Ford 3.5EB - 5.4 quarts filled it

[MilesTeg]

I have a Ford F-150 with a 3.5 Ecoboost. I did an oil change yesterday. Spec is 6 quarts of oil to refill. I know you don't always get all the oil out of an engine but I am a bit concerned that it only took ~5.4/6 quarts before reaching the top of the hash mark (cold). When warm, the oil may even go above the max mark (hole). Usually I get about 5.75 quarts in before reaching this point on the dipstick.

I did my change as normal - front end on ramps, open fill top, pull PITA plastic plug, then pull filter (got the usual glug of oil after that), let it drip for 15-20 minutes while I inspect a few other things.

Oil level pre-change was at midpoint of dipstick when cold.

Any nuggets of knowledge here about this?

 

[BrendanC]

i always fill based on capacity versus dip stick. people replace with wrong parts and i have seen plenty of 7.3’s go down due to 6.0 dipsticks being installed.

 

[TheOilWizard]

I use the dipstick to determine proper fill level. Fluid capacities in the manual are used as a general guideline.

You said you normally get 5.75 quarts in but this time it was only 5.4 quarts. .3 quarts is somewhere around 10 ounces... it doesn't matter one way or the other.

 

[Lubener]

Fill your engine according to specs not what the dipstick indicates.. If your vehicle is level, any oil left isn't going to change the dip stick indication. If after you change the filter and fill and put six quarts in, make a scribe or center punch a mark on the dip stick if the level isn't at the full mark. Ford has had accuracy issues with certain models with dip stick accuracy where a TSB was issued.

 

[jghall00]

Did you run the engine after filling? Some of the oil is retained in the new filter. And make sure it's on a level surface when you measure. I've handled the last five or six changes on my Ecoboost and six quarts put it right where it needed to be after running it.

 

[MilesTeg]

Did you run the engine after filling? Some of the oil is retained in the new filter. And make sure it's on a level surface when you measure. I've handled the last five or six changes on my Ecoboost and six quarts put it right where it needed to be after running it.

I did, and it's on a level surface. My concern is not that it didn't take the full 6qt, that's normal. My concern is that the amount to fill it up changed from my previous several years worth of changes.

 

[Pablo]

Put in 6 quarts.

Period.

We are talking about 0.5 quarts. If you think even a full quart over will blow the motor, then keep studying.

 

[tcp71]

I dump in 6 quarts each change...spring and fall.