Dickey Dipstick?? How Much Oil?

[Avroflyer]

1990 Tasmin 400SE.
I have had an oil leak for a while and wondered maybe it's been overfilled, although I have always only kept it to the High mark or lower, never higher. At the last oil change, I got 5 and a quarter litres out of the sump, without the filter and the level prior to draining was only halfway between max and min. This suggests it takes around 6 litres to get to the High mark on my dipstick. The The Steve Heath book says V8 Wedges take "about 5 litres" of oil. The 350i Driver's Manual says 4.75 litres. So I refilled the car with 4.75 litres of oil and it shows on the dipstick but doesn't even come up as far as the Low mark - in fact probably halfway between the Low level marker and the bottom end of the dipstick! So what is right, my dipstick or the Book? Does the 400SE have a bigger sump or just need more oil than the 350? I thought they were all the same. I don't want to be running aroung with a seriously low oil level but on the other hand, if my dipstick is dickey, I don't want to follow it and risk overfilling it (again).

Anybody got any thoughts?

Cheers

[vampire222]

wait a night and check again, takes some time till it's all down there when you put it in. But last time i put in 5.5l so 4.75 sounds well low.

[pwd95]

All my previous Wedges have taken around 6L of oil to get a proper reading. Some take more due to the oil cooler circuit.

[Avroflyer]

The oil cooler thermostat and the feed pipes' highest point are higher than the cooler, so I'd have thought the contents wouldn't drain out unless you disconnected one pipe and blew it out.

[Wedg1e]

Avroflyer said:

The oil cooler thermostat and the feed pipes' highest point are higher than the cooler, so I'd have thought the contents wouldn't drain out unless you disconnected one pipe and blew it out.

The V8's oil pump isn't noted for being the closest-tolerance piece of machinery so oil will drain down through it. Once you have more air than oil in it, it won't self-prime...
I do seem to think that my 390SE (with cooler) takes rather more than a gallon to refill... think I usually buy 6L and there's a wee bit left for a top-up later.