1999 F-250 Oil Dipstick length-fellow stroker in distress...

[scubadiver-08]

Hey, I have a 1999 three quarter ton 4x4 long bed with 273000 miles. I have some kind of oil problem that is really bad. I have to put 2.5-3 quarts of oil for every 250 miles! I'm glad diesel is going down but I make up for it having to buy so much oil!

The funny thing about losing so much oil is that I don't know where it is going. I mean it doesn't smoke hardly at all on start up, or when I am at an idle position. Only when I put the peddle to the floor on the road does it smoke. There is no known leak. I only see a little bit of road dirt around the oil pan under the truck. It isn't bad enough to be three quarts every 300 miles though. What should I do? any ideas?

Oh, I also wanted to double check the dipstick length and part number for my truck too....anybody know what the correct number and length is supposed to be? Thanks for reading...looking forward to the responses!

[silverF250]

It shouldn't smoke at all during idle. What color smoke is it? My truck won't smoke at all unless I'm heavy on the throttle and then it is deep black.

[scubadiver-08]

well, I only noticed like a really tiny bit of smoke when the light was just right. It was like a really light gray...but, like I said you have to be standing at the right place at the right time to see it. That's how little it is......

When I punch it on the highway, it starts out light gray, goes to a lighter black only for a few seconds then goes light as I back off the peddle. I know that's to be expected with the color change as I hit the peddle but still, it doesn't get very black when it is "in it's prime for smoking".