383 Moroso 7qt pan - How many quarts to run?

My 383's have always run the common Moroso Big Block oil pan and pick-up.

My question is how many quarts of oil do you run in these these pans for optimal consistency?

My car seems to be varying a bit based on oil temp and I'm curious what is least amount that can be safely run in these pans?

Why are you chasing performance variations that you said are related to temperature then you mention oil level?

Go to the staring line with the same oil temperature each time.

If you are looking to see what minimum oil level you can get away with, the gold standard has always been measure oil level up to the decel/accel baffles, add one quart for a full size filter then two more for drainage at WOT.

Assuming normal lube passages, no blocked or restricted oil to the heads, no grooved #4 cam journal, etc.

Not an expert but wouldn't more oil make the oil temperature more consistent? I would think that a lower oil level would heat and cool faster.

I would, and have, run it at the add mark on the dipstick

Hot oil always makes more power, it's the hardest variable to control when running a engine on a dyno. You could install a pan heater and try to keep the oil hot.


Joe

More oil, longer to cool down once hot and longer to heat up once cool. I think most will agree that is a fact.

But changing oil levels to control temperature is secondary.

You start with the required oil level to satisfy the engine’s need for lubrication.

Hotter oil does make more power once it gets to a certain temperature.

The easiest way to control consistency in ET regarding oil temperature is understand your particular package and compensate for temperature swings.
Go to the starting line with the same water, oil, trans temps the best you can.

As for running an engine lower for oil level, lots of Stock Eliminator guys do that for record runs or same class runs where you need a performance advantage. They also run thinner oils for those occasional runs. But they know how low you can go.

True - having oil temp the same for every run would be most consistent but its not realistic without a block heater (which is on my winter to do list).

Early rounds its impossible to get the oil temp the same as it will be hot lapping in round 6 or 7.

Issue I'm having is the car will pick up .02 sometime in the late rounds. Problem is I can't pinpoint when it will occur at it.

My dipstick doesnt seat in this block quite as good as the old one (doesnt seat all the way down) so its possible I'm running an extra 1 - 1.5 qts.

I'm thinking 6 quarts might be the sweet spot (not including filter).

ENGINEMASTERS on MOTORTREND TV tested the amount of oil needed on a Big Block chevy on the dyno and the results were crazy. They found running more oil than needed actually caused oil pressure fluctuations. They kept removing quarts until it was crazy low but it actually maintained the best (most stable) oil pressure. They didnt recommend it in a car because the G forces but it was super interesting.

Thats true for a BBC, BUT a BBMopar has block skirting that the oil pan bolts on that is a lot further from the spinning crankshaft.

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Everything is hotter hot lapping, engine, trans, axle, even wheel bearing grease.

You have a temp gauge I assume for water temp, just hit the oil pan, trans and axle with your IR heat gun bedore and after each run and log it, you should get a handle on things pretty quick, see which are affected most.

Also, no mention of using a windage tray. Any pan where the oil is 6” or closer to the rotating parts should have a tray. Better yet a scrapper.

I found that some oils pick up power on a engine dyno when hotter and some don't
Straight 30 Wt., 20/50 ,10/40 and 10/30 will make more power on a engine dyno at or above 160F.
5W20 wt. won't make any more power at 210F than it will at 80 degrees F
that is why I run it

VW beetle and Norton twin owners discovered the "more oil is better" error 50 years ago, $$$.

An engine dyno is a static tool. You can find power on the dyno with less oil, but in the car, in a dynamic situation, that little bit of power you found may go away, and you can lose some power if the oil Leben in the pan gets too low. You can start hurting parts as well.

Someone above talked about baffles and oil control and that is the biggest factor in how little oil you can use in any given pan. A correctly baffled pan, with a good pick up AND a crank scraper can usually use less oil without an issue. If the pan isn’t baffled correctly, or you are trapping oil in the block and the oil can’t get back to the pan, less oil may make more power on the dyno but less in the car.

Controlling engine oil temp when hot lapping is tough. Have you tried different oils to see if a different oil is LESS sensitive to temp changes than the oil you are using now?

I have always run 10w30 Brad Penn with a qt of Lucas and it seems to do well for longevity.

I might try Schaffer's next time. They seem to make nice stuff too.

I've run this 383 combo, Powerglide, light car for several years and it had been deadly. Typically running 6.0s and repeating amazing.

This is a fresh engine with only a few races on it so maybe its still breaking-in or something.

It does have a windage tray but the 383 stroke is so small its probably less impactful than a 440.

I have the same pan you have and I filled with 7qts on the first fire up (fresh engine) then 6 qts every oil change afterwards.

I agree very deadly

6 quarts - Perfect - thats what I thought NSSGuy!!!

I couldn't remember but knew the dipstick mark wasnt accurate.

I'm writing it on the garage wall notes.

Mark, correct, the dipstick also

Car was better this weekend.

Ran the semi's at 3am saturday night and made 00shitshow...lol

Holy crap, Batman