How many quarts of oil would I need to change the oil in my 1991 geostorm hatchback? It is second hand and I don’t have the manual.
What do you need a manual for? Buy five quarts and keep adding until it’s full.
In the future, buy a second-hand manual (GM, Haynes, or Chilton) on eBay or Amazon.
Hell, you can get a Haynes at any auto parts store in the country. They’re not incredibly cheap but they’re a sound investment - tell you almost everything you need to know.
Nametag the websites I have gone to have varied the number of quarts from 6-12, do I just keep pouring until it is full
No.
It is doubtful that your car’s engine holds more than 4 quarts, even with a filter replacement.
I tried hard, but was unable to find the info for you. I suggest going to K-Mart or Wal-Mart, and in the oil filter aisle they will typically have either an orange or a blue book, or a little touch-screen thing, where you enter your car, model, year, and engine type, and it tells you exactly how much oil you need, what weight, what filter type, etc. Ask a person there to help you if you need it - they should be happy to sell you stuff.
Alternately, call a dealer and ask for the parts department. Say you need to come by and pick up some oil and a filter, and you wanted to know how many quarts you need. If their price is right, do just that.
According to my Mitchell manual, a '91 Storm single cam engine has an oil capacity of 3.2 quarts. The Storm GSi dual cam engine’s capacity is 4.0 quarts. These figures include the filter.
I know what you’re saying here Nametag, “Put a quart in and check the dipstick, repeat until dipstick reads full”, but a customer of ours at an auto parts store had her car catch fire right as she was pulling into the parking lot because she thought adding oil was like adding water/coolant to the radiator; that is, keep putting oil in until it reaches the top of opening. I believe she said she put in something like 8-9 quarts into a 4-cyl. engine. The car was totalled, poor sap.
If you’ve decided to tackle changing you own oil, I suggest you keep it simple and use common sense.
First, buy yourself some oil. If you watch the department store ads, you’ll likely find a really cool deal whereby you can possess a case (12 qts.) or a half-case (guess how many qts.!) of good-quality motor oil for something approaching $1 a quart or less, depending on sale price, rebates, etc. Don’t worry about buying too much oil! If you’re going to change it now, you’ll want to change it again a few months, and you’ll use it up.
If you’re wondering about your crankcase capacity (that is, how much oil you need), I’d suggest measuring the dirty oil that you drain. Assuming that the crankcase was properly filled before you drained it, you can figure the oil you need to put back in is roughly the same as what you drained. Try using a milk jug or a 2-liter pop bottle as a measuring tool.
As a rule of thumb, remember that modern automobile engines generally require 3 to 5 quarts of oil. Some may need a bit less than 3, and a few may require more than 5, but these are rare exceptions. And all will run at idle without damage for short periods with less oil than called for.
In the case of a smaller engine, say 3.5L or 217 c.i.d. or smaller, I’d pour in three qts. and check the dipstick. (No one has mentioned this handy device yet, but you DO have one, and if you look, you’ll find it.) Chances are, oil will show on the stick after you add 3 qts. Add slowly from the fourth qt. until the oil shows at the “full” mark. Start the engine, let it idle for a minute or so, then shut it off and let it sit for, say five minutes. (You’re giving the new oil time to drain from the more far-flung regions of your powerplant to the oilpan.) Check the dipstick again and add as needed to get to the “full mark.”
In the case of the larger engines, i.e. larger than 3.5L, start with four qts., then follow the same routine, adding from a fifth quart.
Good luck!
Checking how much you drain, as another poster suggested, works just fine. If you’ve already drained and discarded, put in 3 quarts and check the dipstick. If low add a quart and recheck the dipstick. Continue until the level is to the “FULL” line on the dipstick. Keep track and write down for the glove compartment, how many quarts you put in.
Measuring how much oil came out may sound like a good idea, but it can only work if the oil was at the correct level before draining AND you have a way to measure what came out. Since the measuring would typically be a godawful messy thing to do, it doesn’t strike me as very feasible. It’s a hell of a lot easier to find the spec (which is in my previous post) or start with 3 quarts and add until full.
It’s been said before, buts bears repeating–you really need to know how to read the dipstick and understand that it is used to determine “full.” It’s easy, but for some who have never done it or been shown how, it’s also easy to goof it up, as demonstrated in Horseflesh’s post.
Gary T you are the man now I know how much to pour into my car. Thankyou to everyone who gave advice. Now I shall go do the Herculian task of changing my oil