Need Help-I am confused

[js27]

This makes no sense to me so maybe somebody can shed some light on this subject. It is the original 318 but previous owner added a Purple Shaft Cam-Edlebrock intake and 600 carb-header-360 heads-Electronic ignition.  So I checked my oil and it was down a qt. I added a qt. and took it for a ride. When I got back and let it sit level for 1 hour I checked it again and it was still down a qt. I added another qt and let it sit over night and checked it in the morning and still down a qt. So I was just going to start from scratch and change the oil and filter but then I thought the oil level should have come up on the stick when I added the 2 qts. So today I added a 3rd qt. took it for a nice long ride and let it sit for 1 hr and checked it again and still down a qt. This make NO sense to me. I got under the car today and took so photo's of the pan. It does not look like a aftermarket pan. I am not sure what a stock 318 pan is supposed to look like so I need some help. I found no numbers on the pan but it did have some ribs on it. The previous owner could not remember if he changed the pan or not because it was 20 years ago and he has multiple cars. The dip stick is a chrome aftermarket. It is just weird to me that after adding oil the dipstick still remains in the same place. The car idels at 40 lb--it maintains 25 lb hot in gear and runs 60 lbs at 40 mph.
Any Ideas or is my car trying to make me crazy.
JS27

[Chryco Psycho]

I assume you are adding oil in the valve cover not the rad or some other place !! 
Is the top stop flange on the dipstick tight , being after market often they are not , it might be moving around . Is the ube tight in the block & not lifting out ?
Where esle could it be going assuming you do not have  leak which would have to be noticable .

[dodj]

 
If it was me,  with an aftermarket dip stick, I would drain the pan and put in a known quantity of oil. Then see where the dip stick reads.

Assuming there is no puddle on the ground under your car and there is no blue cloud behind you when driving.....

[Purepony]

Wrong dipstick ?
I think 318 takes about 5.5 quarts ( correct me if wrong someone) I'd drain it and see if it's five.

I had something similar on mine and the dip stick was wrong.

[tparker]

Not real sure WHY you don't want too much oil. Not sure if it can damage any thing or not. But after adding 2 quarts and NOT seeing the level move, I would want to know why. I would drain the oil to atleast get a base line on how much is in there. Hopefully your dip stick still won't read "add a quart" LOL. Once empty I would oil in and as a sanity check watch the dip stick between quarts.

Not sure where the oil could be going or why the stick wouldn't raise. Hopefully you don't have 3 quarts just sitting on top of the heads. LOL

[js27]

I assume you are adding oil in the valve cover not the rad or some other place !! 
Is the top stop flange on the dipstick tight , being after market often they are not , it might be moving around . Is the ube tight in the block & not lifting out ?
Where esle could it be going assuming you do not have  leak which would have to be noticable .

I wondered if the oil could be sitting up on the heads or valley. That is why I took her for a few rides. Yes the dipstick tube is secure and the dipstick is tight and snaps into place. No there is no puddle under the car or blue smoke out the pipes. I did noy check the radiator though--LOL
JS27

[js27]

Wrong dipstick ?
I think 318 takes about 5.5 quarts ( correct me if wrong someone) I'd drain it and see if it's five.

I had something similar on mine and the dip stick was wrong.

1967 318 take 4 and 1 for a total of 5 quarts. If the dipstick was wrong it should still show the added oil. Since it shows oil on the stick then it must be going down far enough in the pan to register oil so then it should raise up when oil is added. This is why I am confused because it makes NO sense.
JS27

[headejm]

If it was me,  with an aftermarket dip stick, I would drain the pan and put in a known quantity of oil. Then see where the dip stick reads.

Drain the oil but measure accurately how much you remove. Ask a member on here to measure their 318 dipstick from where it hits the tube to both the full mark and the add mark. Is the dipstick tube factory original?

[headejm]

Not real sure WHY you don't want too much oil.

Too much oil is a bad thing. The crankshaft will hit the oil and cause foaming of the oil. Aerated oil does not lubricate properly and will lead to engine damage.

[Rich G.]

I'd also measure the dipstick tube and dipstick and compare it to a stock one. I would assume all small blocks are the same.

[Burdar]

The picture of your dipstick looks funny.(maybe it's just the picture)  Is this a new dipstick or an old original?  The dipstick looks like it's zinc coated or chromed.  Any chance there is some kind of coating on the stick that makes the oil not stick to it?

Did you check the oil level right after you put a quart in?(before you started the engine)

[RzeroB]

I want to make sure that I'm following you correctly ... does the oil level EVER register on the dip-stick??

With the open casting architecture of the cylinder heads I simply can not see how a significant quantity of oil could remain trapped by them ...

I would completely drain the oil and carefully measure just how much oil came out of your engine. Then, I would refill the engine with exactly five quarts and see where, if at all, it registers on your dip-stick. If it doesn't, you know exactly how much oil is in there, so it would be an issue of the dip-stick not being long enough to give you a correct reading.

[js27]

The picture of your dipstick looks funny.(maybe it's just the picture)  Is this a new dipstick or an old original?  The dipstick looks like it's zinc coated or chromed.  Any chance there is some kind of coating on the stick that makes the oil not stick to it?

Did you check the oil level right after you put a quart in?(before you started the engine)

That is what I was thinking. I just wiped the stick down with thinner and painted it with a Rust Color. I am waiting for it to dry and then I will check it again. It has to be what is going on. I guess I will find out. The tube and stick are new repros.
JS27

[70 Top Banana]

Well, I had a similar problem on a car. It seems the previous owner decided (years ago) to put a Milodon oil pan on the car. An old Milodon pan. Then, he decided the original dipstick wasn't long enough, so he bought a "longer" dipstick. So long part of it laid in the bottom of the Milodon Pan. It never read correctly and always looked like it had too much oil in it.

I did what some suggested here. I drained the oil and measured what came out. Then I figured out what should go in with the Oilpan on the car. Got tired of that so I bought a factory dipstick. Pulled off the Milodon pan and put the correct one on. Problem solved. Measures perfect.

[three two barrels]

Do you know if your engine has a windage tray?
I had the same problem with my stroker motor, the dipstick would catch on the windage tray and slide along on top of it instead of going deep into the pan giving a false reading.
When you insert your dipstick listen if it goes straight in the pan or if you hear it scraping along the windage tray.