Oil pressure/ Temperature and level

Noiseydiesel

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Still on the education side of this '94 idiT. Did the first oil change on the rebuilt engine. Dropped in 3 gallons, even pre~filled the filter. Ran it down the road no problems, then one day the rebuilt turbo dropped out and noticeable loss of power. Pulled over, pulled the dip stick and the oil was full of bubbles.
I figured the crank was hitting the oil and aerating it. That problem only came up once.
This oil change, pre~fill the filter, left 1 quart low and when draining off the old oil into milk jugs, came up about 2 quarts short. Uh, oops? Rebuilt engine might need time to seat the rings, no big deal.
Fired off the engine at about 35 degrees outside and the wonderful factory O/P gauge shows oil pressure at the 'N' in Normal range and barely at that. Check the oil level and yes, 1 quart low as i figured.
It's on the gauge and driving got the pressure up the the center of the gauge as it should be.

What's this? The oddball engine?
 

MtnHaul

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I could be wrong but I thought I read that the factory oil pressure gauge only registers that you have pressure but does not indicate how much pressure. FWIW my oil pressure gauge never moves much past the "O" and has never been in the middle, but I have replaced the factory sensor with an aftermarket.

When you dropped in 3 gals of oil was that with the stock filter? I ask 'cuz even with the big blue Donaldson on mine I can't quite fit 3 gals and my filter holds 3 quarts.
 

Cubey

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3 gallons is too much. If running the stock size FL784 or eqiv filter, you are 2qts overfilled. If running the FL1995 or equiv, you are 1qt overfilled.
 

gandalf

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He's right. The factory gauges are nothing more than moving idiot lights. If the reading falls within the prescribed range the gauge will tell you. It's more like an on/off switch than it is a gauge. If you're actually curious about the condition of your engine you must invest in some after-market gauges.
 

Cubey

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He's right. The factory gauges are nothing more than moving idiot lights. If the reading falls within the prescribed range the gauge will tell you. It's more like an on/off switch than it is a gauge. If you're actually curious about the condition of your engine you must invest in some after-market gauges.

My F250's factory gauge wanders down into the area were it makes ENGINE light come on at idle, but someone put a mechanical oil pressure gage because that scared them and so they put it to diagnose it. The pressure is fine. I'm guessing the factory sending unit is just weak/worn out. I had a similar issue on the 78 Dodge van I had. But in that case, the wire connector got pulled off when I was diggig around in tere (doing spark plugs maybe) and the connector was bouncing on the bell housing, making the oil/engine (forgot what exactly) come and go/flicker. Turns out the sensor was also worn out. So maybe a past owner disconnected the wire to hide the issue. I put a mech oil gauge right after that to be safe.
 

Noiseydiesel

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Wix filter number. . . I forgot. It takes about a quart just to fill it. First oil change with the total of 3 gallons brought the full mark right up to the top of the "full" area on the dipstick. This oil change being 1/2 way up the checkered area on the dip stick and I will see how that works out. I already replaced the factory sensor and have a desire to add a few ports to the engine oil port including a low pressure buzzer along with an Auto~meter brand oil gauge.
Wife kicking me off the computer, catch y'all later!
 

Cubey

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Wix filter number. . . I forgot.

Did you look it up based on the truck it was going on? If so, that's the FL784 eqiv, making the engine oil capacity 10qts/2.5 gallons. Oil expands when it gets hot so you don't really want to fill the oil filter AND fill to the full line. It's gonna warm up and be too full. They say to check the oil on these engines after getting it up to operating temp, then shutting it off for 10 mins before checking. I'm bad at remembering that most of the time, so I often just check mine when cold (or after longer than 10 mins) and make sure it's in the crosshatch area at least a little. When doing an oil change, I fill the filter and fill the crankcase until it's about half way up the dipstick. That seems to work fine, in my experience. At full operating temp, it gets up close to the full time after driving it, letting it cool 10 mins, then checking.
 

IDIBRONCO

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I'm bad at remembering that most of the time, so I often just check mine when cold (or after longer than 10 mins) and make sure it's in the crosshatch area at least a little. When doing an oil change, I fill the filter and fill the crankcase until it's about half way up the dipstick. That seems to work fine, in my experience. At full operating temp, it gets up close to the full time after driving it, letting it cool 10 mins, then checking.
That's pretty much what I do. I check mine cold and try to keep the level between the add mark and the half way area on the cross hatch. Apparently I don't have the patience to try to remember to check it hot after letting it sit for 10 minutes. My driveway's closer to level than most gas stations that I use so checking it at fill up doesn't really work for me.
 

Cubey

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That's pretty much what I do. I check mine cold and try to keep the level between the add mark and the half way area on the cross hatch. Apparently I don't have the patience to try to remember to check it hot after letting it sit for 10 minutes. My driveway's closer to level than most gas stations that I use so checking it at fill up doesn't really work for me.

Yeah, as long as I see oil on the dipstick at least "add" when it's cold, then it's ok. If it starts getting that low, I try to be sure to check it hot the same day so I can see the hot level and add a quart or two then. I do cold oil changes though so eh, I could probably add cold if it's getting low and still be fine. I still like to do hot checks when I can remember.
 

Noiseydiesel

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Call me stoopid. The thought of expanding oil never crossed my mind. So running the oil level 1/2 up or down the cross hatch is a good way to go. Now when the right knee replacement heals and the weather stops leaking out this direction, I can get to installing the gauges, back up camera, rear disc brakes, new mirrors, floor mats, billet grille, trailer hitch lights, rear diff cover with new spiders -W- frictions and the list goes on and on . . .
 

MtnHaul

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Knee replacement? Dang, I hear that's a fun one. I'm on the tail end of recovering from a severely herniated disc/fused vertebrae situation. I know I've had to relearn what patience and "takin' it easy" mean. Best of luck to ya'.
 

Noiseydiesel

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Fused vertebrae? I did a discectomy back in '98. Nephrectomy (kidney removal) in '17, full left knee in '19 and full right knee in '20. Each one with it's own separate pains. Once the hips screamed at me not long ago. Everything else I could push through. Hip pain stopped me dead in my tracks. The back pain was fun walking around like a bent over sideways question mark as I was told. That finally got to the point of walk a bit, catch my breath and then walk a bit further. Don"t sneeze. The pain level would tear off the top of your head and put you on the ground.
Knees are fun when they lock up. You stop breathing due to the pain level and you think about falling on the ground to relieve the pain level and your knee is telling you not to try that ~~or else.
The kidney loss was due to cancer and no pains with that. Just a touch of weird indigestion and Thank God, a doctor who did not follow protocol when ordering a Ct scan on me Friday Dec 23rd, 2016. That was a gift from God when the wife got me in to be examined within 20 minutes of closing and no appointment. The phone call from the doctor on Monday December 26th was entertaining. "We can send an ambulance. You have a mass on your R kidney and a blood clot on your left lung, How fast can you get here?, we have a bed waiting."
I had fun telling the wife who was working on the tractor at the time, "If you hurry, you can get me to the hospital before I kick off". She stared at me with disbelief until I took her in the house and had her listen to one of a few telephone messages. I felt okay. What's the rush?
4 rounds of chemo over about 3 months followed by a 13 hour surgery was another gift from God. My HMO surgeon said he would not operate on me because I would bleed out on his table. I refrained from asking him "Whatsamatta? You don't know what your doing?" he said he was going to refer me down the road and once again I refrained from asking him, "So I get to bleed out on someone else's table instead?" The Dr that finally chopped on me was a grad from Harvard with residency at Johns Hopkins. She did wonders for chopping on me for 13 hours.
Back surgery is entertaining when you pick something up and feel the compression on the spine. You learn to have limits fairly quickly. The knees take a year plus a bit to recover. My problem being the right one checked out about 5 months before I anticipated so the left one has not recovered and the right one is now gimped up. This is starting to get to be entertaining. Knee surgery is fun when they tell you you can't drive for 6 weeks and you might be using a walker for a month. I tossed the walker by and large after 4 days and was driving in 6 days. THAT was not smart. Get in a wreck with new knees under 6 weeks of age and then you might wind up with your legs chopped of instead. However, the dog ran off and we live in the sticks and getting wrapped up was a slim chance. It was also entertaining to see if I could bend the knee enough to get into the truck and run the "gas" pedal. ('94 idiT.)
 

gandalf

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It sounds as though it would have been easier if you'd just gone through a giant meat grinder, re-arranged all your body parts. You picked the better solution of surgery.

I've been much more lucky, never having been through a significant surgery. My back is not as bad, though I do have spinal disk disease (did I get the name right), with herniated disks, misaligned disks, and so forth. My solution at this point, suggested by my doctor, is an inversion table, my dangle machine. I hang fully inverted for 2 1/2 minutes every morning. That keeps my back in acceptable condition.

I can empathize with your knee and hip problems. For the last 5+ years of her life my wife had one hip go bone on bone. It was very painful. She was mostly bedridden, but could get around the house with a walker. Beyond the house she was in a wheelchair. The doctors at Stanford refused to do hip replacement surgery because of her heart, said her heart would not withstand the surgery.

All in all, I'd say you're doing very well, considering. You've had a rough go of it, and you're still here with us.
 

Noiseydiesel

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So far the hips only really flared up once. Those would get my attention very quickly quite possibly. The wife underwent a round with stenosis and has a cute platinum cage in her back holding her together for now. I did the L/5-S/1 blown disc and she has done L/4-L/5 and S/1. Getting old is not for wimps.
 

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