Don't know where to put oil in my 86 cabroilet! The dipstick shows it's dry. Please help! [email protected]

There are several reasons why this happens - most commonly the oil capacity that is quoted is that of a dry fill. The oil change quantity can be quite a bit less especially if the oil is drained and the plug refitted before removing the oil filter.

Other possible reasons are: -
The wrong dipstick.
A dented oil pan.
Considerable sludge buildup inside the engine.

I don;t know and I suspect few people will know the dimension you seek. The repair manual might list the dimension but the best method will be by direct comparison with one known to be correct.

Many years ago Ford had engine trouble with one of their models - the cure was to modify the dipstick by making a new maximum mark an inch higher than the original and then cutting it short at the original minimum mark, thus raising the oil level.

I suspect this modification has been carried out many times on non-Ford dipsticks for various reasons.

An alternative method would be to drain the oil and then refill with the correct oil change only quantity which should appear on the correct dipstick as a level around midway between max and min.

The only way to know for sure is to remove the oil pan drain plug and drain the oil. Then refill the engine with the correct amount of oil. Then see what the dipstick reads. You might want to invest in the right dipstick tube and stick as one to short will cause you to overfill the engine and one to long will cause you to short the engine on oil and burn it up.

there shouldn't be a filler tube, just a dipstick tube for checking the oil level. to put the oil in the engine, there should be a oil cap on the right hand side valve cover. if the dipstick tube isn't there, you definitely need to get one from a parts yard or store, you can be losing oil from the dipstick hole that goes to the oil pan...

put oil in before driving it again! do not drive with less than the minimum mark on the dipstick covered in oil

replace oil level sensor

look on dip stick you should see cross hatched area with add oil or oil full mark.if you wipe oil dip stick with a clean paper towel and dip stick look dry no sign of oil add little oil at a time see if oil level reach add oil mark or the full mark.if oil is low. low oil light will turn on if bulb is blowed but if dip stick look dry oil level could be low,add little bit at a time dont over fill.

First check the oil level by means of the dipstick. If it hasn't got any oil it cant leak either. Under no circumstances should it be started without oil up to the correct level.

Before you put the oil in, did you check the dipstick to see how much oil was in the engine? What did it show? If there was no oil showing on the dipstick, you may have driven it without oil. If so, the engine may be permanently damaged from lack of lubrication.

I show the capacity as 6.5 quarts, but owners report that 7.0 quarts with a filter change leave the level right at the top of the dipstick. Hope this helps.