How much oil does a flathead take? I put in just about 4 1/2 quarts, and the dipstick shows way over full. The thing smokes like a chimeny out of the breather (I have a pcv set up under the intake), and I'm thinking that I put too much oil in it. How long is a 8ba dipstick supposed to be, that's a place I can start. Maybe I have the wrong dipstick, or maybe I'm a dipstick.
sorry i dont have an answer but i also would like to know, what should the oil level be say from the crank center line on any engine?
One of mine is 14 3/8 and the other is 16 7/8. The difference is obviously in the length of the screw in tube. You could have miss matched parts.
Most of them will show "full" at 4 qts even though the manuals all say 5 qts. My belief is that the 5th qt normally lives in the filter ***embly. I run mine on my dipstick, but I'm confident they're a matched set too...
Yep, makes about a quart difference if you're running an oil filter or not. Personally I run about 5 quarts... then add a quart every 3 or 4 blocks.
Just a thought, Matt -- Did you reinstall the baffles for the drain-back holes in the lifter valley? These are the diamond-shaped sheet-metal pieces that clamp to the tubular oil gallery in the center of the lifter valley, and they reduce the amount of oil that the crankshaft throws up into the valley. Without these baffles, your hi-vac PCV system could be siphoning excess oil into your intake tract. Just a thought . . . Mike
I don't even remember. This is a motor that I bought for $500, cleaned the outside, and ran it, so I doubt I removed them. There isn't an oil filter on the engine, so maybe I have 1/2 quart too much. Wonder how long it takes to burn off a 1/2 quart? Don't know if I can stand that much driving around all smokey. And, the marvel mystery oil I put down the carbs got the engine to smoke MORE? It's small block chevy time.
Normal. It will eventually burn all the MMO out, but realize that it coats the exhaust and will smoke more for a bit. I'd get it out on the road, run it at high-speed for several hours - after that, if it's still smoking, it's gonna smoke - but it may loosen everything back up to where it needs to be & quit smoking, or reduce it significantly!
One of the tech articles on Fordbarn states that Ford specified 5 quarts without the filter, and that it should be run with 5 despite what the dipstick says. I find this very confusing.... I mean to say that surely Ford did'nt build all those millions of flatheads with the wrong full mark showing on the dipstick?
It will be easer to find you house now ! just follow the oil trail and never use that chevy word again .
Didn't he say it's smoking out the breather? That would be blow by, another traditional worn flathead symptom..
What are the specifics of your under-intake PCV setup? I did this with mine early intake on late motor and didn't have problems with smoke. Just a little oil mist blown out the fuel pump stand onto the firewall. Have you done a compression check? Stuck your thumb over the spark plug holes as you turn the motor over? Big ridge in the cylinders when you had the heads off? Maybe your rings are stuck or you're just getting blow by because it's ready for a rebuild.
kevin, I think it's a good dose of "all of the above". I took a chance that it'd run, didn't do anything to it, and now have to put in a new motor. I'm going to drive it a bit like Earnie suggested, then work on getting a new motor built for it. Till then, I'm riding solo cuz my wife doesn't like smelling like smoke and gas when we go somewhere.
Yeah, I haven't waded into that one with my opinion due to a lot of "personalities" on Fordbarn. I firmly believe the dipstick is right based on my known original dipstick in my '40...
And this is a bad thing how....? I prevent tailgaters with the fine mist of rear end lube that leaks out the banjo. Old Fords are supposed to be messy.
Yeah, he did say the breather. And if that's the case, the PCV isn't doing it's job. Air should be pulled IN through the breather, and all the bad stuff should be ****ed through the PCV and re-burned. Have you got the PCV in the right direction? I any case, if it's a LOT of smoke, which it sounds like it is, you likely have some wear issues.
I've had the same problem with my flatty, I just put four in and add when I need to, my dip stick always shows way full.
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