Jon

I have 2 1990 330/454's in mine. After a rebuild they took 8 qts to get them to the proper level. The next oil change they only took seven. I'm sure this was due to the oil left in the bottom of the pan that couldn't be sucked out and oil left in the cooler & remote oil filter lines that was not there after the rebuilds. I check the oil level when the engines are cold and when the boats in the water, not on the trailer. Hope this helps.

Bo

You have 2 engines.....are both pans the same? If so switch the dipsticks and see if they still read the same.

Pachanga: No one engine is a Mark4 and the other is a Gen6 motor so they are different

I have a 330/454 with the same issue. Seems every manual I look at has a different spec for the amount of oil it's supposed to run. When I change my oil and filter (and I think I'm getting it all out) it will register full with 5 quarts, on the trailer or in the water. Looks like the stock pan and I checked the Mercruiser part number on the dipstick and it's correct. (bought the boat used, you never know) I don't want to run too little oil in the thing but I don't want too much either. So I run 6 quarts and it shows overfilled on the stick. Any ideas?

Hey guys,

Thought I'd try and revive this one. I've got a 1988 stock 7.4 liter 330 and could only get 5 quarts out of it when I changed the oil. I just bought the boat last spring. My mechanic said should be 7 for sure. I took it to him and he could only get 5 quarts out. He put 7 back in and told me to mark the stick after I put it in the water. Oil is now probably 2 inches higher on the stick than the old mark. No signs of any aeration or other problems running the higher oil level. My dip stick part number checked out OK also. Go figure!

Tom

JON

Several of us seem to have a similiar problem.
One issue I always run into is, how you drain the oil out of the pan. If you pull the oil out of the dipstick tube and it is not on the bottom of the pan you do not get all the oil out. The best deal is the oil drain line that bolts up to the drain plug.
I installed two GM VI Gen Crate motors, with truck eight quart oil pans but used the old dip sticks. The fill mark was not correct, so what I did, was installed nine quarts in each motor ran the motors on the ground before I installed them, this way the oil coolers and lines are full, pumped the oil after I ran the motors for about 30 minutes each.
Then put eight quarts into each motor and scribed a new mark on the dipstick.
I know the filter holds a quart but have elected to run the motors with eight quarts in them.
Hopefully this gives some more advice.
Good Luck
Brian

Both my mechanic and I have found that if you extract the old oil thru the dipstick you leave 3/4 to 1 quart in the pan. I started only adding 6 quarts with a oil & filter change and it's right one the full mark on the dipstick. The motors are 454 MPI's, 385 HP.

Dave

Caution with new pans

I have two new Canton 9 qt pans for my new engines going together. Just to be sure of the dipstick , I measured 9 qts of water and filled the pan . Dipstick didn't even touch oil. If I trusted it , I would probably wound up with 12 or 13 qts. in there
So , either have to shorten the tube or probably get a longer dipstick. Because if I shorten the tube I may not be able to get to it as it's already short. I'll make it work...but before it goes on the engine not after