59A oil capacity

flat-v8

flat-v8

Well-known member
OIL CAPACITIES:
Ford manuals state the 59 series capacity is 5 quarts of oil while the SPA series capacity is 4 quarts of oil. Both specifications are without an oil filter! These capacities agree with Motor Manuals, Chilton Manuals, and lubrication charts like Texaco etc.. The SPA dip stick indicates full with 4 quarts so there’s no problem here since it conforms to the book. But the 59 series dip stick shows full with only 4 quarts or one quart less than their spec’s! If you put in 5 quarts as Ford spec’s call for, it’s a quart above the full mark! I’ve checked my 59 block with different dip sticks and pans on it and it stays the same. I’ve checked several 59 engines that are original or stock with the correct pans, dip sticks, and dip stick tube. They show the same thing as mine 4 quarts puts the oil at the full mark on the dipstick! Which do you use 4 or 5? Remember these quantities DO NOT INCLUDE AN OIL FILTER. I use 5 quarts in my 59 series block and have filed a line at the 5 quart level.

I only put 4 quarts in, and it's to the full mark, should it really be 5 quarts? What is the truth about the dipstick mark?
 
that is a question that has been going on for years, most books show 5 qts, but then the dipstick shows one qt over, if you put in 5 qts the 5th qt is usually blown out, alli can say is run5 qys and see what happens, if the last qt is blown out, then just run 4 qts, ford says 5 qts but then the dip stick shows over full, i doubt if we will ever really no the correct capicity, every one who has one of these v/8's has ask and run into that problem
 
My manual says 4 quarts of oil, unless filter also changed, in which case 5 quarts. Gives the impression that filter changes were not that common
 
Be careful if quoting from Canadian Military manuals, as imperial quarts are bigger than USA quarts - guess what? In roughly the ratio of 4 to 5!

Bruce Lancaster wrote about this in a similar thread.

Personally I would fill it from scratch with 4 USA quarts of fresh oil and before running it, check it against the dipstick. I would remark the stick if there was any doubt. I would trust the quantity rather than the mark. Once run, if a filter is fitted I'd recheck to the new mark and maintain it to that mark.

In other words I'd take charge of the situation and manage it.

I had to do something similar on my 21 stud. The mark on the stick is actually about 3/4" low even with just 4 US quarts in.

Mart.
 
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This question has in fact been going on for years. Mostly because folks just plain don't understand or perhaps don't accept the "truth". The engineering drawings at the Ford Archives call for five (US) quarts to "fill". There is no addition nor subtraction for a filter.
There are so many variables that might "confuse" folks. Junk in the pan, wrong dipstick, dipstick tube threaded in too far in the boss, missing dust seal at the stick...
Folks, I have SEEN the drawings, it's 5 quarts.

Period. End of discussion.
 
Mike is correct. On my '46 59A engine with filter, it takes 5 Qts. This brings the level to 1/16'' above the full line on the dipstick. The dipstick is 17" total length, 13 3/4" from tip to stop washer and 2 1/8" from tip to full mark. Never blows any oil out.
 
Kube, thanks for the info re the proper oil fill from Ford.

Can you say how much difference there is between the full and fill marks on the dipstick?

In other words, if 5 qts fills it, and it may be a fraction over the full mark, how much can leak or get burnt before it needs to be filled again?

If that is one qt, it could be argued that anywhere between 4 and 5 qts is acceptable. (not as a fill, but a level at which it is ok to run). Knowing what the max equates to and what the min equates to can help, especially if trying to deal with mismatched dipstick parts.

I may need to treat my new mark at 4 qts as a minimum rather than a maximum.

Mart.
 
On my dipstick there is a DANGER mark 11/16" from the tip. Marked SAFE DRIVING RANGE from there to the full mark.
 
My 32 Ford engine sits virtually level in the frame. For my own amusement, I filled a stock 59 type pan with 4 (four) quarts of Kerosene. Those 4 quarts fill the sump area completely.
Now, if you assume (I know), that you need to fill the oil galleys in the crank and throughout the engine, AND, that there is always some (?) oil in the lifter area, then I think 5 quarts is very accurate.
Just my thoughts after limited testing
 
There is another factor to the oil filter installations that some folks don't always consider. It is a bypass system that simply returns the filtered oil back to the sump. I doubt if it holds much oil after the car sets for a while. There is a small sediment settling area in the bottom of the canister that can get filled up with sludge if it isn't regularly cleaned out but it doesn't hold a large volume after cleaning. Most of the oil just drains back into the sump after you shut the engine down. While the engine is running, it partially fills the canister and takes a fair amount out of the sump till shut down so the pan may not be completely full while in operation. I have no idea how much oil would normally be in the canister during operation but it may be near a quart. The little .060" inlet orifice would be the regulator for capacity of the canister. I imagine it drains about as fast as it fills and maybe faster when hot.

FoMoCo was likely well aware that the system might show a bit low right after shut down so this may be why the dip stick shows full with approximately 4-quarts. They didn't want overzealous gas station attendants overfilling the sump.
 
The bypass filters I have all have the outlet hole 1/2-way up the center tube. I can't see any other outlet holes, so that would mean the filter remains almost half-full of oil even after extended shutdown. I'd bet that is at least a 1/2 qt of oil.
 
The last time I had my pan off I put 4 and then 5 quarts of oil in and measured the distance from the flange to the oil. I also had the oil pump sitting in the pan and the flange level. 4 quarts measured 4 11/16" and 5 measured 4 1/4". The crank swing was 3 3/4" down. The cork gasket around the rear main sat about 2 1/2" below the flange. This was a '47 truck pan. So there was plenty of clearance between the crank and the oil level with 5 quarts which was what I was wondering about.
 
Could be right there Mart, with this old Ford stuff there's always something new to be learned, could have been a new name for something old, or an old name for something new.
Thanks,
Martin.
 
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