The manual for my car calls for adding an additional quart of oil during track events. I always empty the excess when I get back home from my local track.
But there's an event next year at a track that is a 3 hour drive from me. Would it be risky to drive all the way back home with the additional quart of oil, or should I find a way to empty it before driving back? I'm curious what the mechanical risks are, if any.
Thank you!
When you have excess oil in your engine, this can cause a situation where the crankshaft consistently comes in contact with the oil in the crankcase, which in turn causes aeration in the oil. This, in and of itself, can reduce oil pressure and cause damage to the engine. It seems a very risky proposition to add oil beyond normal.
This is a 2021 Camaro V6 with the 1LE track package. The wording in the manual is: "For LS/LT 1LE, add 0.9 L (1.0 qt) of oil over the nominal fill level for a track event. After the competitive driving, remove the excess oil so that the level on the dipstick is not above the upper mark that shows the proper operating range." Edit: of note is that this recommendation is only for the 1LE, not for the standard car with the same engine. I assume this is related to the fact that the 1LE comes with wider wheels + stickier tires and thus produces higher horizontal forces during turns.
When on the track it isn't only the lateral motion of the car which can cause oil starvation, but more so the sustained high RPMs if you're driving it correctly. The higher RPMs tend to push the oil up in to the top of the engine without the time to allow it to drain back into the pan for pickup by the pump. While the V6 in your Camaro has reasonable power, I'm not a fan of them. The engineering on them is not as good as one would think it should be.
The engine definitely stays near redline for the duration of the lapping sessions. I'll try to contact the track and maybe a couple shops local to it to see if I can borrow a lift or something to drain my excess oil before driving back home. I did install a drain plug valve so it's easy to do if I can get the car up on ramps.
Since you've installed the drain plug valve, yah, you want to get the excess drained off as soon as possible and this should make it a lot easier. I'm not overly fond of the valves, because they tend to stick down a bit which makes them a target for any road debris. Not that you'd find it at the track, but any normal driving could cause something to come in contact and for a loss of oil to ensue. A cheap alternative which might be better on several levels is to get an oil syphon. You stick a flexible tube down the dipstick hole, power a pump, and draw out the excess oil. If you know how much you put in, just take the same amount out. This will make it so you don't have to find ramps or have worry about getting the drain valve clipped by something.
