Changed my oil and filter and put exactly 6 quarts in it just like the manual says and the oil on the dipstick is exactly half between the "min" and "max" mark. Is this ok? Or should I add a half/quarter quart until the dipsitck reads near the max?

 

6 quarts max according to the manual. I wouldn't add any more as you may get even more oil in the intake as a result of overfilling. Six quarts brings it right to the line for my truck. Are you sure that you are on level ground?

 

mine reads halfway when i fill it with 6 quarts. it is fine

 

some people add 5.5 quarts. they claim that by doing so, no oil gets sucked up into the intake boot..

I run 6 quarts mobil 1 every 3000 miles. kinda expensive, but it's worth it.

 

Welcome to my world!!!

I have had numberous discussion about this. People were on here telling me that i'm wrong because i put 7 quarts in my truck with a filter and it's still just below the max mark and said that it was impossible..

They also said the manual say to put in 6 and that's it. I don't personally like that reguardless of what the manual says. You should read what some of the small engine manuals tell my customers to do!!!

Do what you feel comfortable with, just use your head.

My 2000 and my old man's 2003 both take 7 quarts of mobil 1 with filter to put it just below the max mark.

I tried putting just 6 quarts in and it make absolutely no difference as far as the oil in the intake goes.

 

Something isn't rite maybe you have different dipstick my truck takes 6qts my dads 00 excursion v10 takes 6qts and my 03 E350 takes 6qts.

 

my manual says 6qts also, but according to the dipstick it says i need to add oil which will bring me to 7qts.. mobile 1 or any oil i always go by the dipstick im the original owner so i know i have the correct dipstick..

 

me too. Told you guys I wasn't crazy.

6 quarts with a filter puts me at the add mark. Always has. My old man's 03 is the same. Go figure.

Unless mobil one is jipping us and not putting full quarts in the bottles, i have no other answer.

 

I measured the dip stick on my 01 (needed to check oil anyway) and the metal part measures 25 & 1/2 inches long and from the tip to the full mark measures 1 & 3/4". As previously stated six quarts puts the oil level right to the full line. Just curious if those of you that require 7 quarts have the same size dip stick??

 

no idea but i'm in the same boat as the other guys, mine to get to the full line is 6 1/2 -7 quarts

 

I'll throw a twist into this:

mine takes 6.5 quarts to fill up with Mobile 1 0W-20
or
exactly 6 quarts to fill up with Mobile 1 5W-20

I've done the 0W-20 only three times and has required the 6.5 quarts every time, and all the other times with 5w-20 that has required 6 quarts.

 

My stick doesn't say full. It says "min"oxxxxxXxxxxxo"max". Where the capital X in bold is where six quarts of motorcraft 5w20 puts me which is directly in the middle of Min and Max. When I bought the truck, the oil was at the same exact location but I added I think a half a quart to bring it up to the max line. Should I leave it in the middle of min and max or add a little to bring it up higher to max?

 

6qts, including the filter, in mine and it goes to about 1/3 past the bottom hatch mark (min) or 2/3 from the (max) line. The way I look at it is that the engineers who designed the motor know what amount is needed. To low of oil will cause problems but so will too much oil. You can damage seals etc.

Oil pans most likely are pretty tight as far as tolerances from one pan to another. I don’t know if the same is true for the dip stick and dip stick tube assembly as well as the installation of the dip stick tub into the motor. Wouldn’t take much to have the tube not completely assembled into the motor correctly or for the dip stick to be off a little.

Either way I trust what an engineer recommends rather then how well someone on an assembly line puts parts together…

 

The computer at work (Autozone) says 6, but mine always takes about 6 1/4 of Mobil 5-30 synthetic. Found that out when I first got it and took to the oil change shop and 6 didnt fill it up.

 

Unless you have a deep sump pan there is no reason to run more than the recomended amount. Two reasons to this: 1. You are robbing your engine of HP. 2. You are taking a chance on breaking the lower end of your engine.

We do not have windage trays in our stock pans. If you launch you L from a dead stop and accelerate, the oil moves back and the crank slaps the oil, adding resistance. Depending on how many qts you have added.

Ever take you hand when in the pool or lake and slap the water to splash someone. It stops your hand and is the same thing your crank is experiencing in the pan. The more your hand cuts into the water the greater the resistance. This resistance shocks the crank and is possible of creating stress fractures resulting in your crank turning into two parts. If the crank doesn't break it will have an effect on bearing life.

It would be easy to see the hp loss on a chassis or engine dyno. I have always run mine at 5qts. I drained my oil the day I brought my truck home. Added the 5qts and marked the dipstick. My 01 L's rwhp dyno results after 1200 miles were 355hp, 423ft.lbs of torque. This is one of the reasons early on when the L's were in production we were seeing a large difference in RW dyno numbers on stock trucks same MY. It was an engineer in SVT when I was working at Ford that gave me the heads up on not overfilling the engine oil.

I think maybe the countless durabiltiy hours testing on the dyno and multiple engine teardowns gave them the reason for just wanting the customer to add 6qts.

If the stick isn't reading right. Do your oil change and add 6 Qts. Start your engine and let it run for five minutes. Turn off wait 2 minutes for it to drain into the pan. Pull the stick and mark it. Next oil change you can put a second mark for 5 like I did.

It will not hurt the engine to run 5qts and race at the track. I have over 70 1/4 track runs and many street races. Stock the truck ran 13.53 @ 103mph and has only gone faster with the mods and still 5qts in the pan. Take this for what it's worth.

7qts is not good for our modular motors.