took them about a week to respond and they gave me some marketing line about how they were "faulty". So, when the recalls came for the gas tank replacement and the high mounted brake light wiring rework I did not bother to contact them then either.

I love the car, but I am a little disappointed about how many careless quality issues are showing up. I have 2 Porsche Boxster Spyders, an original 2011 and a 2016. Neither one has ever needed anything fixed.
 
Hi,

Checking the oil seems a bit crazy because it's a dry-sump system. The reason for dry-sump is: lower center of gravity for the engine makes improved handling. Anyways, it comes with the design. Also doing an oil change is more complicated. Dry-sump again. It's got 9 drain plugs, I think. Somebody else pointed out this is typical of the type.

It's different from wet-sump (normal) systems.
 
I had contacted the factory earlier on the thermostat recall. It took several days for a "marketing" response, not the technical response I was seeking. It was a waste of time.

My car is now back at the dealer to attempt to solve rattles inside the door panels, and a vibrating inside rear view mirror. While it is there I told the NSX specialist to check the oil himself. We will see what he says.
 
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