Duper i wouldnt worry about it.
I drove my truck about 30 miles with it being about a quart and a half low. At speeds of 70mph.. without an oil filler cap...
(big mess)

 

I think folks forget that that the "oil pan" is called an oil sump and a sump is a resevoir for whatever liquid it's holding. A "reserve" if you will.

Oil pressure won't faulter until the oil pickup starts sucking air which takes about 2+ quarts to achieve uncless you're on a an incline or decline and the oil is pooling either in the aft of the sump or the forward portion.

4 1/2 qts helps keep the pump from sucking air while hitting bumps, descending, ascending etc.

So running "low" isn't so much a bad thing and wont really hurt the motor unless youre essentially wheeling.

 

small oil leaks are good for your truck....these old 22r's love it....keeps the fresh oil circulating and the driver more "in tune" with their motor

 

^ not to mention... an oil leak helps prevent rust on the underside of the vehicle!

My 93 has leaked a lil oil since I got her 170k miles ago or so.... it has absolutely no rust under it at all, just a thin film of dirt and oil. The 94 however, only just strated to leak at the rear main a couple months ago, and that one has some cancer under it......I'll take a small oil leak any day... think of it as consistent rust prevention.....lol

 

Thanks. That's sort of a relief and a disappointment. I need to pull the wife's subaru engine to fix an oil leak (oil separator plate is cracked.) I was also looking forward to rebuilding the truck engine, but if it's fine and doesn't need done then I'll wait.

 

Wait a second. So just because there's no oil on the dipstick doesn't mean the thing is bone dry? How does that work? How can you accurately fill up with oil and not have the dipstick reflect the accurate changes?

 

The dipstick doesn't reach all the way to the bottom of the pan. When the level drops below the bottom of the dipstick there is still some left. There's no way to accurately tell how much if left until the level rises above the end of the dipstick.

 

#7 beer
#8 cigarettes
#9 grizzly wintergreen longcut
...but not neccasarily in that order

 

lol from the front bumper to the firewall is just about the only place i dont have any rust problems.on my next yota ill remember to induce oil leakage BEFORE it starts to rust. lol good advice...

 

The hash marks on the dipstick indicate exactly 1 qt of oil. So if the level is at the bottom of the hash marks, you're 1 qt low. Beyond that line you can't by any means accurately measure how much oil is in there unless u were to drain it out and measure since you're not taking a reading out of a symetrical cylinder. So even if the dipstick did reach to the bottom of the pan, the pt at which the oil marks the stick isnt proportional to the hash markings.

In other words, if the oil level was same distance below the hash markings as the hash markings are long.. it doesnt indicate 1 qt, it'd be some other figure, more or less im dunno ... since the oil pan isnt shaped uniformily.


ok im done lol

 

before i got my 95 rebuilt, it burnt oil quicker then gas, seriously, i could put 5qts in it, drive 15 miles and it would drop below half on the dipstick. anywho i was drivn it one day and the oil light flickered on and i checked the oil, and it wastn even reading on the dipstick. no CEL though, but it stilll ran

 

I love my oil pump drip leak, its like a pet. I'll keep it. 9 cigars, 10, ah can't think of anything.