So I am doing a full fluid change on the car and when tackling the oil change I noticed barely 3 qts came out. Yikes! No oil light came on either. We all know the oil dipsticks are useless on this car. I did the fluid change and while there are 5 qts in the car, I wonder if I can somehow mark the dip stick so I can get a somewhat reliable reading on the oil level. I was thinking of spraying the dip stick with a shot of white spray paint for its current reading so in the months ahead, I know where the reading should come out on a cold engine. Will the spray paint shot come off the stick through due to the oil? Anyone come up with a way to get a reliable reading on the dipstick?

 

The dip stick is made of spring steel and paint isn't going to adhere very well. I would try a tiny file or cut off wheel to cut a visable line but don't go any deeper.
I haven't noticed any problem with the accuracy of the oil level but have had a shop bend the dip stick to the point it would no longer go all of the way in. If I hadn't been there watching they might have looked around the shop for another one that fit. Are you sure your dip stick is still OEM?

 

I used a dremel to put a mark on on my dipstick. That mark indicates my engine needs 1 quart of oil.

Took me a while to figure out with all the measuring n stuff.

 

Oil dip stick useless? What dumb ( ! ) came up with that opinion? There's lines on the dipstick, the one closest to the handle is the full mark...check it after you've added the 5 quarts required! It has never been a good idea to check the oil level on any car after immediately shutting off the engine, wait for 30 minutes to get a true reading which allows all the oil to drain back into the pan! Just in case you can't find the lines on your dipstick, try turning it over you'll be surprised what you'll find!
Gary

 

Over the almost 172k miles on my previous 06 G35 6 speed I never had a problem reading the oil dipstick. The L mark was indicative of two quarts low.
I checked my oil weekly and added 1/4, or 1/2 qt as needed with the engine cold after sitting overnight in the garage.
Not sure why the OP is having a problem?
I sometimes used 1 qt per 1000 miles but oil is cheap and I did 53 oil changes with whatever was on sale at Pep Boys every 3500 - 4000 miles

Telcoman

 

Check your oil level first thing in the morning on a cold engine. You can't screw that reading up.

Pull, look, replace, DONE.

 

I like the ideas thanks guys.

Oh and Gary... just an FYI. Put 5 quarts in, let the engine sit for a couple hours this morning after I got home and was working on the car. Checked the oil with 5 qts in and a cold engine.. it reads half way on the grid section of the dipstick. Not even close to the
top of the grid. And before another stupid response comes out... yes, it really is 5 quarts of oil in there. Yes, the engine really is cold after sitting for a few hours.

Just going to call it good there. Half way up the grid is a full 5 quarts. Or I might just add a quart every 1500 or so miles. Never saw a car go through oil like this does and in my years I have had several sports cars.

Thanks for some of the ideas you guys posted.

 

There's another explanation, is it possible you have the wrong dipstick in your motor? Above the full mark on your dipstick there are checkered marks, does your dipstick have those? Wrong dipstick or oil pan, somethings not kosher aka right!
Gary

 

When we did an oil change on our G we bought the 5+ quart jugs. It filled the level up to the top mark on the dipstick perfectly. These engines are notorious for burning oil. You'll read here that that only happens to the rev-up motors but that's a crock of ****. It can happen to any of the VQ 35 motors so check your oil religiously every 2 weeks. Oil starvation can destroy these motors if you have an issue and aren't religiously checking the level.

 

My 04 Sedan is the same. Halfway on the grid is 5 quarts.

 

Actually there's ANOTHER possibility, you might have an aftermarket oil pan spacer on your vehicle which adds another 3/4 of a quart of crankcase capacity. An oil change with filter should be exactly 5 quarts for an oil change.

EDIT: It's also possible that there was a dipstick revision somewhere along the lines, my 2006 rev-up takes exactly 5 quarts to the top of the hatches on the dipstick.

 

Even without an oil pan spacer and with a genuine dipstick I still can't get a clean reading. I've tried measuring it cold, warm, hot, doesn't matter. Full up with 5 quarts looks halfway to me, although clearly it shouldn't...

 

^We have had a different experience apparently than most. 5 qts filled the dipstick to the cover only the bottom third of the empty/full range on the dipstick but the 5+ qt jugs of oil fill it up to right under the full line. Been that way for over 100K miles and it doesn't matter what oil/filter we use when replacing the stock size filter, same results every time. Larger filters like the Mobil1 M110 would need 1/4 of a quart extra to get it there.

 

You know I've seen a lot of comments about difficulty reading the dipstick as well as 5qt not filling it to the top but never for the 2005-2006 G's, I wonder if they actually have a different dipstick? I know they LOOK the same but the hatching might be in a slightly different location or something, might be deeper cuts as well.

EDIT: I'm using the HP1008 K&N filters, not sure on the capacity though.

 

I know it's a terrible dipstick design but I fail to see how checking the level and reading it after sitting overnight is giving so many problems. I have no issues reading it after sitting overnight.