Hi All,
I got my car several months ago and just noticed an extra line scratched on the oil dip stick. I'm now wondering if it has a deep pan or something like that where it would hold more than the standard amount of oil.
It is a 1970 442 with a 455.
How can I figure how much oil is the correct amount?

Thanks,
BQ

 

5 quarts unless it's a Toro pan, then it's 6 quarts. I would put the correct amount in then run the engine a few minutes. Recheck that stick afterward and see what's up with the extra mark.

 

X2

 

I'm wondering if you have the right dip stick. Possibly the one you have is for a 350 instead of a 455?

 

I thought of that also Allan but he said the mark was scratched into it. That leads me to believe it could be from anything

 

Ah, I just looked something up on the dipstick - which would suggest you are right; it's probably from a different brand. Have a look at the specs from the CSM. BQ - does this help you at all? The guide length is the amount the tube should stick out of the block.

dip20stick.jpg

 

I would appreciate someone measuring their dipstick. Did I really say that???
Anyway, from the bottom to the stopper.
Thanks and don't add any extra length!!!!
BQ

 

I think we posted at the same time??? Check ^^^ from the CSM then you can measure your own dipstick.....

 

Allan, you put up what I needed.
It is an aftermarket dipstick. I'm positive of that.

But, what engine is mine? I see two 455's for Toronados.

 

No, only one is for Toro. When it says exc Toro? that means 'excludes' Toro. So that would be the one you want.

 

Hi,
I measured my dipstick and it is 1 inch longer than the one on the page you put there. I also measured my stem guide that comes out of the block it is in 5 inches. Much shorter than the guide on the page.
I could be doing this all wrong, but I thought I would post my efforts.
It is a 1970 442 with a 455, but not the original engine. At least that is what I was told.
Block is a 396021 F
Thanks

 

396021F is a standard 455 block. What is the number on the intake and what letter on the heads?

I'd look for a new dipstick and guide tube for a 455. Be sure to specify OLDS 455 because Buick and Pontiac also had 455s.

 

OK, I don't see a number on the intake. It has Olsmobile W45 printed on it in big letters on the front part. The heads have a big G and a little a on it.

 

You mean it has OLDSMOBILE W-455 (not 45)
like this?


The heads you're describing are GA and are from 1972.

Have you checked the engine stamping plate to see what year the engine block is from?

 

Botom line, as TripDeuces said, is

• go look under your car to be sure your pan looks normal - no welds, no sharp, square edges, no round indent for a Toro axle to pass through
• buy 5 quarts of your favorite oil (unless it's a Toro pan, then buy 6) and a filter,
• drain the oil,
• remove the filter,
• replace the drain plug,
• fill the new filter with some of the oil you just bought,
• install the filter,
• put all but one bottle of the remaining oil in the pan,
• pull the coil wire,
• crank the engine until you have oil pressure,
• replace the coil wire, start her up and run for a minute,
• let it sit five or ten minutes,
• then check the oil --
• Wherever the oil is, make a mark there.
• Now put in the final quart and wait another five or ten minutes.
• Check the oil again --
• Wherever the oil is, make another mark.

Now you've got a high mark and a low mark, just like the original dipstick, and you can work on getting a new dipstick at your leisure.

- Eric

 

Yes it says 455. The engine stamp is very hard to see and I can only make out a few numbers. I have tried, but I need to remove a bracket to see it and I can't do that.

Eric, I will have to get someone to help me on that one. I don't have the place to change the oil. Thank very much for help.
BQ

 

All you need is a spot on the street over a storm sewer grate .

Or, if you want to spring $5 for a drain pan, you can do it essentially anywhere - if you're on a hill, just park it so the drain plug is facing downhill.

- Eric

 

I have no idea where you are located, but doing the sewer grate routine could get you in buku trouble in my locale. Technology today is such that our Dept. of Public Works is able to pinpoint the precise sewer drain into which impressible substances, like oil or antifreeze, are dumped!

 

Wow. Spycams in the sewers.

What would Art Carney have thought?

Where I am, they just go right out to the ocean.

Now, I've never done this myself, but back in the bad old days I did know people who did.
I did live in a dorm once though where we would pour the old fry oil down the sewer across the street. The Facilities guys could never figure out why that one kept getting stopped up .

Personally, I sprang for the five samolians years ago and bought a pan - I bring my waste oil to a guy who works on MGs and heats his garage with it.

- Eric

 

hey guys i read this somewhere but have no experience with toros. The sixth quart for a toro is in the oil cooler not the pan check this out for verification though the writer could have been wrong possibly. 2nd fill your oil pan the apropriate amount of oil then check the marks or re-mark with a flat punch.

 

My 70 Toro did not have an oil cooler so that writer is incorrect. I would venture to guess the reason the Toro has an extra quart is because the axle bulge in the pan holds back oil from draining into the sump. So they deepened the pan to compensate.