1/4" over full mark. should I drain excess?

[Deer_Slayer]

Again I put a little more oil in when I changed it last time. On these 4 cylinder tacomas it is hard to figure out exactly how much to put in. If you put in what the manual calls out you go over the full line. Now my dipstick shows about 1/4" over the full line. Is it going to be OK till next oil change? or should I go through the hastle of trying to drain some of it. And how can you drain just a little bit of oil, because as soon as you remove the drain plug it is like the flood gates opening up and drains a lot of oil before putting it back in, not to mention all the mess!

 

[gfh77665]

It's OK, ABSOLUTELY!

 

[Pablo]

Not wort' the "hastle" at all.

 

[hate2work]

My 4 cyl 06 Tacoma calls for 6.1 quarts of oil. I put in 6 quarts and it shows above the full mark, go figure

 

[Footpounds]

My 4 cyl '02 Tacoma calls for 5.75 quarts.
Anyway, I wouldn't sweat your 1/4" overfill.

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
It's OK, ABSOLUTELY!


I 2nd that, you will be fine.

 

[Deer_Slayer]

My truck calls out 6.1 qts too, but I didn't even put in 6.0 qts in there and it is already over the full line. some thing doesn't make sense between what the manual says and what the dip stick shows!
Based on the feed back from you folks, I think I will leave it be until next oil change. thanks.

 

[Drivebelt]

It will be fine. Oil pans are built with some overcapacity because the engineers always expect that sometimes a little more oil will be put in than exactly at the full line.

I purposely overfill my car with 1/4 liter, just to have a little extra oil in there.

 

[hate2work]

The amount that shows is determined by the length of your dipstick

 

[KDS]

Dipsticks aren't always accurate. in a 4v mustang they call for 6.25 qt, many don't show full till 7qt is put in. And the pan will HOLD 9 before even hitting the windage tray.

Its better to have a little to much then not enough.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Nope,won`t hurt a thing at all. My car specs 4 3/8 quarts. I always put in 4.5. There`s a Z32 guru I talk to sometimes that works on nothing but Nissan Z cars and he told me I can just dump in 5 even quarts and it won`t hurt a thing.

 

[chet2]

you are of of us, you worry about 4 extra ounces of oil

 

[chet2]

one of us i mean, welcome to the club!

 

[y2k345]

I have heard that too much can cause the oil to foam? Don`t know if this is true. But I would think in greater amounts than than 1/4.

 

[demarpaint]

Drive it you'll be fine. Many people with 4 1/2 qt sumps add 5 qts of oil w/o issue. I've done it for years with my 3.0L Aerostar, still going strong at almost 170,000 miles.

 

[kbuzbee]

Great question! I've often wondered that myself. I know the level is supposed to be between the lines but often, when I'm done it's just a shade over the full line (not much, just barely above) and I wondered the same thing. Good to know the answer.

Thanks all!

Ken

 

[GMBoy]

Every new car I've ever gotten was overfilled by the factory. You're just talking a few ounces - not even 1/4 of a quart. You're fine. There is a margin of safety built into the dipstick marks low and high.

 

[gonesurfing]

Originally Posted By: hate2work

My 4 cyl 06 Tacoma calls for 6.1 quarts of oil. I put in 6 quarts and it shows above the full mark, go figure

Same here with my '05 4 cyl. It takes right at 5.25 quarts to get mine to the full line. I emailed Toyota about it, and they told me to abide by the dipstick rather than the manual.

 

[hate2work]

Surfing, I hate having opened bottles of oil sitting around on the shelf, so I just put in all 6 quarts and call it a day.

If you were REALLY worried about overfilling by using 6 quarts, you could find an oversized oil filter that would help a little.

I also think there very well could be ( as mentioned before ) a difference in the length of the dipsticks coming out of the factory. But we all know there is no difference between what the engine ( the 4 cyl we both have ) holds in oil capacity, so it's safe to use the full 6 quarts.

 

[Peter_Pan]

The fill quantity in the manual is usually the amount to "dry fill". When you drain the old oil there is always some quantity that's left over in the engine. That amount could vary greatly with how hot the oil and the average ambient temperature at the time of oil change is along with how long you allow it to drain and the design of the engine. This is the main reason for discrepancies between the stated fill quantity in the manual and what the dipstick says after you fill it.