bullseye,
There is nothing wrong with a front cover dip stick/tube combo,
UNLESS
you have miss matched parts. If in doubt, just get a matched set from FMS and replace what you have. At that time, the FULL mark on the stick will be very accurate to indicate how HIGH the
oil needs to be in your pan. Don't care if the pan holds 5 quarts or 5 gallons, you're interested in the HIGH level mark.
Now, if for some reason the new stick bottoms out in your shallow front sump, try this. Unwind a coat hanger and stuff it down the dip stick tube. "Feel" for the bottom and mark the point where the coat hanger and the dip stick tube opening meet. You now have a good gauge as to the maximum length the dip stick can be. Compare that length to the new dip stick, and if the new dip stick is a tad too long, file/cut off a little..... the 'full' line will still be above what you cut off.... unless you have some real unusual parts combo.
The whole point here is to know where the high (full) level is.
When you drain out the old
oil, just fill the crank case until the
oil level indicates full or just slightly above (allow some for the new filter (if you didn't 'prime' it first)). Start the engine, wait for oil pressure and then shut it down and recheck the oil level and add some to top it off, if necessary.
- Jim -