Ford F834 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Iāve been changing oil in Ford truck straight six engines since the days of cardboard oil cans and church key can openersā¦ always took 6 quarts with a new filter. Today I changed the oil in my 81. Before I drained it I checked and the dip stick showed 1/2 qt low. I drained it, changed the filter and added 6 qts as usual. I started the engine, saw 50 psi on the mechanical oil gauge and it ran smooth and quiet. I went to confirm the level and nothing on the dip stick. Zip nada. I pulled the dipstick with it running and it was oily. Shut it off and checked again and it was bone dry. I added a 7th qt and it registered at āaddā. I put in an 8th quart and it now reads āsafeā but not completely full. I see no leaks under the truck, coolant is full and has no sign of oil contamination. What gives? The drained oil fit into a 5 qt jug (typical). This one really has me baffled. I drove to Kingman and checked it again. Nice clean oil and just a bit below full level. Dipstick tube is secure and does not seem to have moved, dipstick fully seats in the tube. Mind blown. š¤Æ Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 this would cause me to question drainback. either in the rocker area or even the lifter area. but this would require a tremendous amount of crud . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Any chance that the dipstick has slid up into the handle? Or that you got oil in liters? (That's not enough to 'splain the difference, however.) Or that you can't count? STRANGE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 My first thought was, as Gary said, wrong or bad dipstick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ifitaintbroke Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 this would cause me to question drainback. either in the rocker area or even the lifter area. but this would require a tremendous amount of crud . I know a mechanic who worked on a 302 that happened to. It was run regularly but not allowed to warm up, and sludge clogged the drain back holes. Engine started knocking. When he pulled the valve covers, they were full to the top. Nothing in the pan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 I know a mechanic who worked on a 302 that happened to. It was run regularly but not allowed to warm up, and sludge clogged the drain back holes. Engine started knocking. When he pulled the valve covers, they were full to the top. Nothing in the pan. The drainback idea is about the only thing I can think of that would do that. But I'd think that overnight the oil held in the valve cover might make its way back to the pan, so I'd check the level in the morning to see. And remember the problem that David/1986F150Six had when the crud let go in his truck. It plugged the oil pickup and was starving the system of oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted April 6 Author Share Posted April 6 The drainback idea is about the only thing I can think of that would do that. But I'd think that overnight the oil held in the valve cover might make its way back to the pan, so I'd check the level in the morning to see. And remember the problem that David/1986F150Six had when the crud let go in his truck. It plugged the oil pickup and was starving the system of oil. Drain back from the valve cover canāt be too badā¦ as I added the additional quarts I could hear the oil drizzling into the sump and the level change was more or less immediate on the dip stick. I do wonder if the same is true for the side gallery for the lifters? I drove the truck almost 200 miles yesterday. I am picking up my flat bed trailer and truck parts stored at my dadās place. It sounds normal, and the oil level hasnāt changed. I checked it again this morning. I was so puzzled yesterday that I almost drained it to measure the volume and check my sanity. Garry, I question my counting and memory all the timeā¦. I usually buy oil in 5 qt jugs and I thought shrink-flation might have reduced them to gallons, but they still say 5 qts. The first full jug should have at least registered on the dipstick. That is a good thought that maybe the blade receded into the handle but it feels tight. I canāt intentionally move it. The oil is still honey colored. Hopefully my drive back to Golden Valley wonāt be too much of an āadventureā š¬. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Drain back from the valve cover canāt be too badā¦ as I added the additional quarts I could hear the oil drizzling into the sump and the level change was more or less immediate on the dip stick. I do wonder if the same is true for the side gallery for the lifters? I drove the truck almost 200 miles yesterday. I am picking up my flat bed trailer and truck parts stored at my dadās place. It sounds normal, and the oil level hasnāt changed. I checked it again this morning. I was so puzzled yesterday that I almost drained it to measure the volume and check my sanity. Garry, I question my counting and memory all the timeā¦. I usually buy oil in 5 qt jugs and I thought shrink-flation might have reduced them to gallons, but they still say 5 qts. The first full jug should have at least registered on the dipstick. That is a good thought that maybe the blade receded into the handle but it feels tight. I canāt intentionally move it. The oil is still honey colored. Hopefully my drive back to Golden Valley wonāt be too much of an āadventureā š¬. I think of this as I just recently took down a 300. the lifter area was so full of flaky layers of old cooked oil that I practically had to follow the pushrods to where they went into the crud. about as clogged as I have seen. when I dropped it off at the machine shop it went straight into the tank. it was no surprise that the cam was spalled and all lifters starting to mushroom. I tapped them out the bottom to avoid damage and put them right in the recycle bin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Drain back from the valve cover canāt be too badā¦ as I added the additional quarts I could hear the oil drizzling into the sump and the level change was more or less immediate on the dip stick. I do wonder if the same is true for the side gallery for the lifters? I drove the truck almost 200 miles yesterday. I am picking up my flat bed trailer and truck parts stored at my dadās place. It sounds normal, and the oil level hasnāt changed. I checked it again this morning. I was so puzzled yesterday that I almost drained it to measure the volume and check my sanity. Garry, I question my counting and memory all the timeā¦. I usually buy oil in 5 qt jugs and I thought shrink-flation might have reduced them to gallons, but they still say 5 qts. The first full jug should have at least registered on the dipstick. That is a good thought that maybe the blade receded into the handle but it feels tight. I canāt intentionally move it. The oil is still honey colored. Hopefully my drive back to Golden Valley wonāt be too much of an āadventureā š¬. Might you have bought a gallon jug, instead of 5 Qt? I know that I like 5L, because every little bit helps. š Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Might you have bought a gallon jug, instead of 5 Qt? I know that I like 5L, because every little bit helps. š I always hope for the simplest issues. How does the dipstick tube attach to the oil pan on a 300 ? Threaded flare fit ? Or is it like a press fit ? Wondering if itās popped out any Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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