Have you tried letting it set for a while and rechecking? There isn't any way 5 quarts is going to show 5 inches up your dipstick.

 

Thanks for the reply! That's why I just got done doing, I did the oil change yesterday and notice the weird dipstick reading then had the trick sitting today and it's still doing it. I agree it's impossible for 5 quarts to show 5 inches, I'm just perplexed as to what could be causing this.

 

You didnt't have any issues when changing the oil previously?

 

I'm not really sure. I bought the truck 3000 miles ago and took it to get the oil changed at a shop the day I bought it. Never bothered to check the oil in 3,000 miles and decided to change it myself this time around. Probably a foolish thing to have never checked it, everything was just running smoothly for those 3,000 miles and I never had the need to. (Yes, I know I should have been checking it more often but I'm a fool).

 

Maybe someone here can measure the dipstiick on their truck and you can make sure that the dipstick you have is the correct one. I can't help with that because I have a 5.3 engine. All 2.8/2.9/3.5/3.7 engines use the same dipstick, part number 12580811.

 

What does your coolant level look like? Does your oil smell like gas?

 

Your truck had 183,000 miles put on it by a previous owner , who knows what services were or were not done ? It may be that an incorrect dip stick is being used . I would drain the oil and measure what comes out . If you get 5 quarts out great , put it back in and on a flat surface read and mark the dip stick to the level that it now shows . This way you know you have the correct amount of oil in the engine . If you get more oil out you may have blocked oil passages trapping oil in the head which could cause it not to drain completely when doing an oil change .

 

If it makes you feel better, I have issues with my 2.9 dipstick too! It is always a guessing game

 

Sounded familiar with the 183,000 miles, but not my old truck. I had an '09. My 2012 shows normal levels.

 

You might have a lot of oil parked in the cylinder head if the drain ports are clogged with sludge - the oil would be draining completely from the front of the engine, down past the cam sprockets and timing chain. I'd pull the head cover and investigate.

 

I just did my oil change and new oil filter. Truck is running great, but after taking my dipstick out and wiping it down and re-inserting, it comes back with about 5 inches of oil on it. I only added 5 quarts. I feel like there's no way my truck is over-filled as much as the dipstick claims.

Any insight into this? Does anyone know how I can get my dipstick working?

I hate a lying dipstick.
To correct this, there was a time I would have cussed out that lying dipstick!

 

If you have the same dipstick as the 2004 gmc canyon, it starts with lying. It is so hard to read!! Why it couldn't be a nice flat dipstick, I'll never know!!!

 

I just did my oil change and new oil filter. Truck is running great, but after taking my dipstick out and wiping it down and re-inserting, it comes back with about 5 inches of oil on it. I only added 5 quarts. I feel like there's no way my truck is over-filled as much as the dipstick claims.

Any insight into this? Does anyone know how I can get my dipstick working?

Since nobody else has asked the question yet: Are you sure that you drained the old oil out first before adding the new oil?

 

On a serious note, I bought my '05 Colorado I-5 Z71 on Christmas Eve '04 and I noticed early on just how sensitive the engine and tranny dipsticks are. I prefer to only check mine on the perfectly level concrete floor of my garage. Here's why: Looking from the front of the truck with the hood open, The engine oil dipstick is in the right rear corner of the engine oil pan, and the tranny dipstick is in the left front corner of the tranny pan. Think about it - if the truck tilts any which way, it really throws the readings off. It's by far the most sensitive to being out of level of any vehicle I have ever owned. The more to the center they are, the less sensitive vehicles are to this. If I check mine any other time and place, I try to average it out in my mind, but for a true reading all must be level (And tires properly inflated).
Next time you drop your tranny pan to change fluid, just look where the end of the tranny dipstick is - right there in the passenger side front corner.
Perhaps not a really big deal, but is is worth noting.
Also - A habit I developed years ago is to pull the dipstick, wipe it very clean, reinsert all the way for a couple of seconds, then pull it again, keep it pointing downward somewhat, and look for the "Shine" of the oil level on the dipstick. Sometimes on older heavy equipment, that's the only way to tell as you look for the small "Bumps" on the dipstick in relation to the "Shine" of the oil level.