Cat C7 oil capacity

[lwasouth]

I just had my coach serviced by "Ring Power of Ocala" the local Cat dealer. I asked to have the valves adjusted and an oil change. When they showed me the bill, it stated that they put in 28 quarts. I showed them my ECM print out that called for 20 quarts and and had been noted to only use 19. Service manager said "there a number of different "Smooth" steel oil pans and several ribbed aluminum pans and there is no way to tell the difference and CAT tells them to always put in 28 quarts". With 28 quarts of oil I will paint a stripe down the road in oil! Does anyone have a accurate answer for this. I requested they drain out
2 gallons and only will pay for 20 quarts. The dipstick shows almost exactly FULL at 20 quarts.

[Catch and Release]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lwasouth I just had my coach serviced by "Ring Power of Ocala" the local Cat dealer. I asked to have the valves adjusted and an oil change. When they showed me the bill, it stated that they put in 28 quarts. I showed them my ECM print out that called for 20 quarts and and had been noted to only use 19. Service manager said "there a number of different "Smooth" steel oil pans and several ribbed aluminum pans and there is no way to tell the difference and CAT tells them to always put in 28 quarts". With 28 quarts of oil I will paint a stripe down the road in oil! Does anyone have a accurate answer for this. I requested they drain out 2 gallons and only will pay for 20 quarts. The dipstick shows almost exactly FULL at 20 quarts.

At Camp Freightliner Mike Cody goes over this with each owner. Some engines have the shallow sump like mine and only take 19 quarts and others have the regular sump.

[bdpreece]

Unless your dip stick has been recalibrate it is not accurate anyway but;, Cat has been recommending 19 quarts for C7's since about 2004. I know my 04 C7 would spit oil all over with any more than 19 quarts installed. If you have to fight with them over paying for the extra oil call cat with your numbers and get the official answer to give to the dealer. An extra 9 quarts at today's prices is a bit much.

[MaverickBBD]

All C-7's take 19 quarts. Cat issued a service bulletin to that effect. Plus two for the filter I should add. Unfortunately most service centers just pump the oil in until the dip stick reads full. Then run the engine and add if the dipstick does not read full. They do not account for uncalibrated dip sticks (mine was WAY) off and they do not allow oil in the engine to return to the pan before rechecking. They DO like to charge for as much oil as they can get away with. Guaranteed they do not pay in bulk what they are charging you for by the quart.

[1ciderdog]

That service was at a Cat shop wasn't it and they don't know how much oil for a Cat engine? I certainly wouldn't use them again.
Safe Travels
Bob

[Pusherman]

If your coach is on a Freightliner, call Freightliner at 1-800-FTL-HELP, give then the last 6 digits of your VIN. They will verify your engine (including serial number) and tell you the oil capacity of the engine.

As others have noted, 19 quarts should be the correct number, but arm yourself with the manufacturer's info to be sure.

[lwasouth]

In Oregon I had the oil drained. There was only 2000 miles on the oil, so I left the filter alone. Considering the filter holds 2 quarts, I furnished the mechanic exactly 17 quarts of Rotella 15W40 and watched him add it. After about 10 minutes we checked the dip stick. It was exactly on the full mark, so no recalibration needed. Dip stick was accurate from the manufacturer

[MaverickBBD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lwasouth In Oregon I had the oil drained. There was only 2000 miles on the oil, so I left the filter alone. Considering the filter holds 2 quarts, I furnished the mechanic exactly 17 quarts of Rotella 15W40 and watched him add it. After about 10 minutes we checked the dip stick. It was exactly on the full mark, so no recalibration needed. Dip stick was accurate from the manufacturer

Great news about the dip stick. Was your coach at ride height (air bags inflated) when you checked? Doesn't matter as long as YOU know that is the position to check it.

[CAT Lover]

My motor takes 32 quarts. The truck stop over filled me once I had to drain out about 3 gallons. The motor ran terrible. No power, lot's of noise. An over filled motor is worse than an engine that is low on oil. Too much pressure could blow all the gaskets to.

If your motor is over filled with oil you will notice it right away,

[sevenmacs]

I recently followed the oil change instructions on Cat bullentin ( for Cat C-7 shallow pan )to calibrate dip stick, 17 qts marked stick, then ran motor to fill filter, then filled to new mark, it took 18.5total, first 500 miles of trip it blew out the 1.5 qts added, ended up back at the factory full mark level on dip stick, I guess I'll leave it there.

[jauguston]

17 quarts plus 2 for the filter. My Freightliner installed dipstick took 24 quarts to the full mark when I calibrated it. It would literally paint my Samurai toad with oil IF I pulled a long hill like a mountain pass. Level road it was just a mist on it. With 19 quarts the Samurai stays clean.

Jim

[Chuck 1935]

I have a Cat 3126E. After all of this discussion, I called Freightliner, gave them the last six of the vin and was told 22 quarts INCLUDING the filter for the shallow pan.
I have a catch can on the slobber tube and never have oil on the toad.

[jauguston]

Chuck,

I would recommend you call CAT with your engine serial number and ask the same question. I am pretty sure you will get a different answer.

Jim

[Chuck 1935]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauguston Chuck, I would recommend you call CAT with your engine serial number and ask the same question. I am pretty sure you will get a different answer. Jim

Thanks Jim, but I already did that just to make sure. The serial number started with HEB and also listed at 22 quarts with the filter. Even the Cat Engine Specs said 22 quarts. Below is the Cat spec sheet with the same information.

http://catrvclub.org/CAT_RV_FAQs.pdf