oil change/capacity question.
 

Greetings folks.

I have a noobie question.

When changing the oil, I have been using Mobil 1 extended.

The capacity listed in the manual is 6 qts.

However, when I drain all the oil out, it barely fills up the 5 qt. Do I still put a full 6 in?

I'm afraid that I have over filled in the past. When I check the dipstick, (again I'm a complete noob) its hard to tell where the line actually is. You know that they have the part of the dipstick that has the cross hashes and the little dimples? There is still one dimple that is not filled when taken out, but there are little traces of oil above.

I have a chevy silverado, 2009 Crew Cab, 4x4 5.3L Flex Fuel

Well I double checked the spec, and it says 6 quarts with a filter. Don't forget that the filter can hold quite a bit of oil too. I think the filter is holding the rest of the oil.

As far as the dipstick goes, I'd say each hole in the dipstick represents the amount of oil in it. I'd put in 6 quarts and look again. I think you should have that other hole filled with oil.

Yes it should be filled to where there is oil visible in the higher hole. It should hold all 6, if not you aren't draining it properly or your oil filter isn't the right size. Some of the aftermarket filters are a little larger and it will hold 6 plus a little to fill it completely.

fwiw ... i put in less than the capacity after an oil/filter change. then idle the engine for a few minutes so the oil distributed and fills the filter. then turn the engine off and let it sit for a while (longer if the engine was cold). then check the oil level, topping off as necessary. <-- all this with the truck on a level surface with any jacks removed.

supposedly, overfilling can harm the engine, but i stand to be corrected.

well you also have to take into consideration that all engines to eat a little oil too.......