Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Oil capacity and will overfilling cause excessive blowby?

[dward]

I just finished replacing my rear pinion seal (no leaks so far and re-routing my crankcase vent hose.
I checked the oil and noticed it was an inch or so above the full mark and someone had written 12 qts on the fan shroud.
I believe the 2cnd gen holds 10 qts not 12? Whats the correct amount.
If it has 2 extra qts, would that cause the excess to blow out of the crankcase vent hose? This may be why I have so much oil on the engine.
I'm going to change it tomorrow and the owners manual doesn't list the required amount.

 

[KATOOM]

The 2nd gens technically call for 11 quarts but one quart over in an oil pan that size will raise the level about an 1/8" of an inch. Dont worry about it if the PO put 12 quarts in there as doing so is very common place.....

Every oil change I pre-fill the new oil filter before installing and then add the remaining 3 gallons (12 quarts total).

If you're having a problem with excessive blowby out the vent hose then you need to check the vacuum pump and check for vacuum leaks. If there's so much blowby that its shoving considerable oil out the blowby hose (more than a few drops a day) then you need to check whether or not you have a cylinder problem.

 

[Tractorat]

What year is your truck ? Mine is an 02 and it says right in the manual 10qts in the engine and 1 in the filter for a total of 11 qts. If its had a good and complete drain, that brings it right to the full line on the stick. The place I used to go for oil changes when I first got my truck brand new always over filled it. When I asked about it they told me everyone overfills it like that (yeh sure) It didnt do any damage to my truck, but I dont like to over fill just because.

 

[KATOOM]

Just to make it clear..... The problem with overfilling an engine is not for any reason other than the crank contacting oil in the pan/sump. This is generally NOT a problem for most engines either as oil already flows past the crank on its way from the valve train back to the sump, but rather something seen on high RPM engine whereby the windage of the crank can cause oil foaming. Something you're not going to experience in the Cummins.

The only way you'd ever run into a windage problem in these Cummins engines is if you dumped an extra gallon of oil in there raising the level considerably higher than spec. As I mentioned previously, an extra quart of oil in a 3 gallon pan will hardly raise the level on the dip stick 1/8".....if it raises it even that much. ZERO damage to the engine by running 12 quarts. But installing a dry oil filter will most certainly leave considerably higher risk of engine damage by blowing the dry media apart as the high volume oil system on the Cummins blasts into the empty oil filter.

But hey.....if someone really wants to measure out exactly 11 quarts on the dot then by all means, I'm not here to stop ya. Just make sure you pre-fill your filter.

 

[Tractorat]

12 qts in my truck raises it a good inch.

 

[KATOOM]

12 qts in my truck raises it a good inch.

Seriously.....a good inch. I hope you dont mean the difference between 11 qts and 12 qts is a good inch on the dip stick, because you do realize how impossible that would be.

 

[Tractorat]

Its up into the numbers on the stick. When I get a chance Ill go out and measure. Maybe not a full inch but much more than at 8th of an inch.

 

[BigPapa]

Using rough measurements and a 5.9 oil pan gasket, our oil pans are roughly 10" wide by 30" long. A gallon is 231 cubic inches. One gallon in a pan 10"x30" would be .77", so, over-filling by one gallon would roughly make a 3/4" difference on the dipstick. A quart would make roughly a 3/16" difference.

 

[Tractorat]

Well, I looked on the stick and where it would come to is just a little more than a half inch. Makes sense since the distance between low and full is just over and inch and that is 2 qts.

 

[NIsaacs]

Using rough measurements and a 5.9 oil pan gasket, our oil pans are roughly 10" wide by 30" long.

Just to stir the pot a bit, the sump is wayyy smaller than 10"x30",

Nick

 

[BigPapa]

I'm taking for granted that the sump is already filled and the oil level is above the sump and the angled taper.

 

[NIsaacs]

I'm taking for granted that the sump is already filled and the oil level is above the sump and the angled taper.

Good thought, you are probably right

Nick

 

[SAndreasen]

If you do overfill it will just burn it off my last 98 24 valve had the wrong dipstick and would burn the extra quart off quick and then wouldn't use any oil got out my trusty tdr collection because I remembered an article about some engines having the wrong dipstick sure enough mine was the wrong one