It sounds like your engine is telling you something. I'd go with 5 quarts
when you change the filter. Check your level. Then try adding 1/2 quart.
Check the oil level. Run it for a few days, and check the oil level again. I
can remember owners manuals warning that overfilling the oil will cause the
oil to "Froth"(add air bubbles), and not properly lubricate the engine. You
could cheat-email, call, or write the filter manufacture and ask what the
capacity of their filter is! Or you could go to the library, and check in
their reference section for the 77 Pontiac 400, and see how much oil you add
when you change the oil and filter VS when you only change the oil. AN
IMPORTANT NOTE!!! Don't EVER try to use Fram oil filters after they have sat
in your garage over 2-3 years, including 117-120 degree summers. They will
split, and GUSH nice clean oil ALL OVER your garage floor, driveway,
whatever. How do I know? Don't ask. Bob K, the Scotsman (El Cheapo)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hanlon, Bill (ISS Houston)" <bill.hanlon@hp.com>
To: <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 1:23 PM
Subject: [oletrucks] Oil capacity/usage
> My 57 GMC truck came from the factory with a Pontiac 347" V8. Being a
daily driver, I have made certain reliability/safety upgrades such as HEI
and disk brakes. To make it easier to change the oil (and find filters) I
pulled the filter mount from a '77 Pontiac 400 and used it to mount a
spin-on PF-25 oil filter in place of the original cartridge type filter.
The spin on is considerably smaller that the can.
>
> I continue to put 6 quarts of oil into my engine when changing oil &
filter. I have noticed that the engine seems to go about 1/2 to 3/4 quart
low within a week or so after changing the oil. If I top it off it does it
again. If I don't top it off it seems to settle in and use no more. The
oil pan seems to have oil on the outside, but I cant tell exactly where it
is coming from. Seems to be the front of the engine, but I put a new front
crank seal on last Thanksgiving. Didn't change the oil use.
>
> Dummy that I am, I put a chrome dipstick/dipstick tube on the beast a
couple of years ago. The level was not properly marked for my engine, so
the next time I changed the oil I put in 4 quarts (one quart low if not
changing the filter), waited for the new oil to drain into the pan, stabbed
the dipstick and used a file to mark "low" on the dipstick. I then added a
quart, marked "full" the same way and finished up by adding another quart
for the filter.
>
> I'm wondering if using 6 quarts in the machine is too much and is causing
seepage which eventually ends up dripping off my engine. I know that the
late model filter is no where near a quart big.
>
> One other gotcha. When I had the pan off last year I noticed that the
baffle that normally mounts in the crankcase was missing. Could this have
anything to do with my oil consumption problem?
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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