How much oil is below the dipstick?

oldmisterbill said:

X3 Its called tinnitus -I have had it since 1968.Makes me hate crouds. I have the sound of spring 24-7. I'm a lesser man cause I 'm a bit "off" if ya know what I mean!

Actually its a very common ailment.

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Must be caused by exposure to loud noises. I have it as well. Not REAL bad, but I ALWAYS have a ringing type deal in my ears, sounds like the peeper frogs around here.

I might have a REAL TIGHT engine. If I burn a quart per 3000 miles, that's ALL I burn/lose out of my engine. In the summer it might be a little over a quart, but never more than 1.5 quarts per 3000 miles. I check it twice or three times a week, cold. I also check the power steering, brake fluid (which has now developed an invisible leak, great disappearing trick I might add!) coolant, and the transmission, transfer case and both rearends for signs of leaks. It's 5 minutes that could save me from hitch hiking to work.

Probably no fix for it ether lol

MIDNIGHT RIDER said:

So you hear them too and it's not just me ??


Oh goodie; finally someone that knows what I have lived with for many years.


When I was a kid, on hot summer nights with the windows open (we called them wenders), the fence-rows would be alive with the constant hollerin' of crickets.

I must have poked my head out from under the covers and some of them crawled back inside my skull.

For the last several years, I hear them night and day, winter and summer.

It would drive a lesser man

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Yea its no the greatest thing in the world, and im too young to have hearing problems on the bright side i will never be lonely i can always talk to my crickets

And the best part my girlfriend is legally blind if she dont have her glasses or contacts in, so she is blind and i cant hear great match

Sycostang67 said:

I've put about 2k miles on my 86, I went to check the oil the other day(hot) and the dipstick was dry. I checked it cold a bit later and it was still dry. I put 2 gallons in and now it appears to be about 2 quarts over filled. How much oil could still be in the pan that the dipstick cant reach?

The motor must be consuming the oil as it hardly leaks at all, maybe a quarter sized spot when I park it. I get white/blue smoke on hard acceleration, but otherwise it doesn't smoke at all. I still need to check the CDR though as I haven't touched it since I got the truck. Weather turned sour before I could do everything I wanted.

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I had the same issue on my 86 w Rotella oil. used 2 gallon of oil in 1k miles. Since i switched to valvoline, i dont use a drop

valvoline is great but not always avaible but rotella is and i hate that seems like the motor leaks more with rotela
wow my truck is average
im out of the closet my truck leaks like it has a hole in the oil pan
not the bottom but maybe a top side hole by the dipstick ya no

MIDNIGHT RIDER said:

So you hear them too and it's not just me ??


Oh goodie; finally someone that knows what I have lived with for many years.


When I was a kid, on hot summer nights with the windows open (we called them wenders), the fence-rows would be alive with the constant hollerin' of crickets.

I must have poked my head out from under the covers and some of them crawled back inside my skull.

For the last several years, I hear them night and day, winter and summer.

It would drive a lesser man

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me too..... i dont take my hearing for granted now. always using ear protection, now.

I couldn't hear any difference in the way the engine ran, probably because I couldn't hear at all. I got sick on the 1st of the month and lost my hearing until recently. The reading from the factory pressure guage never changed so I didn't figure it was empty. I was running an O'reilly house brand oil, topped it off with some mobil so we'll see how that goes. I guess I will be checking the oil more often, just because it doesn't leak doesn't mean it can't go somewhere else.

Wow, i'm surprised how alot of you with lot less mileage than me are burning 3 times more oil than I am.

My 377k mile 7.3 only went through about 3-4 quarts of oil needed added at every oil change interval (4000 miles).

my 90 would burn quarts between changes, i changed to rotella dino and would only lose if i was pulling.... that was with 190k on it.

I was driving the black truck the other day. Hot idle, I pulled up to a stop light, and my oil pressure went to zero, revved it, and it came back up.

So I get to work, pull the dipstick, nothing. I guess hot idle it was dropping below 7psi. Yikes. Took a gallon of oil.

9 quarts in the pan will show full on the dipstick.

Here is the oil checking info, It applies to the 7.3 as well.

OIL DIPSTICK (6.9L) - ENGINE OIL LEVEL CHECKING PROCEDURE

LIGHT TRUCK 1983-86 E AND F SERIES
In order to measure engine oil levels consistently and accurately, it is useful to employ the following recommendations:
¨ Park vehicle on level surface. Low oil level readings will be obtained if the vehicle is sloped away from the dipstick.

¨ Have engine at normal operating temperature as oil expands at the rate of one percent per 25~F (14~C) change and the dipstick is calibrated to the engine at normal operating temperature. In addition, allow at least a fifteen (15) minute engine shutdown period to assure that oil contained in the upper parts of the engine has returned to the oil pan.

¨ Have dipstick loop directed inboard as this eases installation and minimizes wiping action on oil level gauge.

¨ Read oil level on both sides of gauge and use highest level (reading) for the actual engine oil level.

Correct oil dipstick calibration can be verified by draining the engine oil and filling the engine oil pan with nine (9) quarts (8.5 liters) of oil. When the oil dipstick is properly seated, correct dipstick calibration is indicated if the oil level is within 1/16 inch of the "Full" mark.

NOTE: The area between the "Add" and "Full" marks represents two (2) quarts. As long as the oil level is between the "Add" and "Full" marks, no oil should be added. When the oil level does reach the "Add" mark, only one quart of oil should be added. If the oil level exceeds the "Full" mark, oil consumption could result.

Goofyexponent said:

Must be caused by exposure to loud noises. I have it as well. Not REAL bad, but I ALWAYS have a ringing type deal in my ears, sounds like the peeper frogs around here.

I might have a REAL TIGHT engine. If I burn a quart per 3000 miles, that's ALL I burn/lose out of my engine. In the summer it might be a little over a quart, but never more than 1.5 quarts per 3000 miles. I check it twice or three times a week, cold. I also check the power steering, brake fluid (which has now developed an invisible leak, great disappearing trick I might add!) coolant, and the transmission, transfer case and both rearends for signs of leaks. It's 5 minutes that could save me from hitch hiking to work.

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did you have your truck taken in for that brake/cruise control recall they had? dads windstar did the same thing, took it in for the recall, completely went away

MidnightBlade said:

did you have your truck taken in for that brake/cruise control recall they had? dads windstar did the same thing, took it in for the recall, completely went away

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Not yet! But that could be it! It emptied the master in about 2 days. I am thinking about completely bypassing the ABS switch, but I should have that cruise shut off recall looked at ASAP.

I switched to valvoline from rotella and my oil consumption has gone down considerably.

I tend to lose more driving around town then pulling heavy maintaining speed.

Interesting. That's what i've always ran in my 7.3 Valvoline 15W40 and has minimal oil consumption.

I've also ran Valvoline in my 6.9 motorhome, except for this summer, I've had to do 3 oil changes away from home on vacation, (11,000 mile trip) and I used Shell Rotella T, bought that one cause everytime I needed to change my oil, it was always on sell next to the Valvoline. And I did notice it burning much more oil than normal. Use to use 2 quarts per interval same as my 7.3 and for this summer it's used 3 and a couple times 4 quarts per interval (3000 miles).

And it's got 149k miles on it, it does have 11,000 pounds on it's back all the time though.


Good to know, I sure won't be buying anymore Shell then!