65mechanic

Alright, this could possibly be the one millionth time this has been posted. The search button could not do me any good. So I went to oriellys to day to get some oil for my 1988 F150 300 Inline 6 cyl. I got 6 quarts of Motorcraft Premuim (not synthetic) 10w40 and an FL-1A. I went up the the counter and asked him how many quarts it took to make sure and he looked it up and it said 5 quarts. So i then went to take one back -mistake-. Got home dumped the old oil, changed the filter, and put all the new oil in. Cranked the truck up to let the oil flow into the new filter and then shut it off. The dipstick was barely showing any oil. So I called up my buddy that lives down the road a couple minutes and he had a spare quart of the exact oil. I put that oil in and then checked it and its still only showing around half up the fill marking. So to state my question "How many quarts should I put in?" I'm done wondering. It might just be because its parked kinda weird now. who knows..thanks in advance for the replies.

dirtcrew51m

-6 is probably 6 + 1 for the filter due to the long pan, the noob behind the counter probably never heard of a 300 6cyl engine, just the common v6 or 5.0 which takes 6 qts.

djhives

FYI - instead of cranking the truck up to let oil flow into the filter you can FILL the filter with oil. Lube up the rubber ring, and then pour new oil into the new filter, then screw it on.

Then fill until you hit your mark...

Bibo1985

DJhives method is the prefered one in my experience, I have the 300 in my 95 and it takes roughly 6 quarts. Make sure it's parked lvel or as close to it as possible, otherwise you'll get a BS level on your distick. Let it sit for awhile and check it again, the heads will hold oil for awhile, usually just credit it to build up in the oil passages over time.
On a second note, Lucas oil stabilizer will minimize that problem for you as well

65mechanic

Alright. That's what I thought. I don't think that cranking the truck for 30 seconds and moving it about 20 yards to it's parking spot with only 5 quarts would hurt it would you? I'm sure filling the filter would be fine also. One man to his own. I've heard of guys running a single quart to get home and the motor still runs strong. These things are beasts.

Bibo1985

I don't imagine it'd hurt it, I'm just uber paranoid about low oil levels, seen some right dandy engines be laid to rest because of it. The reasoning that I was taught 'neath the ol' shade tree for adding oil to the filter was to make sure you had oil pressure right off the bat. And if you choose to do this, only fill it about 1/2 full to avoid making a mess when installing the filter.
These are some tuff lil boogers though, I've been very impressed in what little time I've had mine.

65mechanic

Yeah, except when I went to remove the filter after I had dumped all the old oil, the filter had only a couple of drops in it. Its mounted horizontal (sideways). So I assume if i filled the filter up and then stuck it on all the oil would go to the pan anyhow.

CleanNmean302

5.0's take 5 qts of 5w 30 motorcraft synthetic blend I have one lol and the 4.9's are freaking bulletproof! :win:

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

You can go about 3 quarts low before the oil pump stops getting enough oil, if you're not doing the slalom.

redneckcowboy28

That is an interesting statement, since my 5.0 has always taken 6 quarts of oil on an oil change (counting filter).