Lehman - oil capacity - listen to the experts

When I purchased my Albin with a 120 Lehman, the PO said it burned about a quart of oil every 8 to 10 hrs. This is on an engine with 5,000 hrs. Looking through all the old logs back to the original owner, they all said to add 13 qts at an oil change, which brought the level to the FULL mark. Bob Smith has always said to add 12 qts, then re-mark the dip stick to adjust for the slant of the engine. My full mark is at the MINIMUM level line. After 30 hours, I have no oil loss.

Thats not that uncommon, that the levels we maintain are sometimes on the high side, too high. Often the result of the dipstick being mismarked and not allowing for the tlit. The result is excessive oil use or oil forced out past seals or breathers or other troubles. Some engines may have a problem with oil whipping or frothing if too high which can be trouble.

I dropped my engine's top level years ago after noticing that after 'using oil' the 'useage' rates almost stopped.

I marked our dipsticks as called out in the FL 120 operating manual, we use 12 quarts at oil change, and the oil consumption of our two FL120s has not changed in 14 years. Slightly less than 1 quart per engine every 100 -150 hrs, which is our oil change interval.

I wouldn't think an original dipstick would be mismarked, the manufacturer should know how high the oil level should be. Tilting the engine shouldn't make a difference if the tilt is within the manufacturer's tolerance unless the dipstick is at one end or the other, not in the middle.

If you remove the old oil by sucking, rather than draining, you have to realize that you won't get it all out so rather than adding "X" quarts of oil, it's best to add less, check the dipstick, and bring the level up to where it's supposed to be.

Overfilling can cause problems so "more" is not better in this case.

One concern that is frequently a question is when to measure the oil level.

Cold engine works for some , but not for many .

DD wants a 3 min wait after shutdown , which means lots of oil is still in the passages.

A good question is always WHEN?

Remarking the stick is fine , IF the engine was installed within the Mfg specs for out of level.Always in Da Book.

FF

This is straight out of the Lehman Owners manual.

Rather than guessing what the dipstick should read....they say mark her up after install.

If one owns a Lehman and has done any internet reading, it's pretty easy to find info on "this" particular issue. So if the knowledge base of the internet, the manuafacturer's supplied owners manual, and an acknowledged expert/supplier company owner all recommend the same proceedure....I feel pretty safe following that proceedure.

Due to the angle of installation, oil capacity varies a little.
I finally have mine diled in. I had been adding 1/2 qt to keep the level at MIN on the stick. Added 1/2 qt every 10 to 12 hours.
Now I leave it 1/2 qt below the min level and it hasn't lost oil in about 100 plus hours now.
When I finish my trip this fall I will remark the dipstick accordingly.

rwidman said:

I wouldn't think an original dipstick would be mismarked, the manufacturer should know how high the oil level should be. Tilting the engine shouldn't make a difference if the tilt is within the manufacturer's tolerance unless the dipstick is at one end or the other, not in the middle.

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The original dipstick markings are for the engine sitting level in a vehicle. When the engine is mounted in a boat like a GB the rearward slant is greater than one might think. Filling the sump to the factory mark is actually damaging to the engine because it puts too much oil in the sump and immerses the rear oil seal in oil. The rear seal in a Ford Dorset diesel ( FL120 base engine) is not designed to be immersed in oil and if it is it will begin to leak sooner rather than later. So the oil level in the sump is very important, hence the requirement to remark the dipstick for the engine's tilted attitude with the proper 12 quarts.

In our boat the proper 12 quart level I marked on our dipsticks is just below the factory "low" mark.

Marin said:

The original dipstick markings are for the engine sitting level in a vehicle. When the engine is mounted in a boat like a GB the rearward slant is greater than one might think. Filling the sump to the factory mark is actually damaging to the engine because it puts too much oil in the sump and immerses the rear oil seal in oil. The rear seal in a Ford Dorset diesel ( FL120 base engine) is not designed to be immersed in oil and if it is it will begin to leak sooner rather than later. So the oil level in the sump is very important, hence the requirement to remark the dipstick for the engine's tilted attitude with the proper 12 quarts.

In our boat the proper 12 quart level I marked on our dipsticks is just below the factory "low" mark.

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Perhaps, but you can only re-mark the dipstick correctly if it's a new engine or you have some other way of being sure all the oil (and sludge) is out. After that, it's nothing but a guess.

My owners manual says to add oil until the level is between the two marks on the dipstick so that's what I do. I don't burn any and there are over 3K hours on the engine. The specifications state the allowable tilt from horizontal and I assume it's installed within these specifications.

To get to the "full" mark on the dipstick takes less than the stated capacity by a quart or two. I'm assuming that I'm not getting all the old oil out. No matter, I'll be mixing fresh oil and draining it in 100 hours anyway.

rwidman said:

Perhaps, but you can only re-mark the dipstick correctly if it's a new engine or you have some other way of being sure all the oil (and sludge) is out. After that, it's nothing but a guess.

My owners manual says to add oil until the level is between the two marks on the dipstick so that's what I do. I don't burn any and there are over 3K hours on the engine. The specifications state the allowable tilt from horizontal and I assume it's installed within these specifications.

To get to the "full" mark on the dipstick takes less than the stated capacity by a quart or two. I'm assuming that I'm not getting all the old oil out. No matter, I'll be mixing fresh oil and draining it in 100 hours anyway.

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What kind of engine do you have?

Did you read the paragraph out of the Lehman manual that discusses the the remarking of the dipstick?

Have you heard what the Lehman owners have been saying of their REAL LIFE experience that coincides with the Lehman manual AND the guy who was the vice-president in Ford responsible for Lehman engines and now owns one of the major support companies for the Lehman engine?

There are people on the GB owners forum who have installed fittings on the bottoms of their sumps to drain the oil as opposed to the suck-it-out-through- the-dipstick-tube method. So they are getting all the oil out. They have reported that 12 quarts fills the sump to the position on the stock dipstick that I described earlier--- just below the "Low" mark.

Now what some people do is drain the oil, put in the required 12 quarts, see where it comes on the dipstick, and then cut down the top of the dipstick tube enough to put the factory-scribed "Full" mark at the level of the 12 quarts that are in the engine.

I considered doing that but after talking on the phone to Bob Smith about it I elected to use the Lehman manual's method of simply putting a new mark on the dipstick at the 12 quart level. Actually I took Bob's advice and put in ten quarts, marked the dipstick, and then put in the last two and marked the dipstick again. So we have both a "Low" and a "Full" mark on our dipsticks which helps determine oil usage.

Marin said:

There are people on the GB owners forum who have installed fittings on the bottoms of their sumps to drain the oil as opposed to the suck-it-out-through- the-dipstick-tube method. So they are getting all the oil out. They have reported that 12 quarts fills the sump to the position on the stock dipstick that I described earlier--- just below the "Low" mark.

...snip...

I considered doing that but after talking on the phone to Bob Smith about it I elected to use the Lehman manual's method of simply putting a new mark on the dipstick at the 12 quart level. Actually I took Bob's advice and put in ten quarts, marked the dipstick, and then put in the last two and marked the dipstick again. So we have both a "Low" and a "Full" mark on our dipsticks which helps determine oil usage.

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Makes sense...a quart either way...even 2 on a 12 quart engine is no big deal unless that engine is screaming...which our Lehmans sure aren't..

I can only guess why someone would think there is enough sludge or old oil in a well maintained engine and a reasonably sharp person performing the proceedure recommended by experts, manufacturers and many competent boaters.

psneeld said:

..... performing the proceedure recommended by experts, manufacturers and many competent boaters.

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In our case we heard about the reason (the rear oll seal issue) for remarking the dipstick on the FL120 from four different people at different times. The first was right after we bought the boat and were talking to the owner of the diesel shop we and just about everyone else uses in Bellingham.

The second was during a phone conversation with Bob Smith at American Diesel.

The third was from a good friend who until his recent retirement was the head of the engineering department at Alaska Diesel Electric, today Northern Lights/Lugger.

And the fourth was from a more recent acquaintance in the UK who for decades owned and ran one of the largest Ford of England diesel repair and overhaul shops in England and is also very familiar with these engines in their marinized form.

While we marked our dipsticks at the first oil change after buying the boat per the instructions in the FL120 operators manual that came with the boat, having heard the same story from four people in or involved with the marine diesel industry, plus a lot of folks on the GB owners forum when the subject comes up, we figured if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck it must be a duck.

Marin said:

In our case we heard about the reason (the rear oll seal issue) for remarking the dipstick on the FL120 from four different people at different times. The first was right after we bought the boat and were talking to the owner of the diesel shop we and just about everyone else uses in Bellingham.

...snip...

While we marked our dipsticks at the first oil change after buying the boat per the instructions in the FL120 operators manual that came with the boat, having heard the same story from four people in or involved with the marine diesel industry, plus a lot of folks on the GB owners forum when the subject comes up, we figured if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck it must be a duck.

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