Misreading Oil Level

[Brandon_SC]

So yesterday after warming up the engines on my 2008 SX230 it was time to check the oil. Mind you, I check the oil every time we go out, and it was supposed to be full. (I carefully did an oil change at the beginning of the season... and replaced close to what I extracted from each engine.) Whelp, both engines were barely above the low mark. I thought damn, WTF... so my dad and I both checked it 3 times. We added about a half quart or less to each engine to bring them 3/4 on one and 5/8 the other between the low and full marks.
Today, we heated up the engines again on the lake (making sure to troll speed at the end like the manual says)... this time we checked and both engines were barely over the full mark! Does anybody have ideas about why they were measuring inconsistently between days? Going by this the engines apparently weren’t as low as we thought the day before. My engines typically don’t use oil, and I keep them shy of the full mark to keep from ruining air filters. Is there a way oil can be accumulating farther down in the MR-1 engine block rather than the reservoir during usage on the water?

 

[Jgorm]

I've had this issue when i ran the engine for short periods. I now do 6 to 7 minutes on the hose at 2500 to 3000 rpms. Then i stop it, check, add a bit a then repeat. I've done this on 3 mr1s so far and it starts consistent. I was going in circles before that. Don't react to high levels unless you have done this (or the 7000 rpm for 3+ minutes on the water)

 

[Brandon_SC]

@Jgorm Thanks for the reply and the information!

 

[bronze_10]

Mine moves a little bit.. I can warm them up at home and and it reads one thing.. After being on the water for a while it will read something else. However there is a large portion of the oil that stays in the engine block... The only way to get it out is to turn into a circus entertainer that does all of those weird double jointed moves, lay across the engine and find the bottom drain plug waaaaaaaayyyyy in the back and down low.. . its so hard to reach u need a mirror to even see it...

The good part is that it let's all the oil out... But u really only need to do that if the oil is contaminated like mine was. Other wise u just pull the oil out of the tank and replace what came out.

 

[Jgorm]

I've been to that circus! Not pleasant! But it does a way better job.