How do YOU know your 6.2L has enough oil?

[Gumby]

I've always wondered what the minimum oil volume before catastrophic failure is. There is always margin built into everything so i'm curious what the engineers built into motors. You have to assume people will mess up or go too long between changes so i'm curious, will it run on 2 quarts? 4? 5?

This is an interesting thought^^^^^^ I do know my 7.3 Ran a gallon low once. for how long? I am not sure...best guess couple of weeks. now that is 4Qt Low on a 15Qt system. Before you say the motor is junk now. This happened 220K ago. The truck still runs fine.

 

[Roush2568]

On my 69 F100 Ranger with a 390FE, I do run a extra qt of oil in the pan. However that's a whole different animal.

 

[FishFreak]

I'm sure it'd run on 5 before it became an issue.

I watched well over 2 quarts go into an '81 5.0 engine before we got anything to even show up on the dipstick. It ran a LOT better with over 3 quarts added.

You could likely overfill the crap out of the oil pan in a 6.2L engine without issue given it's mod motor heritage. The crank sits way up high in the block compared to the old school pushrod V8s where it half of the main journal was hanging out of the bottom of the pan rail.

Hahaha, wonder what that 5.0's bearings looked like after running down to TWO QUARTS?!? It's amazing how some engines can take a lickin' like that and keep tickin'.

Glad to know we've got surplus pan space, cuz I'm likely a quart high. Easy to drain now because I put a Fumoto valve in place of the drain plug last time. I think I'll just let it roll...

 

[FishFreak]

there are marks on the dipstick to check the oil. the guage on the dash is oil pressure. not oil level. best to let the truck run (if it wasnt running) and then let sit for about 5-10 min before checking the level. gives time to get an accurate reading, makes no diff if it sits 10 minutes or 10 days. sometimes one side of the dipstick will scrape along the tube wall and you may not get any kind of measurement on that side because it scraped the oil off. but yes, 7qts is correct

I can definitely see those high and low marks, it's just that because of the twists, when inserted or withdrawn, oil is scraped off all over and runs down to the hash marks, literally making it impossible to accurately decide where the level is. Lol, my daughter's Ford Fiesta has a BLACK dipstick, so you have to get out in bright sun to see where the oil puddle is on the dipstick. I tried scraping the backside of the stick's indicator region with green scotchbrite on both Fords but it barely helped. Drawbacks to having clean oil !

 

[FishFreak]

Just did mine this morning and definitely have to look close for the wet spot on the dipstick always 7 with filter . I’m using 5-20 you might want to double check the viscosity recommendation. I know there has been a change in 2016? To 5-30 for 6.2 but I still use the 20 .

Is your dipstick spiral twisted like they tried shortening it cuz it was too long? Mine is. Never seen one this twisted!

My screw calls for 5w-20, but I call bs on that grade. It's got 140k miles, so I'm sure there's plenty of bearing clearance to run thicker 5w-30. Makes me sleep better because once an Amsoil rep PROMISED me I could run 5W-30 instead of 15W-40 in my Duramax diesel. I did for a few thousand miles, and I'd swear I could hear more clatter. I couldn't take it anymore. Sent some oil off to Blackstone labs and it came back with enough iron and bearing material to make you sick. I'll never do that again. Err on the thick side if you live in warm climates.

I think these silly light weight zero spec oils are because of unrealistic CAFE fleet MPG regulations, which are rumored to be going away or be severely diminished this coming year.

 

[Mad Zeus]

Yup mine looks like a pig pkr it’s a screw . It’s funny you ask this I just got done . You have to look very close I use my cheaters for this . The solid wet ends just before the line & dot . I know the whole viscosity argument it’s like saying what caliber is better lol.

 

[jdm_sixtwo]

This is an interesting thought^^^^^^ I do know my 7.3 Ran a gallon low once. for how long? I am not sure...best guess couple of weeks. now that is 4Qt Low on a 15Qt system. Before you say the motor is junk now. This happened 220K ago. The truck still runs fine.

Plus, the 7.3 and 6.0 have the oil fired injection system so if they’re more than 7 quarts low they just shut off, because the injection system is the last to get oil, so when low it gets nothing. 6.2s call for 7 but usually two quarts is just for safety, you could lose two and the pickup will still very easily be able to grab from the pan and everything will have oil.

 

[EricM]

Hahaha, wonder what that 5.0's bearings looked like after running down to TWO QUARTS?!? It's amazing how some engines can take a lickin' like that and keep tickin'.

That was the car my friend's mom drove. Four door '81 Fairmont with the 5.0L. Pale yellow. No A/C either. Sweated my ass off in that car a few times.

It still ran OK after the low oil incident- she still drove it for years afterwards.

 

[Terence_]

The dipstick never lies check it on level ground after a few minutes of sitting, and you’ll know for sure!