MTFCA Forum

I haven't started my restored engine yet. I put four and half quarts of oil in it several weeks ago. I left the top petcock open, and I stopped putting oil in when I first saw oil starting to come out of it. I recently noticed oil seeping out of that petcock, so I replaced it yesterday.

Before I removed the petcock, I opened the bottom petcock to drain some oil. I expected I would only have to drain a small amount because as I said above I stopped putting oil in when I saw oil starting come out of the top petcock. I ended up having to drain two pints before it stopped coming out of the petcock.

I am "curious" why I had to drain that much oil. I assume it is because the last two pints "took its time" getting all in, but that seems a little odd!
I would appreciate some comments.

you put in 1/2 quart too much at the start

My thought. On a running engine, the internal oiler tube sends oil to the front of the engine's crankcase. Even more goes to the front of the engine if it has extra auxiliary oilers installed. Shut the engine off- the oil in the front flows to the rear of the engine, but not all goes to the rear of the engine. Some stays at the front of the engine, some gets trapped by the dips in the oil pan. If you filled the oil at the front through the filler cap, not all oil goes to the rear of the pan. If you put in 4 1/2 qts, then you overfilled it by 1/2 qt.
Had you not overfilled, the level would have been just about right in relation to the top petcock.
Don't feel bad- when I'm on a long day ride, such as on a tour, I always cheat and add a half quart in the morning. I'm probably the only one that does it, but no harm has been done yet
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Do yourself a favor and drain another quart out (or more) and then remove the transmission door and pour it back in over the bands. You do NOT want to start the engine without preoiling the bands.

I always find that it takes 4-1/2 quarts to reach the top petcock after an oil change. I wouldn't be so concerned that I have an extra 1/2 quart. I would be curious about what you seemed to observe as a rising oil level. Do you have coolant in the engine yet? Since it's an untried, new rebuild, I'd just want to know that there's been no coolant seepage into the crankcase. After you run it a few minutes, check the oil for a milky look. If it still looks like clean oil I wouldn't worry about it.

By the way, in an "empty" freshly rebuilt engine it'll need a tad bit more oil to fill the empty dips in the lower pan.

When you fill the oil pan with oil using the front oil breather, it takes awhile for the oil to completely make its’ way all the way back to the transmission. If you immediately drained the oil after filling it, the oil may not have had enough time to completely make its’ way from the front to the back. The correct level should be between the upper and lower petcock. A glass tube oil sight gauge mounted in place of the lower petcock would help you on this. Jim Patrick

You had fun, and that is what counts. There are some good points above, and the one I like, and have always done is to pour two quarts into the transmission before starting as mentioned above. I've been using multi-grade oil for years, and like it.

Jerry V in his May 13 (6:41am) reply raised the possibility that water maybe leaked into the oil. The block was inspected during the engine restoration so I doubted that there had been leakage. I checked the coolant level in the radiator, but I couldn't remember the level to which I filled it. Therefore, I decided to investigate by draining out the oil to determine if more came out than the 4 quarts, 23 ounces I put in.

I drained the oil in three stages. First: The oil above the top petcock (30 ounces) (See photos 1 and 2). Second: The oil between the two petcocks (2 quarts, 2 ounces) (See photos 3 and 4). Third: The oil below the bottom petcock (1 quart, 13 ounces) (See photo 5).

Total drained = 4 quarts, 13 ounces vs 4 quarts, 23 ounces put in.

I drained the oil in stages because I was curious how much oil was at the various levels mentioned above. I thought others might also be interested in that information.

Jerry, As I said in my original post, I was curious why there was so much oil above the top petcock. Thanks for pointing out the possibility of coolant leakage because now I know it was not due to leakage.

You were significantly overfilled and there is STILL a good bit trapped in the rod dips that you could not get out (by design)

I understand the Montana 500 drivers like to run with less than 2 quarts of oil. True or wives tale?

Some oil will remain in the rod troughs and soaked into the bands and some will stay in tight places throughout the engine.

I'd follow Ford's advice and NEVER run the engine unless the oil level was up to the lower cock.

Multi-grade oil is great for Model Ts.