Please help - Modified Oil Capacity - 1998 Explorer 5.0 AWD - Oil Pan? Oil Capacity?

[White86Tercel]

A previous owner of my 1998 Ford Explorer 5.0 V8 AWD

1. Replaced the factory oil dipstick with a longer one.
2. Wrote OIL CAPACITY 5.8L in bright red near the front of the engine bay.
3. Made additional modifications to the vehicle to help with towing (such as a trailer brake controller and weight distributing hitch).

Now that the modified dipstick broke. I would like to find out

1. What do you think caused the oil capacity change?
2. Where can I get a dipstick that lines up with the 5.8L oil capacity

If it's relevant the current

1. Oil cooler is 2.75"high x8" wide
2. Oil pan is 9" deep at the drain plug
3. I have attached a picture of my current oil pan (I'm not sure if it's stock).

 

[410Fortune]

5.8L = 6.1 quarts seems a little too much to me
the 5.0 takes 5.0 quarts of oil WITH the filter change

That does look like a 98 5.0 oil pan
The increased size of the oil cooler would not change the proper oil level mark in the pan / at the dipstick
So a stock dipstick is still accurate, even with a deeper pan the stock dipstick still shows the correct oil level.

I would:
see about getting a stock 98-01 Explorer 5.0 dipstick
Do oil & filter change
add 5 quarts, check dipstick.
Run engine, let sit, check dipstick. Add 1/2 quart at a time until it reaches the full mark.
I bet it takes 5.5 quarts or so............
If you fill with 6 quarts it is not going to hurt anything, but you do not want to go too much more over full or you can start to run into problems
The key to know here is no matter how many coolers you add, the level of oil under the engine does not change, the dipstick reading should still be the same

 

[Turdle]

Some guys fit a larger oil filter which might add a pint. An added oil cooler could add another pint of capacity.

need some more evidence. Pictures of oil cooler and oil filter please.