Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip
As long as you are in the crosshatches on the dipstick, you are safe.
The crankcase oil has two main jobs - lubricate and remove heat. In hot weather and stop and go traffic, full to the top is better to help dissipate heat. Racers use deep sumps and finned pans for this purpose.
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Actually there is another important function, which is to keep impurities in suspension in the fluid. When you change your oil, it removes the harmful crud that is suspended in the dirty oil.
I've heard the comparison made between a vehicle and the human body: your car doesn't really run on fuel - it runs on oil. The gasoline is comparable to the food in your stomach, but the vehicle's oil is comparable to the blood in your circulatory system. I guess we could stretch it to say that an oil filter is something like the liver that removes most of the impurities and an oil change is somewhat like getting a blood transfusion.