In re: the oil smell problem.
About six months ago, I took a question on the oil capacity of Grand Sports with the LS3 wet-sump engine. The people asking were concerned that the oil level in their wet-sump LS3s was overfull even though they'd been filled with the 6-quarts of oil specified in GM service data. You can read the original thread here:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...sump-oil-capacity.html?highlight=oil+capacity
To get an accurate answer I had to research a while, both in email exchanges with sources at GM and with my set of Factory Service Manuals.
In 2008, LS3's oil capacity, if the oil and filter were changed, according to factory service data, was 6-quarts, however, the
actual capacity was 6-quarts for LS3s in cars ordered with Z51 and
5.5-qts for LS3s in cars without Z51. The extra half-quart was held in the Z51's oil-to-air engine oil cooler. Sources at GM told me that inspite of the half-quart difference, service data did not differentiate between the two oil capacities.
In 2009, the error in Service Manuals was corrected listing LS3s w. Z51 at 6-qt and LS3s w/o Z51 at 5.5 qts.
In 2010, the Z51 option and its EOC were discontinued. For MY10 the LS3 in Grand Sports ordered with Z52 had a dry sump oiling system with a capacity of 10.5-qt. The LS3 wet sump engine, in Grand Sports w/o Z52 and all base cars, when the oil and filter were changed, had 5.5-qt oil capacity, but
factory service information incorrectly listed an oil capacity of 6-qts.
This error is consistent in MY10,11 and 12 Corvette Service Manuals and, while I haven't yet ordered a 2013 Service Manual, nor do I have access to GM's ESI, I suspect this error persisted to the end MY13 production.
This means that the oil capacity of all 2010-2013 LS3s with wet sump oiling is overstated by half a quart and
any technician using factory service data will overfill the engine by half a quart–that goes for not only dealers but just about any service facility doing oil changes because publishers of aftermarket service data get their oil capacity numbers from GM.
If the oil smell after oil changes with no obvious leaks is occurring with 2008s w/o Z51 or 2010-2013s w/o Z52, it is possible that the smell is coming from the engine oil being half a quart over full. Typically, if the oil level is too high, oil consumption is high until the oil level normalizes. That may explain why the smell eventually goes away during a period of time after the oil change.
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