Oil change-6 litres!

I just finished changing my IM's oil. She took 6 litres and the dip stick is only at the half way point between low and high. What's the oil capacity for a stock 1600 VW engine? 3 litres?
engine stats:
2275 cc
Gene Berg deep sump
external oil filter
external oil cooler
I'm using Swepco 15W40 with a NAPA WIX filter.

My sump plate has the 6 10mm nuts and a center drain plug/nut. Oil was slowly leaking out of 2 or 3 of the little nuts, so I decided to take the plate off and reseal it. In the process I buggered up the lip of the metal oil screen. Since I didn't have a spare I decided to put the plate back on, with a new gasket, without the metal screen.
Should I be worried about not having the metal screen in place?
Ron

Nah. A lot of us with external filter just remove the screen. Consider getting the sump plate by Mainely Custom by Design. It has a drain plug, so you don't have to worry about the gasket and acorn nuts.

Ron: I have a CB "deep sump" on my 2,110, along with an external oil cooler and external filter, and just finished an oil change.

I always fill the oil filter with oil before installing it to the filter adapter. That took a little less than a US quart to fill it, the rest went into the sump. It then took about 4-3/4 US quarts to fill it to the top, "fill" line on the dip stick. Sounds like about 5-1/2 to 5-3/4 US quarts total to me.

Lane, I have a sump plate with a drain hole in the center. I took the plate off because it was leaking.
Gordon, I wish I could put some oil in my filter before I mounted it. Unfortunately, it sits sideways.

Since you have a sump (regardless if it's a deep or shallow) make sure you have the extension oil pick up tube attached. Most attache via a hose clamp but if you ever disassemble the engine, it's best to weld the extension to the existing pick up.

As mentioned above.
If you have an external filter then running without the screen is no problem provided there's not junk in your sump. If you have the stock VW sump plate with a drain hole then the little copper washers are fairly important in keeping oil from seeping past them. When I install the sump plate as you've described, I put silicone sealer on both sides of the gasket then on each mounting stud. Once the nuts are in place, a small dab of silicone is added to the exterior of the nuts. Since you're no longer going to have to remove the plate, this seals it up fairly well. After adding around 4 quarts, I start the engine and let the oil circulate then take a dip stick reading. Another problem people sometimes have is their dip stick isn't seated fully to the bottom of it's travel.

Go to this page: http://www.geneberg.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=sump&osCsid=6a2aeab58197ec8c994bb85a6f4be647

It's Gene Berg's catalog and shows the dimensions of their sumps along with their capacity. That information should help in your oil quantity calculations.

And yes, a stock VW with no added sump holds 3 quarts

Larry, I put gasket sealing on both sides of the paper gasket. Putting sealer in the small 10mm stud holes is a great idea. I'll do that if I have any more leaks.

Mine holds over 6 quarts...

Ron, it's easy to overtighten the small studs/nuts around the sump plate because a correct tightness is probably just around 12 in/lb. If not using an inch pound torque wrench it'd be near impossible to have them all right and evenly tightened.

So the silicon type sealants solve most problems if used according to the directions and it's an easy cleanup to start over next time.

Thanks for the advice, Ken. I tightened mine with a small ratchet and held it near the head to lessen the torque.
My leaking problem may be with the nuts I'm using. Mine are the closed top type and I noticed on two of them that I could tighten them so far and then they become loose. Then, I could tighten them up again.
Not sure what's going on, so I may replace them with open ended nylocks and some silicone sealer.

The 6mm washers (as well as the oil drain nut washer) are supposed to be copper (and not just copper plated) so they will conform and seal properly. Check the next oil change set with a magnet. The acorn nuts are also used to prevent oil leakage as well as protect the ends of the 6mm studs from damage. When removing the oil strainer plate (and one of the gaskets), the thickness of the gasket and plate have to be compensated for when using the acorn nuts or the stud can bottom out in the nut and destroy threads. The cheap paper gaskets used these days have to be sealed or oil will leak right through them; I've heard of guys using spray can lacquer with success (and you don't have to worry about little bits of silicone sealer going through the motor).

Ron- IIrc, a stock motor holds 2.5 imperial quarts, or 3 liters. For what you have (sump, cooler and filter), over 6 liters doesn't sound unreasonable. Lots of guys run the oil level in a motor with a deep sump 1/2-1 quart low, claiming less windage in the motor. With a motor that revs over 6000 rpm and a 1 1/2 qt sump I wouldn't do it, but with a 3 1/2 qt sump it's safe.

Ron,

I'd be concerned about that "tighten then loosen and tighten again behavior. It could mean that the nuts or the studs are losing threads (stripping), or in a worse case it could mean that the studs are starting to turn in the case. Both would be a result of an overtightening at any time in the setup's life and if that is the case it'll only get worse until you need to use either helicoil type fixes or maybe some of the self tapping larger diameter studs as a less desirable stopgap. It sounds to me like it'd be worth your while, and some oil, to get to the bottom of the leaking before it comes to the point of a catastrophic kind of event.

Allan is right that the capscrews are meant to protect the stud threads and I'd first double up on washers before changing them out.

Yeah, sounds like they're stripped. And it's usually the case side since the nuts are harder than the case material. Some people will retap and put in regular bolts fed in from the top side to replace the studs so they can't pull out.

Thanks for the advice, guys.
I'll watch for any oil leaks. I have a sneaking suspicion that two of my sump stud threads are stripped. If that's the case I'll have to take the sump off.
Ron

Guys, I had an extended sump once. Since removed as it kept hitting the speed bumps.... I was also getting a slight leak from the extended sump plate. I thought a couple of studs were stripped. I removed the plate on the bottom (6 hole style)and removed the whole extended section. I found the studs were bolts all the way through the body and had been winding in as I tried to tighten the nuts. It looked like they were stripped but just winding back in.

Ron, you don't have to remove the sump. VW made a stud that had 7 or 8mm threads on one end and 6mm threads on the other.. You removed the sump plate, tapped the hole for the larger stud, inserted it then flushed the inside of the sump with a about a 1/2 quart of oil and you were good to go. If you can't find that stud at your VW dealer then I may have a couple laying around.

Thanks Larry. So far no leaks (in that area, at least), but we all now how fast that can change!