Engine oil levels.

[cumbriasteve]

My car was serviced and the dipstick is showing an excess of engine oil, nearly 20mm above the max mark.

My car past revolved around bodywork repairs and spraying with only a tad of mechanical but I am sure I can remember something about the risk of the pistons dipping the oil and dragging it into the barrels.

As far as I am concerned max means max and the idiot has used a wrong quantity guide, not fully drained the system or not replaced the filter and certainly did not do a final check.

It is only garage serviced to maintain warranty and it's not cheap so I intend to play hell and tell them to come and sort it.

What I need to know is the accurate mechanical risk that driving with excessive oil can cause, without a doubt the service manager is going to give it the old ' oh it will be fine, it's only a guide' crap and I need to baffle him with science.

 

[Bullet2012]

One of the risks is the crankshaft. As it rotates it can dip into the oil in the sump and churns the oil into a foam, as the foam is aerated oil and the oil is no longer a liquid it becomes impossible for the oil pickup to draw any oil (liquid) as it is all foam. No oil into oil pump. Very short engine life.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Nice answer...that's the sort of thing I need to know.

 

[Kayos]

Depending on engine type it can blow cam seals, and on diesels it can get sucked into the turbo and cause the engine to rev until it smashes itself to bits

 

[dunk]

that is a lot 20mm above the max, you dont say if its diesel or petrol engine, not good on diesels to have high oil levels engine can start to run on own oil through the turbo through seals being damaged, seals blowing applies to petrol engines as well, rear crankshaft seal blowing causing oil to get to clutch, so clutch judder starts then fail, plus theres danger of front seal going and covering the timing belt and if that goes its goodday engine

 

[cumbriasteve]

It's a diesel, just phoned and wanting to be awkward told them to come to the house and drain the excess off.

They said they will drain it off but got to drive to them, told them the call was being recorded and I would drive to them if they accepted blame for any damage, they are sending the 'lad' out within the hour.

 

[octo0072000]

Amazing what a recorded call can do

 

[dunk]

result

 

[cumbriasteve]

Amazing what a recorded call can do

It would be if I had a recorder

 

[Mikey D]

Did you not use your' Dick to phone '

 

[octo0072000]

It would be if I had a recorder

bullsh-t baffles brains

 

[gordon stephenson]

Did the oil look new? Somebody may have refilled it without draining it first.

 

[blenkie1]

Drained it cold maybe and not enough time for it to drain? I like to get them hot, drain the oil, do the rest of the service and then top the oil up last

 

[Spark plug]

I would say it was careless workmanship as 20mm will probably be in the region of 3/4-1 litre

 

[brightspark]

a mates engine on his saaab was giving problems and showing a warning light . turns out his was overfilled as well

 

[blenkie1]

Seen someone put 5 litres of oil in a Rover SD1 but had forgot to empty the old oil out! Went to dip it and and found out it was a good bit over the max. So far over it was pouring over into the Exhaust. Looked like a 2 stroke going up the road!

 

[gordon stephenson]

How many of us have done the opposite ? Drained the oil,and refilled FORGETTING TO PUT THE DRAIN PLUG BACK IN FIRST. I did it on my XK120 years ago when it was over the works pit, High capacity ally finned sump, took 27pints.

 

[Turbo]

You didn't say what the car was but it might not have a sump drain bung. The oil change was probably done by sucking it out the dipstick hole - the only problem with that way is you never get all the old oil out.

I've tried sucking the oil out on my 406 HDI and then opening the sump plug. Even with the engine hot you can leave up to 1/2 litre in the sump by only sucking! So if your garage sucked the oil out, then looked up the book to see how much oil your car holds then added that amount without checking the dipstick. That means your car would be overfilled by the amount of old oil left in the sump!

Would I be right in thinking that the 'lad' sucked the excess oil out with something like this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-Manual-Vacuum-Fluid-Extractor/dp/B000RA16CO

I have one of these & it's very useful and versatile item but I rarely use it solely for oil changes. I use it to suck out most of the oil & then drain the rest the traditional way.

 

[Turbo]

I had someone try to tell me not to undo my drain plug and suck the oil out...cobblers...they had prob been using the wrong socket (imperial instead of the correct metric socket...)

Some of the newer cars have sump plugs but they are not designed to be removed regularly for oil changes - you are supposed to suck it out! There are cars with alloy sumps with the sump plug held in with a loctite type sealant and very hard to open even with the correct socket!

 

[LewisT]

i overfilled my focus by quarter of a litre a few months ago and it was showing nearly 10mm above the max level, its been fine it does leak a wee bit so shall go back to normal after a while