So I completed an oil change today with no issues. Afterwards I got to thinking about things and realized I have a couple of questions.....

1) I was always taught to put the oil in, start the engine and let it run for a few seconds, shut it off and adjust the level to near the full mark. When I do this with my 7.3 it sits above the full mark after it rests for a while (obviously). So the question is should it be full after resting for a while or after it has been running and the engine is nicely coated? If you have it full when it has been running there is about an extra 1qt or so in the system. Does that extra 1qt or so of oil in the system hurt anything?

2) How often should you change the HPOP oil?

 

It should read full after the oil has drained back to the pan. There's no need to change the oil on the HPOP reservoir. The engine oil is constantly circulating through it. It won't hurt anything to do it, but all you're accomplishing is removing an extra 12 ounces or so.

 

Thanks Pikachu! Based on what you said I have an extra 1qt or so in the pan. Should I try and drain that out or is it not a big deal? I know with some engines you can blow seals if there is too much oil in the system while a little extra in others is not a big deal.....

 

I keep mine at full after all the oil has drained back. That being said, 1qt extra will hurt nothing. You're good.

Also, I've never changed HPOP oil in dozens and dozens of services.

 

Yeah, the extra quart won't hurt anything. This whole "top end oil change" thing seems to have been started by a guy on YouTube who has some other questionable information in his videos there too.

 

I could never figure out why you were suppose to change the top end/HPOP oil when it is tied into the rest of the oil system. They even say you can't over fill the HPOP because the extra drains back into the oil pan. I guess you could get some build up in the top end that could be cleaned up by sucking the oil out of the HPOP.

 

you might want to let engine run for more than a couple seconds,to allow time for filter to fill up. & let sit for 5 minutes or longer for oil level check.

 

I pre-fill the filter so that isn't an issue but I will make sure to let the oil settle for a while and then check the level next time...thanks!

 

Every time you start the truck you change the oil in the HPOP No need to unless you really want to get as much of the old oil out as you can. I change my oil every 10k but never drain anything out of the oil pumps

 

engine off to test oil.
engine on to test trans.

 

Here is a video I made about the HPOP oil. I'm not saying do or don't change it. It doesn't hurt anything to change it, but anyone who has any sort of knowledge about the system understands that the oil is circulated with all of the other oil in the system; that is to say there are not two independent systems. That was the original argument. Then came the "but sludge can build up in the HPOP". Yes and no. Sludge will only build up if oil is ran past its service life. If this happens, the HPOP is certainly where it will start due to shearing. However, just with normal use, and proper oil changes, you should have no build up in the reservoir.

In this video, I demonstrate this by pumping out the oil in the HPOP. I did not have it laboratory tested, but it definitely was not sludge, and thats the myth. At this point in the video, the truck is at about 200,000 miles, and has never had the HPOP oil changed.

Again, I wont tell you do or dont. Its up to you. Just know you wont hurt anything by just ignoring it.

 

If someone wanted to get all fancy they could add UV dye to the oil and run the engine for few minutes to see if the dye makes it into the HPOP. I whis I had done it when I was tracking down my oil leak. I'll try and remember to order some more dye next time I place an amazon order.



*****Who am I kidding now that I've planted the seed Trey will make another amazing video doing just that*****

 

If you pre fill the oil filter you have to remember how much you added and subtract that from the 15 qts total. I've forgot that a few times heh heh.

 

there is not need to dye the oil just unhook 1 of the hpo lines and see how far it shoots, just try and drain the hpop. after some time check the oil in the pan it is low as the lpop feeds the hpop so the oil then goes in the injector rail back to the pan.

 

I once changed my oil and sucked the oil outta the hpop like a jackwagon just to see what the fuss was about. I had the engine drained and oil filter off. Not thinking I went to refill the hpop and while doing so I dumped about a quart or so right out of where the oil filter should have been screwed onto. Moral of my story if you're that **** and worried about a little dirty oil left in the system leave your filter off and add oil to the hpop it will clean out the a couple more ounces of dirty oil.