Banks system and oil dip stick tube April 21, 2010, 09:00:05 am Yahoo Message Number: 112036I have a friend who is installing a Banks system on his Ford V10 powered 2004 Winnebago. He has done three of these installations, and he says reinstalling the dip stick tube is the worst part. Yesterday he broke off the tip of the tube where it goes into the block. I was there trying to help him thread the tube back in place, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Now he wants to buy a new tube, cut the block end off and construct some sort of hybrid copper and steel tube to fit using JB Weld. Finally, the question...have any of you done your own install on a Banks, and if so have you come across a good solution for this problem?Thanks.Larry in Colorado 2008 24' FD
Re: Banks system and oil dip stick tube Reply #1 – April 22, 2010, 06:59:20 pm Yahoo Message Number: 112071Larry: our Ford V-10 dipstick tube installation was a toughy also. 2 years after the Banks install (after endlessly struggling to pull out the damn stick & check the oil!) the tube broke about halfway down. This occurred while checking the oil at 6:00 am, with temps right around -20F. We were minutes away from leaving MN for our winter
Re: Banks system and oil dip stick tube Reply #2 – April 22, 2010, 07:26:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 112072"Robert" wrote: The Ford dealer we recently visited in Arizona told us we need 7 quarts of 5W-20, even tough our manual says 6. We now put in 6.5 quarts, as a happy medium; but this is another (and exhausting) subject. --- Actually, how much oil to put into the rig is not an "exhausting" subject at all; follow what your manual says. It makes no sense (to me, anyway) to "split the difference"; if you believed him in the first place, why aren't you putting 7 quarts in? Don't assume that this guy knows what he's talking about; Ford "dealers" (and a lot of others) and the mechanics who work for them vary *widely* in knowledge, competence, and experience; some of the "stuff" that I've been told is professional-grade smoke-blowing! If your manual says to use 6 quarts of 5W-20, use 6 quarts of 5W-20; your engine will thank you for following the recommendations.Joan
Banks system and oil dip stick tube Reply #3 – April 23, 2010, 12:35:17 am Yahoo Message Number: 112079I did my own Banks install, and yes the dipstick was a bit tricky. I did not break it. I guess I don't understand why he just does not use a new tube altogether?Chuck 97RB Skye In Zion NP
Banks system and oil dip stick tube Reply #4 – April 25, 2010, 07:33:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 112149Well, we did it. He used a shorter factory tube for the lower part and inserted the cut off top part of the original tube into the top of the shorter tube ( a press fit). He was able to use the original bracket to secure the whole thing to the head. I don't know why the original long tube wouldn't work other than we spent a lot of time trying to thread it through the headers to make it fit until he finally broke the bottom off with a pry bar. I would think that Banks has some sort of instruction as to how to accomplish this feat, but it's not my rig and I didn't see anything that dealt with this part of the installation. I just hope it doesn't leak for him.Thanks for the answers,Larry