I have an '04 gallardo with 8000 mls I just purchased. I decided to get technical and actually check the oil level, which seems to be virtually nil, whether the engine is hot or cold. I added 1 liter of agip and it seemed to make no difference. the oil pressure 3-4bar and the low oil pressure light hasn't come on. do I have anything to worry about? how many litres does the car take?

The engine must be warm and RUNNING to read oil level.

Are you writing that even after adding a liter of oil, that it still shows nothing on the dipstick? Yeah buddy, thats a problem!

Monahan,
I know the oil must be at operating temperature; but I don't think the engine has to be "running". However, the reading must be taken just after shutting down the ignition. Am I correct ?
rampante

I think we have 2 different conversations going on here. To read the gauge in the dash, yes the engine must be running and warmed up. To read the dipstick in the engine, the engine should not be running, but the car does need to be sitting on a level surface.
If I read his post correctly, he is writing that the gauge in the dash is reading fine when the engine is running, but when he checked the dipstick, the oil wasn't touching it even after adding a quart/liter. That means the oil level is insanely/dangerously low, but not completely empty. That is why pressure shows up on the gauge located in the dash.

Since this is a dry sump engine the engine should be running to get an accurate oil level reading on the dipstick. The oil reservoir will not indicate an accurate reading if the engine is off. In fact if cold it will be below the normal level mark on the dip stick. This is because some of the oil in the reservoir runs down into the bottom of the engine when the pump in not working. When the engine is running there is oil in the pump, feeder tubes etc. and the reservoir is at equilibrium. If the dip stick is below the mark then add oil. If you add oil when it is below the mark on a cold turned off engine you will find it will be way above the mark when the engine is running. Not a good situation.
The above is not the case BTW for the older wet sump engines like say a Diablo.
Now in the case here if there is NO oil in the reservoir even when the engine is cold/off, then I agree, you are dangerously low. Perhaps whoever did the last oil change screwed up and added too little oil.

..uh, why don't you just follow the correct procedure that is stated in the operating manual...?

Exactly, the operators manual indicates the correct proceedure to check the oil on this dry sump system....

it goes something like this,

1) Engine must be at around 70
2) Bring RPM's to 2300rpm for 45secs
3) Idle engine for 30secs then turn off
4) Check oil level within 60secs on dipstick, oil must be between low and high marks on dip stick.