Oil level

[fins2nv]

I got my '30 coupe last fall. I'm getting it ready for spring and I just changed the oil. Everything I've read on the Barn and in my manual says the engine takes five quarts of oil and, when you change it, one quart will likely stay in the engine, so you're supposed to add four quarts. I added for quarts and nothing showed up on the dipstick. I threw in the fifth quart and the level is registering a little less than halfway between the low and full markings. What's going on?

[rscardina]

You may not have the correct dipstick. I know that was a previous thread with pictures showing the correct dipsticks for the different models.

[hardtimes]

Well, don't laugh, check to see that pan plug is in place. It has happened to others !
Next, I'd check to determine if the 'dip stick' is proper one for the engine.
Now, if the pan plug is in place securely, I'd only put four quarts in , at first, as it will run fine with four quarts , until you locate what you don't know.

[fins2nv]

Originally Posted by hardtimes

Well, don't laugh, check to see that pan plug is in place. It has happened to others !
Next, I'd check to determine if the 'dip stick' is proper one for the engine.
Now, if the pan plug is in place securely, I'd only put four quarts in , at first, as it will run fine with four quarts , until you locate what you don't know.

Yeah, been there, done that. I checked the floor and there is not a big puddle of oil. The plug is in and not leaking. When I have checked the oil in the past, it always sat at the F mark. I am assuming it has the correct dipstick or maybe not and the previous owner just kept dumping in oil until it hit the full mark.

[Fred K-OR]

The dip stick wasn't "hung up" and not fully in the hole? Sorry, sounds like you know about this sort of thing but just thought I would check-been there done that.

[fins2nv]

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Thanks for the photos. My dipstick measures correctly.

[Joop]

Check this link and scroll to the middle
There is a drawing

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...light=dipstick

[kevinwalshe]

How about when you drop the pan and clean everything out of it? Does this effect overall fill volume or just stick with the 5 quarts and the check dipstick? Just worried there may be some oil/sludge/crud left in the bottom even after I drain the oil. The motor has been sitting for some time and there is probably dust and possible moisture in it, so I am going to clean everything before I fire it up with all my new parts on it.

[CarlG]

That double part of the stick has to go in the hole and bottom out.

[Patrick L.]

Originally Posted by kevinwalshe

How about when you drop the pan and clean everything out of it? Does this effect overall fill volume or just stick with the 5 quarts and the check dipstick? Just worried there may be some oil/sludge/crud left in the bottom even after I drain the oil. The motor has been sitting for some time and there is probably dust and possible moisture in it, so I am going to clean everything before I fire it up with all my new parts on it.

'Crud' [ technical term] will effect that. Because anything can happen over all these years, if you remove and clean the pan, then just add 4 qts and mark the dipstick [ I use a file or hacksaw] if different from the original stick markings and then add the 5th qt and mark it again.

[Fred K-OR]

The way I understand the amount of oil is that if you have taken the pan off, cleaned it out completely and then put it back on, it should take 5 quarts. But if you just drain the oil for an oil change, it will only take about 4 quarts because about 1 quart is still in the splash pan in the oil pan and this last quart does not drain. More members of the Barn maybe can give you some better info than I can but this is what I understand about oil quantity.

[fins2nv]

Okay, my dipstick is apparently not going in as far as it should. It is sitting on the end of the ring that comes part way down the stick. The doubled end doesn't want to go into the hole. To tell you the truth, I don't know if it's been all they way in the hole in the past. What can I do to get it to go in up to the ring?

[Bob C]

I think that some of the repos are to big, maybe just grind it down to
fit or look for an original one.

Bob

[Patrick L.]

Can you give it a squeeze to get to go in, or, as Bob says to take to the grinder. One should be to be purchased also.

[fins2nv]

Thanks everyone for your help. Tomorrow I will get the grinder out and slim down the fat end. I suppose now I will have too much oil in the engine. Although, if the stick has been like that since I got the car in late summer, it apparently has been running with too much oil all along.

[James Rogers]

If you run too much oil it will leak out the rear main on even slight hills. You should run with the level just below the F. Like others say, make sure the dipstick is all the way down to the ring.

[C26Pinelake]

Get a used one at a swap meet, they are very plentiful !
Wayne

[Kurt in NJ]

Modern cars have fancy sensors, computers to tell you if there is enough or too much oil --but it won't correct the level

A stock model A will automatically adjust the engine oil level, and coolant level if it is overfilled

[fins2nv]

Originally Posted by C26Pinelake

Get a used one at a swap meet, they are very plentiful !
Wayne

Thanks Wayne. Dipsticks may be plentiful at swap meets, but swap meets certainly aren't plentiful in my neck of the woods. lol

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Just thinkin': Should the oil level be checked after the car sits awhile, OR after it runs awhile & fills the valve chamber reservoir???
Bill W.