Calibrating the Dipstick on your coach

August 17, 2004, 01:37:45 pm

I posted this on the RV.net forum, but I'm sure not all on here read the forum, so I thought I'd post it here as well.
Have you calibrated the dipstick on your coach? Caterpillar requires this for their engines on the first oil change, and I'm sure this is the case for Cummins as well. The reason is the engine manufacturer does not know at what angle or slant the engine will be installed.
Not knowing whether this had been done on mine, I was going to have the Cat shop do it.

However, being a gearhead, I decided to do it myself this weekend.
The procedure is to drain the oil and change the filter. Refill the crankcase with 25 quarts (This is for the 3176B). Start the engine long enough to get oil pressure, let the oil settle back in the crankcase, and then check the oil level. This is the add mark. Then add 4 quarts, and this is the full mark. On mine, I found the level indicated was well below the marks on the dipstick, so I've been running the engine with too much oil.
Procedures would obviously be different with different engines, but the principle should be the same. You may want to check the engine on yours!
Per

95 Affinity 5259

Re: Calibrating the Dipstick on your coach

Reply #1 – August 17, 2004, 03:08:15 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 11147

Hi Per,

This is probably the best approach especially with all the dip stick housing failures and wrong dip sticks installed; I started with less quantity and added a quart at a time and marked the stick with a file after running the engine.
Fred Kovol
30593

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