Modest oil overfill - anyone encountered a problem?
Discussion
Just a ponderment really, nothing that relates to a problem, but has anyone seen any issues directly caused by a slight (<10%) overfill of oil?
I'm not talking a fill it until it comes out of the filler moment, but a slight over-fill when servicing etc? Was just glancing at a reader's ride thread where he drained the oil on a new to him car because it was a bit over-full, despite having driven it for a few hundred miles by that point.
I'm not talking a fill it until it comes out of the filler moment, but a slight over-fill when servicing etc? Was just glancing at a reader's ride thread where he drained the oil on a new to him car because it was a bit over-full, despite having driven it for a few hundred miles by that point.
I put 2L too much into an old Vectra estate. Woops.
Going to pick my mate up from Heathrow. Anything other than the lightest of accelerator prods or over 3000 rpm and it had a better white smoke screen than a Panzer tank! I was amazed I was not pulled. I was creeping up the slip road on the way back hoping he would not notice. Luckily the effects of a baby and jetlag means he did not!
Drained the oil later when I got back and replaced to no ill effect. Apart from the oil filter spinning off.
That car got about 20L in 3 days . hahahah
Going to pick my mate up from Heathrow. Anything other than the lightest of accelerator prods or over 3000 rpm and it had a better white smoke screen than a Panzer tank! I was amazed I was not pulled. I was creeping up the slip road on the way back hoping he would not notice. Luckily the effects of a baby and jetlag means he did not!
Drained the oil later when I got back and replaced to no ill effect. Apart from the oil filter spinning off.
That car got about 20L in 3 days . hahahah
If you over fill it to the point that it starts covering seals, you might find it drips a bit/a lot. Whether that matters is up to you.
If you over fill it to the point that the crank starts hitting the oil you will get a substantial increase in oil temperatures and probably increased blow-by and oil consumption. If you're in that situation you definitely want to lower the oil level.
If you're looking at it in terms of the dip stick, I would hope it's safe for at least a quarter of an inch, and that represents quite a lot of oil. I routinely over fill the V8S by that much to reduce oil surge on heavy cornering. Half an inch might be pushing your luck.
If you over fill it to the point that the crank starts hitting the oil you will get a substantial increase in oil temperatures and probably increased blow-by and oil consumption. If you're in that situation you definitely want to lower the oil level.
If you're looking at it in terms of the dip stick, I would hope it's safe for at least a quarter of an inch, and that represents quite a lot of oil. I routinely over fill the V8S by that much to reduce oil surge on heavy cornering. Half an inch might be pushing your luck.
Interesting, thanks guys. I've seen a few cars/vans which are obviously overfilled or on the edge of catastrophic failure as they're smoking so much, but I've never heard of any real damage from, say, +1L overfill for example.
PositronicRay said:
It affects some cars more than others, I overfilled by 1/2 ltr on a 7ltr sump so pumped it out (on the advice of a marque specialist) to the correct level.
A diesel I'd definitely be wary.
On the SL I presume?A diesel I'd definitely be wary.
Krikkit said:
Interesting, thanks guys. I've seen a few cars/vans which are obviously overfilled or on the edge of catastrophic failure as they're smoking so much, but I've never heard of any real damage from, say, +1L overfill for example.
Yup 3.2 M104 motor, MB reduced the recommended amount from 7.5l (still in some literature) to 7l so you now treat 1/2 way between max and min as the max iyswim.PositronicRay said:
It affects some cars more than others, I overfilled by 1/2 ltr on a 7ltr sump so pumped it out (on the advice of a marque specialist) to the correct level.
A diesel I'd definitely be wary.
On the SL I presume?A diesel I'd definitely be wary.
The specialist told me these were v sensitive to overfills so pumped a little out.
Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff