It's not good practice on the 2.7 unless you're going to wait 30 minutes after adding the oil to check. This is why there is endless complaints about 2.7's being overfilled. It won't help checking whether the cartridge filter was replaced or the housing was tightened. With the 1/4 turn oil drain plug, the lake of oil under the truck would be your first clue the plug wasn't installed correctly. But using the oil level to check if you're a bad mechanic is just a dumb practice.

 

That is one engine out of many, the rule still stands as most have an exception or two.

 

Totally agree with most of your comments, but there are so many variables with this engine- such as was it overfilled to begin with and was all the oil drained at the first change? If it was not all drained completely,
then you are starting from the wrong baseline. The first time I checked my oil, it looked a little low, didn't add anything so waited till the next morning when it was clearly over the full mark. I think that is my biggest issue, the service "advisors" are going by the Ford bible and not any form of common sense. The oil pan holds all the oil available to the engine, so you measure it by guessing how much is still left up top??Pretty lame in my opinion