Oil level on dipstick ???

[knipex]

Previous owner fitted a shallow sump on my 1.7 x-flow but never marked new levels on dipstick.

How do I know when there is enough oil in it. ??

[Enterpryse]

I'd be inclined to drain all the oil (including the contents of the filter) and refill according to the manufacturers guide, and see where on the dipstick it comes up to.

.....assumes the sump was made expanding sidways a little to keep the qty of oil the same - some do some don't so be careful.  This is what I did after confirming with the manufacturer about the capacity.

Stuart

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I believe the upper level will remain as it is 'cos it's as high as it can be to miss the crank throws, or some other parameter that won't change just because the oil reservoir is shallower. But because the sump bottom is higher and therefore the pickup end higher, the amount of ullage, or freeboard (lovely words! is reduced. On mine (2.0 Pinto) I lose pressure on braking when the level is about halfway to the original lower mark.

[hilux]

Ahem,

The manufacturers `full` indicated on the dipstick is designed to prevent overfilling and also to stop the con rods dipping into the oil.

IMO as long as you have the original dipstick then fill to this mark. it will not matter if theres too much oil, just dont fill too much.

Some aftermarket sumps increase the capacity so if you fill with the manufacturers recommended amount you `may` be too low on oil for the sump/engine/oil pick up.

HTH

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Quite so, Hilux. The problem is knowing how low down the dipstick you can allow it to go without risking the pickup coming out of the oil. What you can be sure of is the top mark.

[knipex]

Ok so the top mark remains the same.

Then 2 ltrs of oil is all the engine will hold...

Guess i will be changing it every couple of hundred miles..

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

bl**** Hell! Two litres! I'd have expected more like three and a half! Are you certain of that? Of course, I'm basing my comments on my Pinto - someone once said "put six and a half pints in and work from there"

X-Flow experts, where are you?

[knipex]

well possibly 2.5 ltrs but thats absolute max. I got my gallon and as per normal just poured it in. Becaus eof teh shallow pump I stopped early and dipped it. WAY over max.

I let some out and decided to ask you guys before starting it.

I had 3 ltrs possibly a bit more in and had to let almost a ltr out.

[pistonbroke]

Do you know who made the sump?

Mine ( Zetec 2 ltr raceline )came with a drawing showing how to shorten the dipstick to a specified lenght so the correct level could be maintained.

dont know if this helps

[neilb]

I think that 3.5l is about the standard for a x-flow if you only have 2l then you need to be very careful that it does not get starved as there will be very little in the sump when it's being rev'd

[knipex]

From the build history is a caterham shallow baffeled sump from Arrowstar racing. Fitted october 1995.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Post the question on Blatchat while they're still accepting non-subscriber postings. Assuming you're not a subscriber. They are likely to be helpful.

[Martin Keene]

I've just filled my shallow xflow sump to the orginal full mark on the dipstick and got 4.5 ltrs in it... I would be very wary of using a sump that only holds 2 ltrs. Even if by some fluke you manage to avoid oil surge, you will almost certianly end of over heating the oil.

Sorry...

[Guest]

ive just had mine on a rolling road,its 3`7lts that includes filling the filter thats on a 2`0 ltr pinto with a normal sump,theres not much oil held in the filter but id not run it with much less than 3 ltrs, ford do 3 differant lengh dipsticks, best try and find out who did the sump good luck:blues: