Too much oil?

NickXX · 11 Mar 2006 at 13:38

Hi all,

I bought a 3yr old 330d a few weeks ago from Car Giant, and I checked the oil last week, and again today. It seems that it's above the maximum mark on the dipstick. I originally put it down to being on a bit of a slope, but it's the same on a flat surface.

It's probably 1cm over the maximum mark. Will this be seriously detrimental to the engine, or not, I'm assuming it will be...

I've probably done about 1,000 miles in it so far, and I've not noticed any problems. Will Kwik Fit be able to sort it out?

Many thanks in advance,

Nick

Third Opinion · 11 Mar 2006 at 13:42

It's probably done no damage at all yet.

But are you really sure about letting Kwik Fit have ago with a nice car like that?

NickXX · 11 Mar 2006 at 13:44

Oh cool (phew).

Lol at Kwik Fit, do I not just need some monkey to drain a bit of oil? I would do it myself but I don't want to get oil on the drive + I'm not 100% sure how to do it/how much I should drain.

Nick

AmDaMan · 11 Mar 2006 at 13:46

Have you noticed any oil leaks or excessive oil burning or clutch slipping?

If not it's more than likely ok, get a garage to drain the excess, no problem.

austinpowers · 11 Mar 2006 at 13:48

I wouldn't worry about it, leave it as it is.
Vauxhall used to constantly over fill my Astra at pretty much every service to about 1 litre over, it uses some oil so i left it it, never needed to top it.

Mind you the turbo did die @ 138k,

but it took a lot of abuse from me, 5 to 138k miles in 44 months, but still on original clutch

Nothing to do with overfilling the oil.

Ev0 · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:22

My 19 was overfilled once, ended up stuffing a gasket somewhere

NickXX · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:32

AmDaMan said:
Have you noticed any oil leaks or excessive oil burning or clutch slipping?

If not it's more than likely ok, get a garage to drain the excess, no problem.

I've not noticed any of these. I'm just going to leave it. I had another check, and it's about half a cm now rather than the full 1cm I said earlier.

I'm going get the oil changed soonish anyway - so I'll leave it till then.

Many thanks guys!

Nick

Lowe · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:36

Get the oil drained out - might as well just change it. Too much oil can be as bad as too little. Why risk such an engine and car for the price of an oil change?

Dogbreath · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:36

1cm over max is not a great idea, I would personaly drain it down to maximum. This is not an old Astra...

austinpowers · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:39

My Astra was a 02 reg, so not old..

spaz · 11 Mar 2006 at 15:00

I would say you should change it and get it below the maximum mark. At work where we work on a lot of diesel generators all the guys I work with have said being overfilled can be be bad for the engine.

Clarkey · 11 Mar 2006 at 15:26

I've always been led to believe too much oil can lead to excessive oil pressure, which can blow seals and suchlike. Just have the oil changed and filled to the correct level, not point cutting corners on a car like that.

Ev0 · 11 Mar 2006 at 15:28

Clarkey said:
I've always been led to believe too much oil can lead to excessive oil pressure, which can blow seals and suchlike. Just have the oil changed and filled to the correct level, not point cutting corners on a car like that.

Exactly what happened on mine. Luckily it didn't totally blow, just made one of the seals wheep all the time.

The_Dark_Side · 11 Mar 2006 at 16:10

Third Opinion said:
It's probably done no damage at all yet.

But are you really sure about letting Kwik Fit have ago with a nice car like that?

it's only a BMW for gods sake,not a 250 GTO

Tesla · 11 Mar 2006 at 16:27

I say use some sort of syringe and pipe to suck it out of the dipstick hole.

Vertigo · 11 Mar 2006 at 16:56

I have read that over-filling modern diesel engines can be very harmful but I have no idea why this might be nor any evidence to back it up.