What did you do to your LS today?

From the owner's manual.

oil.jpg

From the 06 service manual:
http://deneau.info/ls/s6x~us~en~file=s6x31001.htm~gen~ref.htm

Note that while they disagree, neither says 6 quarts. The owner's manual says 6.5 quarts, and the service manual says 6.9 quarts. My own experience is that 6.9 is right, because 7 quarts brings both of mine to the max fill line.

A few points here:
Max fill is better than min fill because the oil level can only go down, not up. (If it's going up, you have far more serious problems than a high oil level.)
It should take more than 8 quarts for there to be any chance of the crankshaft hitting the oil, and then only at an incline.
There are baffles above the oil pan so that even if the crank did hit some oil, it wouldn't be able foam up the oil down in the pan.
I always thought that the problem with foaming the oil was that the oil pump couldn't make pressure trying to pump foam.

oil.jpg
 
Robot said:
...additional oil for the VVT mechanism itself during the initial fill. That being said, our logic would make an educated assumption that the VVT mechanism and the plumbing leading into it would not be completely drained during an oil change. With that, we have an initial oil fill capacity of 6.5Qts and a refill of 6.0Qts.
Click to expand...

Yep, you are probably right. The engineers were too stupid to figure out to specify one amount for the factory fresh fill and another for the oil change or how to have the VVT system drain for a complete oil change. However, they knew that everyone else would know that they needed to subtract a quart or half quart from each oil change. They also designed so that the oil in the VVT system would not drain back out when you took the oil filter out. They did it so well, that you can't even find the hidden check valves that accomplish this.
 
Robot said:
<br />
<br />
Are you driving short distances? My old V6 and my wife's '06 do that when they've been driven short distances, not allowing the "residue" in the system to burn off.<br />
<br />
Smelt: A small fish.<br />
<br />
Smelled: Something a nose did in the past.<br/>

Ok, this is where I started following the topic of the V6 and the '06 LS. The BMW pic was used as an illustration for a sub-topic of the 15000mi oils and those trying to use non euro spec oil for these long change intervals and ending up with that type of result.
Click to expand...

Actually, the BMW engine pic was used to show what can happen to an engine that never gets any highway time (short distance, low speed driving like the OP said he uses his car) but aside from that, spot on. When the engine never really gets warm the oil absorbs moisture from condensation, and this can sludge up the inside of the engine pretty quickly.

On the whole oil check/fill thing, I would wonder if the quick change guys are not letting the oil drain completely. They are in it to move as many people through as they can, not in letting all the oil drain. If the guys are in a real hurry, they may not even be letting the oil stop draining before putting the plug back in and that can leave half a quart or more in the engine.

Short distance driving is when you don't drive long enough to let the engine get fully warmed up, then stay running 15-20 minutes at least. Ideally you want to run it on the highway once a week for at least 45 minutes. To combat the effects of short distance driving you can add a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil to the engine oil, drive easy about 50 miles then change the oil. This stuff is great, it'll break all the crap down and let it drain. Don't dog it out while doing this though because the Marvel does thin the oil out some.
 
joegr said:
From the owner's manual.

View attachment 828466083

From the 06 service manual:
http://deneau.info/ls/s6x~us~en~file=s6x31001.htm~gen~ref.htm

Note that while they disagree, neither says 6 quarts. The owner's manual says 6.5 quarts, and the service manual says 6.9 quarts. My own experience is that 6.9 is right, because 7 quarts brings both of mine to the max fill line.

A few points here:
Max fill is better than min fill because the oil level can only go down, not up. (If it's going up, you have far more serious problems than a high oil level.)
It should take more than 8 quarts for there to be any chance of the crankshaft hitting the oil, and then only at an incline.
There are baffles above the oil pan so that even if the crank did hit some oil, it wouldn't be able foam up the oil down in the pan.
I always thought that the problem with foaming the oil was that the oil pump couldn't make pressure trying to pump foam.
Click to expand...

The V6 is supposed to have 6.9 quarts but that engine is not even related.
 
joegr said:
Yep, you are probably right. The engineers were too stupid to figure out to specify one amount for the factory fresh fill and another for the oil change or how to have the VVT system drain for a complete oil change. However, they knew that everyone else would know that they needed to subtract a quart or half quart from each oil change. They also designed so that the oil in the VVT system would not drain back out when you took the oil filter out. They did it so well, that you can't even find the hidden check valves that accomplish this.
Click to expand...

Joe, where can we find the procedure for evacuating the oil out of the VVT mechanism?
 
Started it, backed it out of the garage to idle. Then put it back away. Thrilling stuff
 
^ Hahaha yup, the in-out of the garage exercise.
 
Robot said:
So the procedure will yield a 6.9 quart oil drop? Has anyone measured? I'm only asking because we have 3 different capacities.
Click to expand...

I've added 7 quarts every time I've changed the oil over the last 14 years and total of 378K miles with 4 LSes.
 
Today, I learned there are two types of micrometer-style torque wrenches.

Tomorrow, I will be learning how to remove snapped bolts from heads.

I tried to do the VCG replacement and borrowed a torque wrench. I knew there were micrometer, bending, and digital torque wrenches. What I was not particularly aware of was the fact that there are micrometer wrenches that, instead of clicking in a ratcheting motion, bend at the head. So I snapped the bolt between the front-most and second front-most passenger side cylinders.

:soapbox::q:q:q:give
 
LSFrank said:
Today, I learned there are two types of micrometer-style torque wrenches.

Tomorrow, I will be learning how to remove snapped bolts from heads.

I tried to do the VCG replacement and borrowed a torque wrench. I knew there were micrometer, bending, and digital torque wrenches. What I was not particularly aware of was the fact that there are micrometer wrenches that, instead of clicking in a ratcheting motion, bend at the head. So I snapped the bolt between the front-most and second front-most passenger side cylinders.

:soapbox::q:q:q:give
Click to expand...

This is just a test I use for my Sanity's sake. Set the torque to a very low setting just to check if the mechanism is working and how it works.
 
Robot said:
This is just a test I use for my Sanity's sake. Set the torque to a very low setting just to check if the mechanism is working and how it works.
Click to expand...

Yeah... good tip. I did that and just figured my fingers were too cold and the 1/4" shank too small to turn to click. Novice mistake. After using a combination of two drills, 3 bits, a hammer, an awl, an extractor bit, and a 90-degree drill adapter, I got it. I'm sure it's designed this way, but the bolt snapped from tension and not torsion. The hole is deep enough that the bolt won't bottom out so the heads pull the bolt down, the cover pulls the bolt out. Once the hole was drilled in the shaft, the extractor bit took so little force to turn the bolt I didn't think it had caught at all. I probably could have used a #2 phillips screwdriver in the drilled hole or just a drill bit running backwards. The new bolt threads in just fine. I'm using a regular M6-1.0 30mm bolt. Its the same threaded length but doesn't have the notch to hold the sleeve.

Turns out, I forgot to put a little RTV on the seam AND I forgot to replace the outer gaskets on the center two bolts. More than one crisis was averted today for me. Besides, I now have another $40 worth of tools.

Good thing I also went to my mechanic to check the plug gaps. While talking to him I realized I was going to torque these down to 89 ft lbs instead of inch lbs. They'd all snap long before the wrench clicked. 89 INCH pounds. INCH.
 
Calipers

I finally finished painting my brake calipers. It took a long time just to clean and prep them for paint.

brake old.JPG


nu brake.jpg
 
Jrt1418 said:
I finally finished painting my brake calipers. It took a long time just to clean and prep them for paint.
Click to expand...

Wow! Nicely done. Someone said there is no aftermarket support for the LS? With work like this we don't need it. We have US! Not just this one here. There are many others on this forum that put in so much time and effort for the love of their car and then share it with the rest of us. Thank you very much!
 
I forgot and left the AdvanceTrac off. I wound up doing a 4 wheel drift right hand turn in SST mode. There was a little initial understeer that transitioned to neutral with throttle lift.
 
it will probably be on craigslist soon : never driven hard, never seen rain or snow garage kept
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 146 (members: 0, guests: 146)
Back
Top