I just put a 2005 5.4l junkyard engine into my 2007 f150 and filled it up with 7 quarts of 5w-20 oil and im not getting any reading on the dipstick . occasionally mabey a little bit at the very tip of the stick but most of the time it comes out dry. Ive drove it around a bit and let it sit and still nothing. Needle shows good oil pressure.

Wondering if I should fill it up till its registers on the stick but I would imagine it will take another quart or more.

Is there a year that they made a larger oil pan for these 5.4l and I possible need more than 7 quarts or is there a way to verify I have the right dipstick ?

the dipstick on the original bad engine is much shorter than the dipstick on the new engine by about 3-4inches and this dipstick is very hard to push into the tube and only goes in one way with quite a bit of effort.

from as good a visual as I can get I dont see any holes or breaks in the dipstick tube

thanks

 

I have heard of oversize aftermarket oil pans for cooling oil . I have an 05 , 7 quarts should be enough. I think you are going to have to pull that pan and see if the tube is bent inside .it should not be hard to pull out or difficult to put in . we have had some guys who could not get theirs out ,one guy had a bent rod .
Its good to go into oil pan to check for debris anyway . broken guides lay in bottom in muck , fibers from ground up guides clog screen in oil pickup ..
We can measure our sticks but you should still go in there. I can't imagine a reason for different size sticks from year to year .
When you go in mark the outside of the pan where level should be in relation to stick , I'm with you ,too much oil can be bad .
I feel that tube is bent . But I'm no mechanic . We will really like the answer to this one .

 

thats what I was wondering if it was an oversize pan but it measures the same as the other one so it wouldnt be much different in size if at all.

its not hard to pull the dipstick out just putting it back in and Its catching closer to about half way down the tube rather than at the bottom so hopefully that means its not bent down in the pan

id really hate to have to pull the pan especially since I dont think it'll come out without lifting the engine back out partially again. I got a real good deal on the motor because it had a broken timing chain guide so I allready had the pan off and cleaned it and the pickup tube out really good to get all the plastic pieces. so the pan is clean , but I guess I cant remember if I looked at the end of the dipstick tube to see if it was bent or not.

Idk why I didnt think of doing this earlier but I googled the part number on the oil dipstick and it pulls up a dipstick for a 2000 chevy 5.7l. I bet the guys at the junkyard broke the other one before they shipped it out and found something else that fit. The weird thing is is that its a much longer dipstick than the one from the engine I pulled out so you'd think it would be reading way to full , but it must have a different tube on there as well even though it lines right up with the bolt hole and bends around the exhaust like it should.

So what im thinking ill do is drain all the oil back out fill it with exactly 7 quarts and a filter change , run it and let is sit for a couple hours to make sure its all settled and then slowly start cutting the dipstick tube until it reads full and then flare the end back out. Unless you have a better idea ???

I would buy another dipstick and tube but I tried to pull the one off my old engine and it twisted off in my hand right at the block so id hate for that to happen on the engine in my truck and get myself into a lot more fun then I wanted.

 

measure the OLD tube sticking out of the block and the length of stick... subtract and thats how much is INSIDE..

measure the NEW tube sticking out of the block and the length of its stick... subtract and you should get the same INSIDE.

 

I'm with steve - measure the old engine . It does sound like they moved the tube and stick over .
Good you cleaned that pan out originally ,you must have replaced guides too. I don't know how tubes are fixed to the block but if you broke your orig it must be more than I thought .

 

Old dipstick tube is 20-3/4", dipstick is 27-7/8" dipstick sticks 7-1/8" into the block
New dipstick tube is 26-3/4" dipstick is 31-5/8" dipstick sticks out 4-7/8" into the block

I measured the dipstick tubes with a piece of string since I could not get an accurate measurement around the bends in the tube with a tape measure so the tube figures are approximate.

the OLD dipstick sticks into the block approx. 2-1/4" farther than the NEW dipstick. when I put the new dipstick into the tube and pull it out and measure 2-1/4" from the the tip where the slightest bit of oil is showing it puts me right over full. and since my measurements with a string probably aren't dead on I think I should be pretty safe cutting the tube at 1-3/4" and working down from there till the dipstick reads full.
Whats your thoughts on that ?

I replaced the whole timing set including the phasers to be on the safe side.
my tube at least ,appears to be bolted to the head and then pressure fit into the block. the new engine I dropped in came from Ohio and has more rust on the block than my old one so Im sure it would brake if I tried to wiggle it out of there like my other one did. I should of hammered it out from the bottom when I had the pan off but I didnt suspect it being the wrong tube and stick at that point.

 

(1) Why can't you go to an auto wreckers or pick &pull & buy the correct dipstick
(2) If I read correctly the old dipstick is longer....cut the end off & remark the proper fill settings etc.
check & see if the other stick goes in easier as well...
that chevy stick may be too stiff for the bends ...sounds like your engine is trying to puke it out...... Har Har

 

If you cut it, will the height match what the orig should be at . If so I would try that first ,no sense making it a big project if you don't have to . I realize you don't want to go in the oil pan again . I read up on extracting a broken one and its not easy ,best done from the bottom . I like to paint the tube top yellow so its easier to see when putting stick back in .

 

I would go get another one but im pretty sure Id bust the tube off in my block trying to get it out then Id probably end up having to get the pan off to tap it out from the inside.
the new dipstick is longer but so is the tube . so I ended up cutting the tube down and flaring out the end until the dipstick fits in nice and tight and reads right at full.

I havent told the truck the dipsticks off a chevy so hopefully it doesn't find out lol

 

ya I cant imagine digging one out would be any fun and I wanted to avoid that if it at all possible. Cutting the top off and flaring it out seemed to work well and its reading full now so I think all is well. painting the top is a good idea . ill have to see if I have any bright colors laying around.