I'm pretty new to this site, so I was kind of disturbed when I started reading about the oiling system on my 390 FE. I don't plan to run the truck at high rpms or race it. I just plan to use it for carting around town and towing my boat. If I don't perform these oil modifications, will it drastically effect the life of the engine? I really don't feel like tearing into the engine if I don't have to. It has 90,000 original miles on it now. Thanks for any help that you could provide.

 

Steve, Drive it, don't worry. Change your oil every 3K miles and if after 190K or so when you actually need to rebuild it do the oil modifications then. Some of us over do the oil mods, then again we tend to over do everything.
William in Atlanta

 

Steve, You DO have to worry about the oiling, but it is easily fixed. Whether or not you are racing or turning high rpms doesn't matter. There is more to consider than the passage sizes some of us talk about so frequently...there is that front sump oil pan...Ford realized they had a problem when 428CJs started failing at the drag strip- I know you're not racing but stay with me here- what was happening is that upon quick acceleration lots of the oil ran to the back of the pan and the oilpump starts sucking air, bearing failure happens real fast then. An FE powered truck with a front sump pan can suffer the same problem, especially if you are pulling a heavy load, or climbing a steep hill. What ford did to fix the problem was to add a windage tray and recalibrate the dipstick to show 6 quarts as full (instead of 5). You have to remove the pan to install a tray, but if you don't want to go to that much effort, it is really easy to add a 6th quart of oil and remark your dipstick- cheap insurance- and takes you not even 5 minutes. The 4x4 guys with the rear sump don't have this problem. Long ago and far away I led an FE to an early demise because I ran a front sump pan in a 4x4 truck, climbed lots of hills and had lots of fun, then installed a replacement engine with the correct oilpan for a 4x4. That was 20 yrs ago, but I remember what can happen. DF

 

I have in my garage a FE with over 250,000 miles on it. Worn out fair and square. Still had Ford script on the bearings (original)? But it was not knocking and the block is clean at .30 over and the crank is clean at -.10 -.10. I did the oiling mods as it went back togeather. And plan to drive it for years and years. Oiling mods are important, But for a driver with less than 100,000 miles on it, don't worry about any of them. The extra quart is gospel by the way! I wish I'd have mentioned it. I always run my truck a quart over. That is full on the dipstick plus a quart.
William in Atlanta

 

Thanks for the info. I will add the extra quart. I'll look into the windage tray insert also. Do you know where this modification is sold, or would I have to buy a whole new pan?

 

From what I've been reading, adding the extra quart is a common practice, but I won't have to worry about blowing my seals from adding too much oil, will I?

 

You only have too much oil if your crank is setting in it. As long as the oil is not being foamed up you will be fine. Many people are under the impression that more oil means more pressure and this is completely inaccurate. If you run a HV oil pump you can even add more oil due to the fact that there is more oil at the top of the engine.

 

The windage tray helps if you are turning high RPMs. For a street driver it is a waste of time. The extra quart idea comes from Ford by way of a service bulletin. Restricting oil to the heads is a good idea for a street truck and costs nearly nothing. Ford did this as well. I make these restrictors out of small casting plugs with a 1/16th inch hole drilled in them.
William in Atlanta