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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Checking engine oil levels

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Johnski

10-16-2005 06:57:19




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How do you guys go about checking your engine oil levels in equiptment? I'm talking about before starting up in the morning or after sitting a while. I was taught to pull the stick,wipe it clean, and then re-insert it to check the oil. My foreman says that's BS just pull the stick and look at it. I've been wrenching as long as this guy has been walking but if I'm wrong I'll admit it. Kinda just looking for your thoughts either way. Thanks, JF

P.S. We have one driver who will tip the dipstick up to look at it and if it's low he will just hold it and stare at it until it reads full! I'm not kidding!

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Dhermesc

10-17-2005 07:36:52




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 Re: Checking engine oil levels in reply to Johnski, 10-16-2005 06:57:19  
"My foreman says that's BS just pull the stick and look at it. I've been wrenching as long as this guy has been walking but if I'm wrong I'll admit it."

Your foreman is an idiot. Pull it, wipe it and check it. Does he think your time is so valuable that the extra 15 seconds to do it your way (even if it wasn't needed) is a wasted effort the company can't afford? Sounds like the kind of guy that would follow you into the john to see if you used the toilet paper correctly.

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NC Wayne

10-16-2005 21:42:30




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 Re: Checking engine oil levels in reply to Johnski, 10-16-2005 06:57:19  
I have to agree with you, pull the stick and wipe it clean and then check the level. Like Jon said below, the dipsticks in some older engines are marked for running and not running, and some are designed to be checked only while running. The main thing is to be sure what the specs call for.



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Missouri Boy

10-16-2005 14:44:42




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 Re: Checking engine oil levels in reply to Johnski, 10-16-2005 06:57:19  
My lawnmower with a B&S engine wil read over full when you first remove the syick. I had not considered a vacuum being created by the seal of the stick. We had a neighbor when I was a kid who would before starting his sawmill power unit wipe the stick and check the oil and then WIPE IT AGAIN before putting it back into the rngine. Funny thing he wiped it both times on the bib of his overalls. His wife could never understand how he got his clothes so dirty.

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Coloken

10-16-2005 08:12:43




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 Re: Checking engine oil levels in reply to Johnski, 10-16-2005 06:57:19  
I'm with you 100 percent. I was taught to check the oil every morning as I walk up to start the tractor. Still do.
Kennyp



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Jon Hagen

10-16-2005 07:32:00




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 Re: Checking engine oil levels in reply to Johnski, 10-16-2005 06:57:19  
You are totally right. On engines like Cummins with the expanding plug dipstick,the air tight fit of the dipstick in the tube will cause a vacuum as the engine cools which draws oil up into the tube and causes a false high oil reading. With my 855 and L10 Cummins,the oil level always reads high untill I remove the stick which releases the trapped air/oil,wipe the stick and re insert,then remove and read the oil level. Not doing this will cause the oil to read as much as 1 gallon too high.
I almost ruined a little aircooled Volkswagen engine this year because I believed that it's ordinary unsealed dipstick in the steel tube was not going to have the same problem of the sealed top type dipsticks. I had been just pulling the dipstick on the cold engine and reading the level,Altho the engine seemed to be useing less than normal oil,I trusted the dipstick reading. That is untill one morning I checked the oil which read fill then started the engine,after a minute or two the oil light started to flicker. I shut it down and after a few min drain down I rechecked the oil. The oil hardly touched the end of the stick!! The dipstick dust cap is a tight fit on the tube,and with a little oil film on there to form a seal,it had the same problem as the rubber sealed dipsticks. Just glad I caught the flickering oil light before I cooked that engine. I now pull/wipe/insert/pull/read the oil level on any type of dipstick.

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doogdoog

10-16-2005 13:25:26




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 Re: Checking engine oil levels in reply to Jon Hagen, 10-16-2005 07:32:00  
Aloha, I always wipe the dipstick first and then check again. Also, be sure to check both sides of the dip stick (if dipstick is flat)because sometimes one side will be higher than the other.

Mahalo,
doogdoog



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Jon Hagen

10-16-2005 15:10:35




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 Re: Checking engine oil levels in reply to doogdoog, 10-16-2005 13:25:26  
The felow just down the road from me ruined the IH engine in a road grader because of the odd way the stick was marked. One side was marked to check oil with the engine warm and running. The other side was marked for checking oil level with the engine shut down. The difference was that the side marked for a running engine had the marks about two inches lower than those for a shut down engine to compensate for the oil circulating through the running engine. He made the mistake of reading the running side of the stick with the engine shut down. This cost him an engine.

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