I thought of dry sumps too, but holy cow, that WOULD be a whole new can of worms. But just think for a minute of the engines that do use them and why...on second thought never mind.

Roger

 

Well Kurt,
In my 30+ years of playing this hot rodding game this is the first time I've heard that theory about air being forced into the rod as a result of too much oil in the pan. Seems to me that the oil naturally returning to the pan from overhead will be whipped regardless, and if it going to foam it will do it then. Gonna have to ponder that one awhile. Any comments?
Joe

 

There's a lot of difference between hitting a few little drops and slamming into a pool of oil. Ever dived off the high board into a swimming pool? It's kind of like that.

 

All I ever managed was a few painful bellyflops. I suspect, as Roger so capably explained above, that the excess oil gets whipped up almost immediately and remains in suspension thereafter, causing drag in the form of tiny droplets. I also suspect that this cloud of whipped up oil that Smokey Yunick observed exists in nearly every engine that doesn't have a windage tray. The dynamics inside a running engine are truly incredible. I also suspect that we all would save more fuel simply by keeping our tires properly inflated. And the oil at the proper level, whatever that may be ;-)
Joe

 

Keep in mind that that cloud will be a LOT thicker if there's too much oil. Also, the crank will whip this cloud, and the air in suspension will be forced into the rods. It happens in every engine, just a lot more if theres too much oil.

 

According the the '84 shop manual the 300 I6 does not have a windage tray (or I missed it if it does).

I looked in the owners manuals for both my F150 and for the wife's Aerostar. Both say that the oil may be in the zone above the full mark, but below the "F" in the word full (which as you may recall is about 1/2 inch above the full mark) when the vehicle is new or right after an oil change. It goes on to say that if the oil is above the "F" in Full that engine damage or excessive oil consumption could occur.

 

In other words, we should "keep it between the lines"? hehehe...

 

i JUST GOT A 92 and it holds 6 qts

 

if you were to run your engine 1 quart over or even more it could cause a problem by building excess pressure. Even if that was to happen it would cause a leak at the weakest point..and that is entirely the engines decison..in reguards to my first sentence in most cases running 1 quart over will not harm anything..and just for some extra info in case anyone would care to know..All the American car manufacturers say that it is normal usage for any vehicle made fom 1985 up to use one quart of oil in 1500 miles..funy thing is all my high compression motors prior to that barely used a drop.... at whatever they changed to make that happen....This is my first post hope i can be of some help sometime...Thanks

 

It means keep putting oil in with an eyedropper until it is right onto the "F" in full-- No, I will run it between the top of the safe zone and the F, right where it is after an oil change.

As for using a quart every 1500 miles, I think that is because of the thin sewing machine oil (5w20) they specify anymore for fuel mileage. The thin base stock must easily vaporize, leaving you with a mucky mess of concentrated viscosity index improvers