jrussell

Hmm, it sounds like they changed the dipstick on the 07's. Mine is a regular thin metal one instead of cable.

As for letting it sit, I only noticed a major difference between immediately shutting down and checking and letting it sit for about 5-10 minutes and checking. After about 5-10min the level seemed to be about the same as it would be after 12-24hrs. When I checked immediately following shutdown it only read about half full according to the dipstick.

wreedCTD

alright i bought 3 new gallons of 15w 40 rotella t. im gonna open the drain plug and let all the oil drain out then refill. how much should i put in, 11qts?

im not gonna change the filter since it was just changed.

i figure be safe than sorry, and get to know my truck a little.

Duluth Diesel

Save your oil. Why drain it all just to remove 1 quart. Spin off the filter, dump the filter, spin it back on. 1 quart gone.

wreedCTD

i think i am 2 quarts overfilled.

and i thought you are not supposed to start the truck with a dry filter?

Duluth Diesel

Lots of guys never prefill their filter and have never had a problem. I just hate to see a guy dump all that oil if there is nothing wrong with it other than having too much in the pan.

-Chuck

wreedCTD

i know what you mean and didnt even think of dumping out the filter. i just am worried i wont be able to get it off!

wreedCTD

how long should you run the engine after dumping the filter to check the oil level?

wreedCTD

i also noticed the guy at the shop having to wipe the underside of the truck down because oil spilled when he took my old filter out, any tips to prevent this from happening and keeping the truck clean?

Duluth Diesel

That's what I'd do if I had a stock drain valve. Luckily, I don't have a normal pan drain and adjusting this problem is easy.

wreedCTD

what do you use?

Duluth Diesel

15-20 minutes is fine. 95% of the oil that is going to drain back to the pan, will drain back in the first 15 minutes. After than, such a small amount of oil continues to trickle back down that it doesn't make that much of a difference, IMHO.

-Chuck

Duluth Diesel

Be careful. I know guys who do it all day long and never spill off the filter. But, mistakes happen. At least he cleaned it up!

wreedCTD

do the filter unscrew by hand?

Duluth Diesel

For the drain valve, I can't remember the name. I picked it up at my local Cummins Engine shop. It is a nice little unit that replaces the drain plug. It is all sealed and well made. To drain the oil, you remove the brass o-ring sealed cap from it. No oil comes out at all. Then you take the adaptor fitting and thread it on where the cap was. As this fitting with a tube on it is threaded on, it pushes up the internal valve, which allows the oil to drain. It is clean as heck. You never get a drop on your hands, and it requires no tools, just your hands. When done, you remove the drain adapter, put the cap back on, use a paper towel to wipe up the drain tube adaptor, and throw the drain tube adaptor back in the glove box.

I scared a friend recently who was looking at it. I reached over and spun the cap off the oil drain, and he was surprised when nothing came out. It is a safe setup, and so far I've been real pleased with it. I don't like simple valves like petcock valves under there, because it is too easy for a branch or vandal to flip the valve and drain the oil without me knowing. The system that I have is real easy to use, but requires that extra adaptor to make the oil come out. So even if you take the sealed cap off the drain plug, no oil loss occurs.

-chuck

Duluth Diesel

The filter will come loose with a filter wrench, then do the rest by hand. Hopefully the guy didn't crank it on there too tight.