Custom dipstick mod oil depth question

[joshua]

I had the push in style dipstick tube. Wasn’t happy with it, and I will have headers going on so the original won’t work anyway.

I tried to find a flexible tube from lokar or similar product. Came up with nothing. I melded a few things I saw on line and came up with a Frankenstein solution.

Now I want to figure out what length to cut the rest of the tube. I’m going to fill the pan with water. I know it’s supposed to be 5 quarts plus one in the oil filter. So I’m assuming I will just fill the pan with 5 quarts and just widdle it down from there?

 

[joshua]

I wound up just using 5 quarts of oil. The water was to hard to gauge. The stick reads an 1/8 inch inch under the full mark with 5 quarts in the pan. Probably close enough. Unless I was wrong about the 5 quarts

 

[Bitch'nBronco]

I think you're going to show low on the dipstick once the oil filter gets filled

 

[jamesroney]

I wound up just using 5 quarts of oil. The water was to hard to gauge. The stick reads an 1/8 inch inch under the full mark with 5 quarts in the pan. Probably close enough. Unless I was wrong about the 5 quarts

Can you PLEASE post another pic of your oil pan with 5 quarts of oil in it from the TOP. That would help a lot of people who are tempted to use the Fairlane / Falcon / Mustang timing cover dipstick location in the front.

I can barely see it in your pic, but I think that the entire front area of the pan is bone dry when the oil pan is full.

Great job on the splice, but now would be a really good time to eliminate the cork gasket between the pan and the dipstick housing. After 50 years, they all pretty much leak.

 

[joshua]

I redid the cork gasket. It has a thin layer of rtv on both sides. I figured the cork really can’t slide of the sealing surface due to the rtv on this setup. We will see if this was right decision. I drilled the rivets out and welded in stainless bolts so the gasket can be serviced by just unbolting it and pulling it through the pan.

I already installed the pan. Sorry. I already had the pan off for a week messing with this.

 

[Steve83]

I’m going to fill the pan with water. I know it’s supposed to be 5 quarts plus one in the oil filter. So I’m assuming I will just fill the pan with 5 quarts and just widdle it down from there?

Why not just WAIT and put the proper amount of OIL into the engine? Then, after it has been warmed-up properly & shut off, adjust the dipstick.

This is a later (but OLD now) Ford TSB about oil levels:

(click this text)


The NEXT page describes oil consumption, so it may also interest you.

 

[joshua]

I think you're going to show low on the dipstick once the oil filter gets filled

So if the filter was full there would be 5 quarts in the pan then correct? The filter holds one whole quart for a total of six. But 5 in the pan.

 

[joshua]

Why not just WAIT and put the proper amount of OIL into the engine? Then, after it has been warmed-up properly & shut off, adjust the dipstick.

This is a later (but OLD now) Ford TSB about oil levels:

(click this text)


The NEXT page describes oil consumption, so it may also interest you.

It’s on a run stand. So I will double check after I put all the oil in. I can always cut a new piece. Thanks for the info!

 

[Steve83]

So if the filter was full there would be 5 quarts in the pan then correct? The filter holds one whole quart for a total of six. But 5 in the pan.

You're guessing. Some oil sticks to the insides of the engine. Some is trapped in journals, or in pools on the heads or in the valley. Some spills out of the filter after shutdown. It's safer to just put the correct amount in, run the engine up to temperature, shut it off, wait a minute (like normal), and then set the new dipstick to what you KNOW is the exact correct level. It could be a month or a year from now - just whenever you get the engine ready to actually run.

 

[joshua]

It’s already been running on the stand before I attempted this. It had darn near brand new oil in it. Like 15 minutes of run time. So I saved it. Put it back in. It’s showing that it’s at the correct level. Which to me is should be showing a little short. Because I had to have lost some oil in draining, saving, and transferring it back in. So it will definitely need some tweaking.

 

[Steve83]

...should be showing a little short. Because I had to have lost some oil in draining, saving, and transferring it back in.

Not if it had too much oil in it before.

Again - if you put the right amount of oil in, just set the new dipstick to show that level as normal, and move on.

 

[56f100bbw]

Not if it had too much oil in it before.

Again - if you put the right amount of oil in, just set the new dipstick to show that level as normal, and move on.

I do it like Steve said dump in the right amount of oil ,run it for awhile , next day or so check the level on the dipstick and mark it with a file and you’re done finished

 

[DirtDonk]

I don’t believe that filters hold an exact quart myself. But I’ve never bothered to actually measure.
And not all filters are exactly the same size anyway.

Factory says 6 quarts, that’s what you put in.
When mine had 6 quarts in it, the normal reading was just maybe 1/16th of an inch below the full line.

This is all assuming it’s a factory bronco pan, of course. Not just a “similar” retrofit pan.

Speaking of which… What was the rated oil capacity on the fox body mustangs (was that the application?) with the double-sump pan that was such a popular replacement?

And Joshua, to your checking method, is your engine stand tilting the engine the same as sitting in a bronco chassis?
And when you just poured oil into the pan, was it tilted to the correct angle?
Possible this angle actually makes no difference at all, given that the dipstick is roughly in the middle of the pan somewhere. But I thought I’d ask and bring it up in conversation.

 

[anoblefox]

Just a note, and I mentioned this on this forum years ago when I installed a 351W engine with an OEM oil pan. You can go to the auto parts and get a double flared tube (3/8" I think, it has been over 40 years ago!) and cut it to the appropiate length, IE cut one end off. The flared tube will screw directly into the pan cast piece. I know this does not help determining the correct length BUT it will eliminate the adapter pieces shown on the bottom of your tube and will look factory; and as a bonus can be bent around headers etc.