erroneous oil dip stick readings

[N3K01]

when I checked the oil level at my 97 4.6L Expedition after buying it, it seemed like I was a little over filled, I decided not to do anything and as time passed I did an oil change and although the dip stick indicated that it had more than the maximum only three litters of oil came out, after filling in the engine with the new oil I checked and saw that the dipstick indicated the oil level almost to the top of the stick, I checked again the next day and it was still almost to the top.

has anyone had this problem?
what can I do to fix this?
I need to add some oil now but I don't know how much

 

[bedrck46]

What do you mean by the "top of the stick" Hopefully you mean to the top of the fill mark on the stick.

Check your owners manual and it will give you the capacity of oil that should be in the engine. If you don't have an owners manual you can download a copy from this site
owner.ford.com

 

[bedrck46]

Capacities - liters (quarts) 4.6 L engine

Engine crankcase
5.7 L (6.0
quarts) with filter change

 

[Kansas Gary]

I know on my 2000 if I pull the dip stick and check it on one side it will be way overfull. But on the other side it will be normal. So then I put it back in the opposite way as it was the first time and both sides will read normal for some odd reason............

 

[N3K01]

What do you mean by the "top of the stick" Hopefully you mean to the top of the fill mark on the stick.

Check your owners manual and it will give you the capacity of oil that should be in the engine. If you don't have an owners manual you can download a copy from this site
owner.ford.com

I mean literally almost all the way up

I know on my 2000 if I pull the dip stick and check it on one side it will be way overfull. But on the other side it will be normal. So then I put it back in the opposite way as it was the first time and both sides will read normal for some odd reason............

I'll try this tomorrow

 

[Lightnig]

I've heard of that before. Not with Expeditions but with old school 70's 80's cars.

People would pull the smog pumps and other crap in an effort to get more power and would screw up the PCV system. As a result, the crankcase would build up pressure and since it could not vent properly the pressure would force oil up the dipstick tube. Was so bad in some cases that it would push the dip stick right out of the tube.

I kind of doubt that is what is happening with your truck, engine technology has come a helluva long way since those days, but sounds like it could be a similar situation.

 

[splintrcel]

I cant get any good reading off of my dipstick. I had to guess how much oil was in it based on the number of quarts i used. Its kinda ******* me off.

 

[toms89]

Must park vehicle on level ground. Shut off motor wait several minutes. Pull dipstick and wipe down as oil has sloshed around it will read incorrectly. Re-insert dipstick and get new reading. If it is still high there may be oil still in dipstick tube that has not drained out yet... wipe down try again.


Maybe someone installed the wrong dipstick for your expy if it is consistantly reading inaccurately???

 

[N3K01]

Must park vehicle on level ground. Shut off motor wait several minutes. Pull dipstick and wipe down as oil has sloshed around it will read incorrectly. Re-insert dipstick and get new reading. If it is still high there may be oil still in dipstick tube that has not drained out yet... wipe down try again.


Maybe someone installed the wrong dipstick for your expy if it is consistantly reading inaccurately???

I've done that, and yes the reading is never accurate, I'll just do an oil change and mark the "real" max level, and I'm planning on using some sort of oil thinner that are made to remove engine oil sludge, and dump some of that through the dipstick tube

 

[toms89]

I've done that, and yes the reading is never accurate, I'll just do an oil change and mark the "real" max level, and I'm planning on using some sort of oil thinner that are made to remove engine oil sludge, and dump some of that through the dipstick tube

Sorry was not trying to offend you. It is just odd. Never heard of this issue before. I can see why you would be baffled..

Please do post the solution if you do figure it out because it has me very curious.

 

[N3K01]

Sorry was not trying to offend you. It is just odd. Never heard of this issue before. I can see why you would be baffled..

Please do post the solution if you do figure it out because it has me very curious.

I did not take it as an offense, and I will post a solution if I find it

 

[N3K01]

Today I was driving my expy when all of a sudden the oil pressure drops to 0 as if the truck was off, drove it home (only a few blocks) and I'll check it this weekend, I'm going to remove the oil pan and see if there is anything, also I am adding the "Gunk Motor Flush" to clean everything, I hope this doesn't mean that I have to get a new engine

 

[toms89]

Today I was driving my expy when all of a sudden the oil pressure drops to 0 as if the truck was off, drove it home (only a few blocks) and I'll check it this weekend, I'm going to remove the oil pan and see if there is anything, also I am adding the "Gunk Motor Flush" to clean everything, I hope this doesn't mean that I have to get a new engine

My guess would be it's a faulty gauge / sensor or you should have engine noise associated with it if you drove a few blocks.

 

[Copper93]

I don't know how you would check but are you sure the dipstick in the truck is the correct one for that motor/year? I use to work at a parts store. I can remember many times people coming in to get a dipstick because they forgot to replace it after checking the oil. Tranmission dipsticks also.

 

[BAD RONALD]

I don't know how you would check but are you sure the dipstick in the truck is the correct one for that motor/year?...

I understand the question but he's describing a condition that has oil all the way up the dipstick tube. His capacity problem does not make a lot of sense. What's in the bottom of his pan, a pair of size fifteen golf shoes?

 

[N3K01]

The first thing I did was to drain all the oil and do a quick inspection, there was nothing wrong with it except that it was time to change the oil, I used this freshly drained oil to fill the engine again, I poured in half the oil and then poured the "Gunk remover" and after that I poured the other half of the oil.
This is the item I used to remove the gunk from the engine


I did noticed that the gunk remover worked correctly because the second time I drained the oil it was a lot thinner than normal oil, but there was nothing even close to gunk or dirt or anything, just oil. I cut open the old oil filter and found nothing.

I unplugged the battery in hopes of clearing any codes "resetting the computer" and after the oil change I turn on the truck and it was the same, here is a picture of it.



I did noticed that there was maybe a sensor(cable) unplugged but it was dark and I couldn't figure out where that came from, I'll check it in the morning, also the truck sounds fine and I used a throttle body cleaner as well.

I did take a look at the dipstick and it does seem NOT to be the correct one, but again it was dark, there are a few other things I want to check but I don't think there is any real or major problem with it

 

[BAD RONALD]

...I don't think there is any real or major problem with it...

Except that you just changed the oil about 4 weeks ago and you say it needed an oil change again with this recent problem.

You also have a capacity question that needs to be answered. Oil capacity for your truck is six quarts and you report its crankcase only holds three. You think you have a non stock dipstick. Does it look like the PO got inventive elsewhere?

There is probably only a sender issue with your oil pressure gauge reading, but who-knows-what problem may have been unloaded on you...

I've heard that some guys will actually weld a spark plug in cylinder #8.

 

[Copper93]

The engine cleaner can break loose the gunk in the engine and clog the pick up or sensor.

 

[BAD RONALD]

The engine cleaner can break loose the gunk in the engine and clog the pick up or sensor.

True, but he had the problem with the gauge before he used the engine flush.

 

[bedrck46]

The oil sensor is just a switch either its on or its off. It does not show pressure If he were to remove the wire from the sensor and ground it to the engine this would show that the circuit is working if that is the case then I would replace the sensor. Or it could be possible that the passage that the sensor is mounted in is clogged and the sensor isn't seeing oil.