2011 Ford Transit Connect - inconsistent oil dipstick readings

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

When I checkI the oil in the morning, it shows dry. When I run and shut off, even for a couple hrs, it shows overflow. Don,t know what to believe .

2

Is your oil foamy when it shows overfill? Also, why would you drive it if it is “dry”?
I would start off by draining the oil and giving it a careful evaluation, including a careful measurement of its volume. Then I would fill with exactly-measured new oil, and watch daily to see if the problem recurs.

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3

When checking after running, are you

  1. just pulling the dipstick out and looking at it
  2. are you pulling the dipstick out, wiping it off then putting it back in, then pulling it out and then checking the level on the dipstick.
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4

Stupid me. I didn,t change the filter, so it held and extra quart. If I change oil every 4,000:km, I change filter every second time.
Thx for help.

5

That still does not explain the lack of oil showing on the dipstick . Are you not checking the oil level when you change oils or just pouring the same amount in ?

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6

I also made the mistake of pouring an extra pint or two to remove any other dirt, so I,m not sure about the amount put in. I will redo the change with new filter, and put the right amount 4.3 litres in. That is correct amount.

7

That is not how you refill the oil. You add some , let it set a few minutes and add more until it shows full on the dipstick mark. Then run the engine a few minutes , let it set and check again.

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9

I’ll never understand why when we have the shop change the oil for us, they always try to show us the dipstick after changing the oil and after I’ve started the engine. ideally, we hand the shop the amount we want in the engine 4.5 quarts then follow the following morning by checking the dipstick after the van has bene sitting still overnight on a flat surface.

10

I expect they are showing you the dipstick to prove there is oil in the engine, just in case you come back later claiming they made a mistake & there wasn’t any. You are correct that’s not the correct way to measure the engine oil level, but a measurement of the exact oil level isn’t the shop tech’s goal. Hopefully they’ve already done that.

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11

@ George_San_Jose1 Understood. But I enter the shop with the exact amount of oil I want in the engine. Perhaps the tech was new and when he showed me the dipstick there was near zero oil on it. This is because the oil hasn’t had a chance to settle to the point where it would have made contact with the dipstick. Plus as I said above, he asked that I turn on the engine while he checked the dipstick. clearly when one turns on an engine, there’s near zero oil surrounding the dipstick. However the following morning when I checked the van, the oil was at my required level. The obvious is that the owners manual says 4.8 quarts and I gave them 4.5 quests. I do not and will not over fill the engine with oil. So the owners manual is wrong on all accounts and has been wrong on nearly all of the 40+ vehicles I’ve ever own.

12

Just my two cents but I change filters every time. They are cheap. I would be inclined to believe the morning reading when all the oil has drained down but you do have to wire the dipstick first. Now I think I remember some fords requiring a long waiting time after filling or running for the oil to return to the pan. But year start with the specs and adjust as necessary so you know once and for all.

On my nonstarter engine for example though, the book said 7 quarts but that was still a quart down on the dipstick. I asked the dealer and they’d said go according to the diostick, so it was always 8 quarts. I never knew if this was correct or not but never saw any signs of over filling.

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13

Could be worse, we had a customer that no matter what, even watching us change and add oil to the vehicle, would after closing out there work order, pop the hood out in the parking lot to check the oil level, the problem with that is our parking lot at the time was very very steep and the vehicles were horizonal on the steep hill, so depending if faced east or west the oil was either way overfull or not showing on the dipstick and they would come right back in saying we did it wrong causing a scene in front of other customers (most saw and new what they did and giggled to themselves) and we would have to pull it back in and let the oil settle a little in the level shop to show them it was at the correct level…
I started making/asking the techs to pull it back in when the customer arrived and then taking the customer out letting them pop the hood to show them it was correct before pulling it back out again… and they walk among us… lol

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