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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Oil capacity

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Oil capacity -- page: 1 2 3 4 5     ford38v8 05-24-2011 @ 10:14 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2758 Joined: Oct 2009 Don, in those days, Standard Oil had training stations, where half a dozen uniformed trainees would check everything on every car that came in. If you were one of those trainees, I'm sure you weren't taught the sleazy tricks used at many stations: Wipe the dipstick and re-insert it almost but not quite all the way, to show a low reading. With the engine having been just turned off, of course the oil hadn't fully drained back to the pan, and uh-oh, you're a qt. low, sir. Alan 40fordor 05-24-2011 @ 8:35 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 116 Joined: Oct 2009 I worked in my father's Standard Oil station during the late 1940s and 1950s and never once did I have a customer tell me to add a quart of oil when the dip stick showed full when they stopped for gas. In those days I was taught to show the level of oil to the customer and they determined if oil was needed. Two factory trained Ford mechanics were in our customer base at that time. This is very interesting because my memory is that we refilled oil changes with 5 quarts with a filter. Some customers would skip a filter change every other time and we installed 4 fresh quarts. Don supereal 05-18-2011 @ 9:06 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 When all else fails, look at the dipstick. Besides leaks, overfilling can result in aeration of the oil which, in turn, causes oil starvation. MG 05-18-2011 @ 5:47 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1254 Joined: Nov 2009 I changed the oil in both my '34 and '37 sedans today. I put 4 quarts in each of them. Both of these cars have their original engines in them. I checked the dipstick on both after the change without running the engine. Both dipsticks showed the fresh oil to the 'full' mark. For me, this backs up 'supereal's 4 quart capacity answer to my original question/post. I will no longer put 5 quarts of oil in my un-filtered cars. It makes sence that the extra quart is the cause of the oil leakage from my cars. Stroker 11-06-2010 @ 5:16 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 For those of you that are afraid of walking the tightrope between 4 and 5 quarts, I just discovered that fellow Bonneville racer (and son of the Baron-Tattersfield flathead speed equipment family), Tony Baron has come out with a 12 quart 59-A oil pan. Stroker 11-04-2010 @ 7:14 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Interesting test! The only possible criticism is that you didn't include that portion of the the oil pump pickup assembly which would be submerged which would displace a very small amount of oil, raising the level even more, and further reinforcing your conclusion. We have to remember though, that not all the oil drains back into the pan, after shutdown. There will still (hopefully) be oil contained in the galleries, the crank passages, oil pump, the lifter valley and piston oil ring land. I hope we have put to rest the idea that "overfilling is good" in this excellent thread. tbirdhandyman 11-03-2010 @ 6:57 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 51 Joined: Oct 2009 This topic is of interest to me because for years when I changed oil, 5 qts would come up to the letter "L" in the full marking on my dipstick. My research follows: This was not done to disprove anyone, but rather to find out the correct fill of my engine oil pan. 1.Parts involved: #48-6675-C oil pan (39/46 Mercury) #48-6750 Indicator, oil level (39/48 Mercury) 16&3/4" over length. 13&3/4" bottom to seal washer. #48-6754-B, tube (screws into boss on pan) 8&21/64" long (39/48 Mercury) 2. Tests: Pan removed from '41 Mercury 95 HP engine. On my workbench I put one quart of oil into pan & it touches the very bottom of the dip stick. I put two quarts of oil into the pan & it touches the top line of the Danger Zone. I put three quarts of oil into the pan & it goes to the middle of "Safe Driving Range". I put four quarts of oil into the pan and it goes to the "Full" mark. Five quarts put the oil up to the bottom "L" on the full stamp. 3. Observations: On page 35 of the '41 Mercury Reference book #7064-41 (copyright 1940) it says "avoid overfilling. When the oil pan is full, the dipstick will show "full". Any excess oil which raises the oil level above this point will be quickly consumed and give the effect of excessive oil consumption. Keep the oil level between the FULL & DANGER marks on the gauge. 4. Conclusion: 5 quarts in my engine puts the oil 3/4" above the full mark, but after 1,000 miles, it only has dropped 1/4" on the dipstick. My bench test backs up Supereal's statement. I will use 4 quarts on my next oil change, and hopefully my oil leaks will go away. Sorry for the long post. Robert E. Tbirdhandyman supereal 10-26-2010 @ 1:38 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The reason the dipstick was mentioned is that there was a Ford service bulletin long ago that suggested that after the correct amount of oil was installed that owners check to see the indication. It came out about the same time the Fram filter was offered as an aftermarket accessory, which required an extra quart of oil to accommodate the addition. There was an issue about the correct dipstick, and whether the tube on the oil pan was correct, perhaps discovered at the factory. In those days, no one knew what a "recall" was. The first one I remember was in 1954 when we mechanics were issued a small metal gauge to check the rivets on the front axle "A" frames. We were instructed to use it on each car as it came in, and report any variations. I never found one, but still have the gauge. Norm 10-26-2010 @ 1:16 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 85 Joined: Oct 2009 As far as I can tell, there's no answer that will make anyone happy!! When I was a teenager I worked at a Ford garage part time - doing oil changes among other things. I changed oil in a lot of flathead engines. Hard and fast rule - 4qts without changing the filter, 5 with. At that time oil came in gallon (4 qt) cans and in one qt cans. One gallon can was fine for an oil change that did not include a filter change. We later used the gallon cans for parts washing (with raw gasoline!) and other shop tasks. No one ever challenged that approach - at least not that I heard! I also don't remember any issues about dipstick readings. Norm dakota 10-13-2010 @ 3:49 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 5 Joined: Aug 2010 Oops.... You guys are correct. I did see Imperial, but it did not register. All I know is... I am going to start ordering my Martini's in Imperial oz.

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