Oil pressure/ Temperature and level

[IDIBRONCO]

So running the oil level 1/2 up or down the cross hatch is a good way to go.

Of course the "correct" way to check the oil is hot, sitting for 10 minutes, etc. I'm not saying that the half way up the crosshatch is an accurate level for checking it cold, but it's what I do. I feel that if you keep the level between that and the add mark, you should be fine. You know that you're not low, and I don't think that you'd go much, if any, above the full mark while checking the level "correctly". I once had a mechanic tell me that he checks the fluid in an automatic transmission cold and that it only expands about 1/2 quart when hot. I have not even tried to check that out. Now if he was right, then seeing that an automatic transmission in one of these trucks holds about the same or more oil in it as our engines do, then you shouldn't be over the full mark by using the 1/2 cold method of checking your oil. Again, I'm not vouching for the accuracy of any of this stuff since I haven't measured or checked any of it.

 

[Cubey]

Of course the "correct" way to check the oil is hot, sitting for 10 minutes, etc. I'm not saying that the half way up the crosshatch is an accurate level for checking it cold, but it's what I do.

Even when you change the oil on a warned up engine, the oil itself is gonna be cold mostly. (Unless you pre-heat the oil but who does that?!) Yeah it'll absorb SOME heat from the motor but it won't be the same as running the oil. So you have to check the oil level on cold oil when you do an oil change anyway, so I'm not sure I fully understand the "check oil when hot" thing. Maybe that was IH's or Ford's (who ever came up with that) way of trying to keep people from filling to "full" when cold and thereby overfilling?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Even when you change the oil on a warned up engine, the oil itself is gonna be cold mostly. (Unless you pre-heat the oil but who does that?!) Yeah it'll absorb SOME heat from the motor but it won't be the same as running the oil. So you have to check the oil level on cold oil when you do an oil change anyway, so I'm not sure I fully understand the "check oil when hot" thing. Maybe that was IH's or Ford's (who ever came up with that) way of trying to keep people from filling to "full" when cold and thereby overfilling?

My guess would be that you shouldn't put all of your oil in right away when changing it. Or there's also nothing that says that you HAVE to fill to the "full" mark on the dipstick either. The marks on the dipstick are kind of like a posted speed limit. You don't have to drive at the maximum speed, it's just the fastest that you can legally drive right there. You can run your oil level in the bottom half of the crosshatch just as well as you can run it in the top half.