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practice of slightly overfilling oil on Duratec

bxd20

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 25, 2000
Messages
110
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
So I've been around for years on here and know why it's a good idea to run slightly above full on the dipstick.

But let me get a little more picky here. I've read people say they run 1/2" above the full mark. Really, a full 1/2" ??

Seems like I can run 1/4" high and be fine, but if I go up to 1/2" high, the engine burns the extra oil off or something, as the oil level drops back down to like a 1/4" high.

And No, I do not believe there is anything wrong with my engine, it does not further burn any oil. I can change my oil 8k miles later and still be 1/4" high.

Thoughts?
 
Are you sure they are talking about a half of an inch and not a half of a quart?

Many members run 6.5 quarts and then see where that falls on the dipstick as their point of reference.
 
Some people even run a full quart over when tracking. I thought that if you go over 1/2 quart that the crank will be in oil... theoretically loosing some power. I ran 3/4 - 1 full quart for a while... but a few oil changes ago I backed down to 1/2.
 
I was once told the only dumb question is the question not asked so here goes.. This 1/2 quart extra of oil applies to ALL Duratecs, or just the SVT model?:shrug:
 
I was once told the only dumb question is the question not asked so here goes.. This 1/2 quart extra of oil applies to ALL Duratecs, or just the SVT model?:shrug:


all 2.5L duratecs or 3.0L engines with 2.5 heads ... but its a good idea for all of them ...
 
A while back I asked at what level would crank whip start happening, and I was told somewhere around 7.5 quarts, maybe a little less.

hmm I am running 7 Qts in mine, but then again I have a oil filter relacation kit that uses a FL-1A filter ... and that brings the oil level to the top of the full area
 
I have read some people saying 1/2" above the min line on oil as well. I figured they were wrong and confused with the antifreeze. 6 1/2 quarts here.
 
The manual for my SE says 5.3-5.8. Generally 5.5 puts it on the money, and I run the full 6 quarts in the motor. So basically running 1/2 extra quart. But I have the non SVT motor. :shrug:
 
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