Put to much oil in car....

HighlandeR

HighlandeR

HighlandeR

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
12,257
Location
England
yes im a dipstick literally, I did actually check the dip stick and the oil level was about half way on the 1st notch ?

Anyhow I figured its about time to top it up so added a little in it, now the car is a bit more smokey near the exhaust.... and theres a rattling noise coming from the exhaust ?

Is this a major concern or anything I can do to help the situation ?

thx for any tips:D
 
You could just undo the drain plug and let some out, otherwise the high pressure might cause some nasty long-term damage. Usually its a litre from top of a dipstick to the bottom.
 
If its smokey near the exhaust in the engine bay you probably just spilt some.

How much did you put in, and where is it on the dipstick now? A little over-filled isn't likely to do damage, but it depends exactly how much you overfilled it by.
 
Well that excess oil would have to get somewhere first. If it enough to push the oil pressure up significantly it could blow anywhere, although I'd imagine the valve stem seals are likely to be the weakest link - this would lead to it being 'burned off' but probably damaging the seals in the process.

But in theory, this excess pressure could reveal a weak-spot anywhere.
 
Well I only put id say a quarter cup full, didnt think it was that much just a top up....

But yeah theres still more smoke coming from the back then there usualy was im not sure if its the cold/ice/snow thats just making the car do it or the oil tbh, but I noticed that and the exhaust making a weird vibrating noise sometimes the following day.....

I checked yesterday and the dip stick shows its near the 2nd red notch towards the end of it.... so just before the silver bit
 
exhaust smoke could just be condensation.

check the dipstick and see if you have over shot maximum

other then a massively overfilled sump leading to oil be breathed back in through the breather, whats this UBER ENGINE DAMAGE people are speaking of?
 
MikeHiow said:
This means nothing? Is this above the max mark? If so, how much?
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This ^

Have you got a photo of it?

Slight overfill is unlikely to do anything bad, but if you've put in like a litre over the max mark, you'll have to drain your oil.
 
Domo said:
What happens to the engine? I remember hearing someone say excess engine oil is 'burned off'.
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You have to really really seriously overfill an engine before it'll do it any damage. I mean like twice as much oil as it's supposed to have so the crank is throwing it all over the place in the engine. But even then, oils have anti foaming agents in them, so not much can happen.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Everyone has 'heard' it can do damage but I've never actually heard of any damage actually happening. It can't over pressure or anything, the pump will only put out its rated pressure.

The oiliness in the exhaust is probably where it's throwing some up into the breather, which is what it's there for. Drain some out if you're worried about it :)
 
Jonny69 said:
You have to really really seriously overfill an engine before it'll do it any damage. I mean like twice as much oil as it's supposed to have so the crank is throwing it all over the place in the engine. But even then, oils have anti foaming agents in them, so not much can happen.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Everyone has 'heard' it can do damage but I've never actually heard of any damage actually happening. It can't over pressure or anything, the pump will only put out its rated pressure.

The oiliness in the exhaust is probably where it's throwing some up into the breather, which is what it's there for. Drain some out if you're worried about it :)
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youd have to be doing some to hydrolock yourself with oil. id be impressed to see that

i doubt the lambda would be too impressed if you started burning it, but thats about the extent of it i can see

fouled plugs and nasty looking pistons, hot spots and pre ignition
 
HighlandeR said:
Well I only put id say a quarter cup full, didnt think it was that much just a top up....

But yeah theres still more smoke coming from the back then there usualy was im not sure if its the cold/ice/snow thats just making the car do it or the oil tbh, but I noticed that and the exhaust making a weird vibrating noise sometimes the following day.....

I checked yesterday and the dip stick shows its near the 2nd red notch towards the end of it.... so just before the silver bit
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As has been asked... what colour is the smoke? In this cold weather cars will appear to "smoke" a lot more than usual as the hot gasses meet very cold air. Burning oil is usually a bluish colour, thin white smoke would probably be normal in the weather we've been having lately.

As Jonny69 said, a slight overfill shouldn't hurt, but if you're concerned, just drain a litre or so from the sump and then check it again, re-topping up if you have drained too much. It's a pita, but it's not normally life threatening (on a healthy engine anyway... on an engine that was already worn or something, I suppose it's more likely to highlight any signs of damage...)
 
Jonny69 said:
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Everyone has 'heard' it can do damage but I've never actually heard of any damage actually happening. It can't over pressure or anything, the pump will only put out its rated pressure.
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The pump doesnt create the oil pressure it only supplies a feed, and yes overfill will cause damage depending by how much, a litre or so will be burnt and thrown out of the exhaust dropping the life of the cat. We had a old boy put 3 litres too much in and blow his front crank oil seal out.
 
dalin80 said:
The pump doesnt create the oil pressure it only supplies a feed, and yes overfill will cause damage depending by how much, a litre or so will be burnt and thrown out of the exhaust dropping the life of the cat. We had a old boy put 3 litres too much in and blow his front crank oil seal out.
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Read what I said. 3 litres is nearly twice as much, since engines hold about a gallon on average. The crank would probably be splashing around in it with that much in there :p

And yes, the oil pump does pressurise the oil. It wouldn't have a pressure release spring if it didn't, and you wouldn't be able to buy high pressure oil pumps for performance engines for example.
 
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