I've had my 2002 67K miles for two months. When I bought it, it had just had an oil change at a Ford dealer. While I didn't check the oil level when I picked up the car at the Ford Garage, I did when I got home 175 miles later. It too was down, not quite to the half way point low but close. I decided not to add oil and just drive it and 2 months of driving with another 1K miles and the oil level has stayed exactly in the same spot. So personally I'm not fussed about it. I know there are 6 quarts in there. Maybe the difference is the size of the
oil filter that was put on. Not sure, I've got a long
Motorcraft on it now.
So what does the Forum say here? We are two newbies with these T Birds.
Very interesting topic. I, too, am a newer owner of my 2nd TBird. Was gifted my first one straight off the lot in 2003, although he was a 2002, but then a kid, a client of my pal at the time, took a fancy to my car, busted into the back of the house, stole the keys one weekend night when ripped, drunk - stealing my bird and wrapping it around a telephone poll at a curve in the road doing an estimated near 100 miles per hour. Of course,both were destroed in the accident and I vowed to get another TBird at that time back in the early aughts.
I now have a mint condition, low mileage Whisper White 2002 bird, and he still has only about 23,000 miles on his odometer as of this past week. So, it's as if I were driving my new, original TBird all over again.
My family has a long history w/ design and management w/ Ford and also, had a stepfather that worked on the line, also a QC plant manager - over saw QC for the local plant. We also were heavily involved in car restoration, and I would work w/ my stepfather in the garage while he was rebuilding engines, restoring the surface/exterior, of vintage cars. We also attended auto shows throughout the year, every year, for most of my life while living at home.
What I know about oil and it's flowing throughout the engine, the car holds so many quarts, total quarts, but there is frequently a portion of that oil that is actually coating the engine or trapped in the filtration system. So if the car is noted as being a 6 qt engine, it can actually hold more than 6 qts, but then anything over 6 qts causes an overfill and problems w/ it properly circulating, w/ it flooding and saturating into sections of the engine that shouldn't have that much overall oil coverage - for instance, the
oil filter becomes saturated w/ too much oil, ruins the filter, for all intents and purposes and it causes poor engine running, too. Sputters and gasps, actually, when it has took much oil, if I recall what an overfill SOUNDS LIKE 20 years after being witness to one!
So the 6 qt engine rarely shows the full 6 qts in the actual pan or on the stick because the oil, after it has been changed and the car is started up, it is now flowing inside the engine, and even hours after it has been running, some oil remains on the engine surface and inside the filter.
One respondent mentioned the use of a larger
oil filter, which may actually account for less oil returning to the 'pan' after the engine has stopped, even several hours later. Thicker oil 40 vs. 30 or even 20, would result in more 'sticking' and longer/thicker coverage on interior engine mechanisms, too.
Half down the markers on the dip stick, however, that seems really unusually low. But that it never moved to a lower point, that is telling. Possibly it is choice of filter? Grade/weight of oil? These things greatly impact the total amount that ends back up in the pan once the engine is stopped, hours after it has last moved.
I've only had one oil change to date, but I'm also not blasting about and plying my car w/ lots of miles. When I bought the car in May, 2019, it had 18,800 (slightly more) miles on it. I did NOT put 330 miles on the car after I purchased it, while it sat at an OHIO FORD dealership awaiting replacement of
hard top screws, the car's Trip Meter B was reset when I left the car for REQUIRED repairs which were
part of the pre-purchase agreement. When I picked the car up, the FULL
gas tank now had but 1/2 tank of gas and when I checked the Trip Meter B it now showed 330 miles on it when it was reset to 0 right in front of the asst used car dealer, I actually asked her to hand the keys back so that I could turn the ignition on so that I could switch to Trip Meter B and reset it to O, then switched back to Trip Meter A and left it with miles showing on it - yes, tricky of me, sorta, but, I did it right in FRONT of the manager and I explained what I WAS DOING.... yet, her grunt used dealer was still caught, red handed, joy riding in the car a few months down the road. So this year's miles, right now, they are freshly flipped over and now reading in the low 23, 000 mile range. Yes, my bird needs an oil change before hitting storage in Dec. but that will only be the 2nd oil change that I've ever had on it since I purchased it last May, 2019, so the oil changes on this TBird are all knew to me!
Of course, I reported the theft and abuse of property to the OHIO ATTY GENERAL, too. And we negotiated a settlement that totally favored the their and his company, but it did result in my getting needed repairs made because, while joy riding, he was hit in rear end or he backed into something and caused serious internal issues that needed to be totally replaced, a back lense was split, too and the rear driver's side quarter panel was no longer attached to the body (the internal rear 'bra' or panel holder was crushed but that was only noted once my LOCAL MONROE DEALER took the rear end apart to see why they quarter panel was misaligned.
I now no longer leave the keys WITH ANYBODY except at my TRUSTED LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP. I won't even leave the keys w/ ER staff at hospital for their ER room parking attendants. NOPE,never again having that happen. People LOVE our T Birds and I'm not opening myself up for another long joy ride and wreck when my car is supposedly LOCKED UP IN STORAGE AREA waiting for
parts and repair at OHIO FORD DEALERSHIP.
