My dipstick is lying to me

R

RandyMettler

Senior Member
Hello,

My 1950 8ba is anything but what Henry Ford originally intended. For better or worse it is compiled of different parts from different year motors. My dipstick reads full with 3 quarts of oil and that's with priming the oil filter. How many quarts should the 8BA block take? I have heard 5 quart and 4 quarts. I need to scribe by dipstick. Oil level is important and I would like to make a decision based upon a few senior members educated speculations, realizing I do not have a stock setup. I do not have the top mounted oil filter. My filter is screwed into the bottom driver side of the block, don't know if that matters or not. I have the 8RT truck oil pan with the large clean out. I imagine that could matter. The engine could in fact be a 8rt but I am not sure. I have the 24 bolt pattern, only the head bolts have been reverted back to head studs and nuts. My pistons are .080 over but don't think that should matter much, just slightly larger engine displacement.

Regards
 
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I have always first, put in 5 qts then filled the filter my dipstick reads full this is a
truck pan in a F6 truck. maybe some one stuck a generic dipstick in there. so just
put in 5qts and remark the dipstick. Run the engine and recheck.. as far as the engine
models the blocks are the same, but use different pans for different applications.
 
big job, in response to your reply,
"I have always first, put in 5 qts then filled the filter my dipstick reads full this is a
truck pan in a F6 truck. maybe some one stuck a generic dipstick in there. so just
put in 5qts and remark the dipstick. Run the engine and recheck.. as far as the engine
models the blocks are the same, but use different pans for different applications."



Correct me if I am wrong, So you add 5 quarts than basically another quart for the filter? 6 quarts total?
 
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19Fordy
"Contact the folks in this thread."

Thanks for that tread. Its not the first time you have helped me 19Fordy.
So with that thread I am getting 5 quarts. Another senior member suggested 5 quarts as well. Who knows where my dipstick came from. From top to bottom it measures 18-1/2", much longer than what I understand ford intended. I am for go, not for show, so just want to get an estimate and I'll scribe what I have. My car is a preservation, aside from the frankenstien motor, not a show car.
 
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Randy, 5 qts. with a filter, 4 qts. without a filter. A few old Ford vendors sell dipsticks.
My 8ba was a mix too. Help from "The Barn", time, and a little common sense and you'll git er done and have some fun. m
 
Randy I'm confused about your filter screwed in the side of the block?? is this some
spin on filter? Even so, people get confused about filters whether spin on or element
style. I Meant to say I pour 5 qts in the crankcase check (full on stick) then I fill the
filter a quart or less But the 5qts always stays the same, I don't care if you have a
2 gallon oil filter; it stays there, the pan always has 5 qts. I have read all over Ford
sites 4 or 5 qts = 5 or 4 qts. plus the filter so: How come my 1950 F6 bought new
by my father, a left over Jan 1951 never touched except paint every ten yrs and its 5qts.
then I fill the filter, then start, and my book says so. So the total qts maybe 6qt but the
pan stays at 5qts. bear with me I ain't a book writter and then my F8 takes about 9qts
plus filter and air compressor sump just a saying
 
I just went through this. If everyone recalls, I have a '36 with an 8BA truck motor put in by a previous owner, with we think the truck oil filter, it has the large removable round plate on the bottom, and the external oil filter.
I put 5 quarts in the pan, one in the filter. Ran it so everything was happy.
It has the 11 inch, not the 8 inch, dip stick tube, and with the 11 inch tube, it showed low on the stick by about half an inch. I removed the stick. Took the tube out and used my Dremmel to cut half an inch off the top. Yes, I did clean the tube really good with brake cleaner several times. Yes, I could have just scratched a spot on the stick, but I think that looks sloppy. Now mine reads Full on the stick with 5 in the pan and one in the can.
 
The Ford 8BA family of filters hold a fair amount of oil after shut down but not all of it stays in there. It will still flow back to the pan until it gets below the end of the standpipe drain holes. It is likely less than a quart but I haven't measured the residual oil yet. I'll have to draw it out & measure it sometime after I've thoroughly cleaned all the sediment out of the bottom of the housing and done a test run with time for leak down.
 
This is probably not your problem, but I will mention anyway.....
I once had a problem with the oil level reading high on the dip stick after an oil change and adding what I felt was the correct amount of new oil. The dipstick reading indicated I had over filled the oil pan by at least one quart of oil. Later that year I decided to pull this engine for cleanup and possibly a rebuild. To my surprise I found a very thick sediment of hardened sludge in the bottom of the oil pan. When I cleaned this out, it filled a one quart jar. So my conclusion was this could have answered a long standing debate on the 4 vs 5 quart oil capacity for these early 21 stud Flathead engines like I normally work on.
 
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Big job, In response to your question:

"Randy I'm confused about your filter screwed in the side of the block?? is this some spin on filter? Even so, people get confused about filters whether spin on or element style"


Big Job,
I am referring to the spin of filter at the bottom of the block, not the element style on the top of the block. I don't have one at the top.

When I was a kid and did my first oil change, not knowing the correct quantity, I filled the engine with oil to the full indicator on the dip stick. I did put a new oil filter on. I then drove my car thinking my oil level was perfect. I checked the level a week later and found the oil was low on the dipstick. I complained to one of my friends that the used car I bought was burning a lot of oil. He then asked me if I ran the car for a few minutes after adding the oil and rechecking the levels. Nope! Back in the 80's you were lucky if you even had a Chiltons. I didn't.

So I am getting from all this, pre prime the spin on filter and the add 5 quarts of oil to get the oil level correct for the 8BA/8TR?

It looks like I have the 8 inch tube and a 18-1/2 inch dipstick. No markings of 8BA or 8RT on the dipstick.
 

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Since it's a new motor I guess it's not a build up of sludged. But the angle the motor is at , wrong dipstick , modified oil pan ( doubt ) or wrong ( cut shorter ) dipstick tube .
 
Ggmac in response to your comment above
"Since it's a new motor I guess it's not a build up of sludged."


Just to explain further, "New Motor" The motor is new to this car and was told at the time of purchase it is a recent rebuild. So Ggmac, like you suggested, it could be build up of sludge in the pan. The seller may or may not have been completely honest. No proof of build.
I thought about pulling the large cleanout on the pan to verify but really don't want to have issues with that leaking in the future. (If is not broke, don't fix it)
 
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RandyMettler said:
I am referring to the spin of filter at the bottom of the block, not the element style on the top of the block. I don't have one at the top.


So I am getting from all this, pre prime the spin on filter and the add 5 quarts of oil to get the oil level correct for the 8BA/8TR?
Click to expand...
Based on where your filter is located, it appears that the oil system may have been converted to a 95% filtration system.
It does not appear to have a by-pass oil system that the stock engines have.
Even if it happens to be a by-pass system, do the following.

In your case I would start with 5qts. of oil.
Fill the filter and install the remainder of the 4+ qts. of oil.
This will fill it to the normal 5qt. capacity.(with filter)
After the engine has been started and run until the oil is circulated, the level that you see on the dipstick is normal full.
Now do any adjustments to dipstick and tube lengths to reflect that.
 
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If it were me, and it is currently in running order, I would drain the oil, then add the same oil back in, but measuring it. I would put 4 quarts back in, adding some new if necessary, or not putting it all back if too much.

I would then run it for a minute or two and then let it stand for 5 minutes.

I would then mark the stick at that level.

By doing the above, it rules out any uncertainty over the oil filter, as it should stay full.

Mart.
 
Mart,

That is exactly what I am going to do. This way I will not wonder if my level is too high or too low. I can mark the dipstick and be sure I am on the mark. I will look into replacing the dipstick later.
Currently just trying to fix one problem at a time.


Who knows, when I find that magic level, I may see a mark on the dipstick made by the previous owner.


Thanks
 
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