Not sure if this really belongs in tech talk, but i thought some of you might at least find some humor in what i have to share.

Recently I purchased my 1975 barth 800 miles from home. I think she will be known as the miracle machine, as its a miracle it made the trip.

I looked at the motorhome initially on july 25th. I made an offer, which he declined. So we decided to make a vacation out of it, and went to Galveston texas to play on the beach. We were nearly home when he changed his mind. So we rested for a day at home, and off we went again. Before leaving i asked for the vin number so i could insure it. A quick decode revealed it originally came with a 350, which has been replaced by a 454. I will explain why this became a big deal.

On the way home, after several repairs, i could hear the exhaust leak, but it sounded like more to me. We stopped at several auto parts places, but gaskets were not available at any of them, so we continued on.

I decided to change the oil, because it was sounding like an engine without oil, but it showed full on the dipstick. Anybody catching on yet?

Apparently when the motor was changed, the dipstick wasn't. Not only did the previous owner drive it hundreds of miles, but i drove 300 miles, with maybe 3 quarts of oil in the crankcase. I am terrified to think what the rod bearings look like.

When I first got the Euro I thought it held about 8 quarts according to the dipstick. While going through all the paperwork I found a bulletin from GM stating the dipstick may be the wrong one. The correction was to drain all the oil and replace the filter, then add 5 quarts of oil, scratch the dipstick at the level shown by oil, this being the low marker, then start the engine and run for a minute, add one more quart, then scratch another mark at the new level, this being the full mark. On the stick I had, 5didn't reach the stick, but 6 came up about 1/2" on it. I always went by that and never had any problems.

As long as you did not suck air and lose oil pressure you will probably be ok. If you did not see low reading on the gauge and the oil pressure light did not come on, you should be ok.

Not a great experiment but at least you know the problem now.

My friend has an airplane that always seemed to use oil, not burning but it blew it out the breather. After checking for cylinder blowby, etc. they foud the problem. His plane was a t ricycle gear. It sits level when parked. The taildragger versions sit tail low so the oil drains to the rear of the engine and up on the stick. The "full" mark on the stick is higher up the stick on the tricycle gear version to compensate for the angle.

My friend had the taildragger stick in his plane and so he was always a quart over full, causing the problem. Once he got the level right the problem went away.

I think the 454 usually holds about 6 qts in the pan plus some in the filter, depending on the pan used.

Good luck with your project. Keep us posted.

Holy Moly, 6 quarts, I am now wondering about my dip-stick at oil change and new filter takes 5 quarts to fill up, never an oil pressure problem gage reads between 40 and 60 depending on RPM. I always run it for a couple of minutes before final check. Guess I had better do the remark as DannyZ suggests.

Had a similar situation with Old Blue. PO had installed a double oil filter system and I had the wrong dip stick as well. Finally figured it all out. It was close to 7 quarts.

I watched my gauges closely the entire trip, and i had good oil pressure the entire trip. I currently have 6 and a half quarts in it, dip stick is filled to the l in the word oil. Considering I made it 500 more miles, i think it will be ok, but it sure doesn't seem to have half the power my 76 did. But i will wait and see once i replace exhaust gaskets and do a proper tune up. But first thing will be the brakes. Im losing fluid somewhere, and being able to stop seems like it might be important.

Ya think?