Filled Too Much Oil

O

Odwa_M

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Morning guys

I need some advise on possible damage caused by filling too much oil.

I checked the levels using the dipstick and it seemed to be fine, but yesterday I decided
to check again and now it's just above the full mark.

TIA
 
Odwa_M said:
So are you saying it wont result in any damage?
Click to expand...

Correct. Slightly (5mm or less) over the full mark on the dipstick will not cause any damage whatsoever. I service my own cars, and due to my impatience normally overfill slightly. 5 Years and no problems this far. On 3 different cars including a high performance turbo charged car.
 
So I put this to the test with the lawn mower last year.
What happened? The spark plug got fouled up with oil, and it smoked like a diesel and was hard to start, eventually I had to clean the spark plug to get it going...
No damage.
I changed the oil and put the correct amount in and started it, it smoked like the mother of all diesels for around 10 mins then purred like a kitten afterwards
 
Randy_The_Squirrel said:
So I put this to the test with the lawn mower last year.
What happened? The spark plug got fouled up with oil, and it smoked like a diesel and was hard to start, eventually I had to clean the spark plug to get it going...
No damage.
I changed the oil and put the correct amount in and started it, it smoked like the mother of all diesels for around 10 mins then purred like a kitten afterwards
Click to expand...

How much extra oil did you add???
 
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Randy_The_Squirrel said:
So I put this to the test with the lawn mower last year.
What happened? The spark plug got fouled up with oil, and it smoked like a diesel and was hard to start, eventually I had to clean the spark plug to get it going...
No damage.
I changed the oil and put the correct amount in and started it, it smoked like the mother of all diesels for around 10 mins then purred like a kitten afterwards
Click to expand...

A lawnmower isn't quite the same as a car (unless we're talking about boxer engines), as the cylinder runs horizontally in a lawnmower motor, meaning that even while it's not running, the excess oil will be seeping past the rings into the combustion chamber. On most car engines the cylinders are vertical and a bit of excess oil won't cause a problem.

Too much excess oil and the crank will start hitting the oil causing it to froth and that can cause problems as the frothed oil doesn't flow properly and you lose lubrication, but just a few mm over the mark isn't going to affect that too much at all.
 
Colin62 said:
A lawnmower isn't quite the same as a car (unless we're talking about boxer engines), as the cylinder runs horizontally in a lawnmower motor, meaning that even while it's not running, the excess oil will be seeping past the rings into the combustion chamber. On most car engines the cylinders are vertical and a bit of excess oil won't cause a problem.

Too much excess oil and the crank will start hitting the oil causing it to froth and that can cause problems as the frothed oil doesn't flow properly and you lose lubrication, but just a few mm over the mark isn't going to affect that too much at all.
Click to expand...

It depends of course on the design, but yes, I thought it worthy of just posting that anecdote so that the panic stations could subside.

I have over-filled a Corsa D (1.4 Ecotec) and the oil pressure switch failed, the oil began to leak through it. That's what happens on that vehicle.
 
if too much, it will pump back to the air filter.

I have seen 2 cars so far, service at the agents and both was fill to the top, where you fill the oil. The mechanic said it's fine and they drove of. dealers were Kia and toyota.

I bought a oil pump from adendorf's , that can pump oil out of the engine, for about R200 and works from 12 volt.
 
Randy_The_Squirrel said:
Enough so that it basically started coming out the exhaust... it happened because the gardener kept telling me it won't start because the oil is low (meanwhile it was due to him being full retard on how to operate it)
Click to expand...

Well if you add that amount then I agree. I few mm over the full mark on the dipstick will cause zero harm.
 
Most likely no problem with a little extra oil. Only thing to watch out for is some smoke from the engine, and a very unlikely possibility of excess oil spilling onto the engine and catching flames.

So if you see flames spring from the bonnet, stop the car, let the metal cool down, and then clean it up.
 
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