How much oil?

[gent00l]

How much oil should I be putting in my engine? I have a custom made oil pan due to it being a 4x4 (I cut the bottom off of the 400 pan, and welded the bottom of the 4.3L pan to it). I have no idea how to check my oil level. My buddy tells me that I need at least 5 quarts (4.4 liters) of oil for a small block chevy, regardless of my pan size, so that's how much I put in. Is this true?

[Scotty_S-15]

Do you think the pan holds less, or more now? I presume the sump & pickup location is the same? And I'll presume that the engine is assembled, and in the truck?

.......... Yeah, I'd think that you'd want a minimum of 5 quarts of oil, including the filter.

......... BUT (there's always a BUT) http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_mad.gif

You don't want the level in the pan too high, otherwise the crank will be whipping the oil into a froth. Nobody needs aerated oil, and it steals HP too.

............ So, I'd go back to using the original dipstick tube and dipstick, even if temporarily to find the original level. If it takes 5 qts. and is on or below the "full" mark, you're good. You could even add some to bring it to the "full" mark. If 5 qts. puts you over the full mark...... time for some compromises. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[gent00l]

Yeah I think the pan holds more now, then it did when it was a 4.3L pan, or it's close to the same. I JUST filled it up with 5 quarts of oil, so I'm going to mark the dipstick where the oil level is at right now and always use that mark from now on.



And yes, the engine is installed and running.

[spacecadet]

I've built several 4x oil pans.

What I did was left the factory dip stick in place. Filled the engine with oil, counting the amount as I filled. ANd when the dip stick was at the full mark, I wrote that amount on the rad support for next time.

The one pan took alittle over 5. qts. Another one took 5 1/2 and the one that took the least, took 4 1/2.