my suggestion would be to get the engine to operating temp, then do an
oil and filter change. Add the manufacturers reccommended oil amount
(plus or minus any modification to the oil pan) , then run the engine
to operating temp, shut off  engine and let sit for say the time it
takes to fill the gas tank (or for consistancys sake ... say like 10
minutes) then check your dipstck.  thats your full mark!

On 10/24/06, Mark C <obeechi@runbox.com> wrote:
> I have a 2.2 legacy engine... and sometimes a two hour drive seems to result in having less oil than I thought I had... I have the shortened oil pan... and the confusing dip stick... with two holes and one hatch mark... maybe I don't check my oil correctly... like if one side shows a higher level and the other side, which reading is more correct, and should your engine be warm hot or cold... and ... I checked my oil Saturday, and it seemed fine, or so I thought... then took a two hour freeway drive with a mixture of heavy traffic and high speed driving.. then hitting my brakes in city traffic before making the round trip back causes the oil light to flash... so I stop, unload the rear and check the oil and I'm a quart low... like the oil that shows on the stick is on the tip of the tip of the dipstick, ... so I added a quart and splash... and oil level now is fine...
>
> do those shortened pans ever lead to burned up engines... I'm going to have to have someone check for an oil leak... and if one isn't found... then what... >?
>

--
Best Regards,
                          ~david