[DeTomaso] Dipstick length

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/21/07 7:10:46 PM, asajay at asajay.com writes:

>I would seriously like to understand, or know what the reasoning is behind 
filling a pan, any pan, above the stock full mark on a stock dipstick. Please 
enlighten me.

in 1970, Ford recommended adding 6 quarts of oil to the 5-quart stock pan to 
help their  warranty costs, due mostly to the 351-Cs extremely restricted 
cylinder head oil drainback system. We can thank Fords corporate policy at the 
time which was essentally 'don't actually spend any money on performance stuff 
'cause the world is going for fuel mileage now'. Years ago, Mike Cook found that 
of the 5 stock quarts in a 351-C engine, at high rpms approximately 1-1/2 
full quarts were in each rocker cover and one was in the filter, leaving only one 
in the pan. If the car was also cornering or on a bumpy road or track, the 
oil pump pickup would uncover momentarily. A few such experiences and that 
rattling noise you'd hear was not the lifters.... As we've seen in the past 20 
years, the actual 'fix' was a correctly baffled pan- either the Aviad type for 
Panteras or the T-pan for Mustangs- both of which aren't actually any deeper than 
a stock pan but hold more. That would have cost money Ford simply wasn't 
prepared to spend. 
FWIW- J DeRyke <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See 
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