Common Practice?

[Texican]

So I took my 2014 Kia Forte to the dealership for the first oil change since it was free. When I got home I checked the dip stick to see if they changed the oil. They did the oil was clean, but i noticed it was over filled. I checked the paper work and they put 5qts in it. This is only the second time I have not changed my own oil since I started driving 17 years ago.So is this common for dealershops and quick lube places just to put 5qts in everything without checking the proper oil capacity?

 

[SatinSilver]

Check it again when the car is cold/sat for awhile.

 

[GSCJR]

It's a Kia, it will burn off the excess and more in no time

 

[NineFingerFury]

In short, yes. They have a list of capacities and then use a pump until it reaches that amount. When I did it, I always checked after and then warmed up the car and checked the level again and looked for leaks. My guess is that a lot of guys just fill and forget.

 

[NineFingerFury]

One time I filled according to spec and it was .5 quarts too much.

 

[EA82]

My brother had always changed the oil on his accord at the dealership, when I changed for him a few months back I noticed the handle on the dip stick was covered in dust buildup ( hadn't been touched since new probably , 2006 ). So I think they just put whatever capacity the manual calls for and don't bother to check the oil level.

 

[eljefino]

They might have just put 5 qts on the paperwork as a data entry field filler.

But it sounds like your car got it too.

 

[morepwr]

Does the owners manual list capacity?

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
They might have just put 5 qts on the paperwork as a data entry field filler.

But it sounds like your car got it too.


At our dealer, what goes in the car is not the same as what is on the RO. The pumps are not controlled by parts dept. Plus we cannot bill out partial quarts on our system, only whole quarts.

 

[yonyon]

Well, they'll 5 qts ya when you're trying to be so good
They'll 5 qts ya just a-like they said they would
They'll 5 qts ya when you're tryin' to go home
Then they'll 5 qts ya when you're there all alone

But I would not feel so all alone

 

[panthermike]

According to Amsoil's lookup guide, your Forte's oil capacity is 4.2qts. If they really put 5qts in, I would drain off a little bit.

 

[fdcg27]

From what's been reported here, it seems to be common practice for shops to fill above the full line on the dipstick.
Drive the car and check the oil on the dipstick.
If there aren't any tiny bubbles, you're fine.
If there are, then the crank counterweights are rotating through the oil in the sump and whipping air into it, so you should drain a little out.
Lord knows how many times this dealer shop has done this and I doubt that any of the engines came back as smoking ruins.
In the future, save yourself the agro and just do it yourself.
This was a free oil change and you do get what you pay for.

 

[Errtt]

I knew of one shop that would slightly fill above the full mark to cut down on customers coming back saying they didn't get the full fill fill they paid for.

 

[Chris142]

I can almost guarantee you that you did not get their top tech working on the car. little things like oil changes wiper blades get handed to the new kid that was flipping burgers last week

 

[Texican]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I can almost guarantee you that you did not get their top tech working on the car. little things like oil changes wiper blades get handed to the new kid that was flipping burgers last week

I agree, I know 0.8qt over isn't that big if a deal I was just curious if this was a standard practice.

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Well, they'll 5 qts ya when you're trying to be so good
They'll 5 qts ya just a-like they said they would
They'll 5 qts ya when you're tryin' to go home
Then they'll 5 qts ya when you're there all alone

But I would not feel so all alone



Everybody should change oil at home!

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Purchased 93 Sentra used from Mitsu dealship. They gave me free oil changes. I provided the filter. For 80,000 miles always was .5 quart overfilled. Capacity was 3.5 quarts. Maybe the oil machine they used did not like to dispense partial quarts? Or maybe it was the person doing the dispensing?

 

[NMBurb02]

I provided the shop I use with a 5 qt (maybe 5.28 qt) jug of oil to dump into the GP after replacing the oil pan gasket. It has a 4.5 qt capacity, so I expected to get a jug with 0.5 qts back, but no dice. When they didn't hand it to me while I was paying, I figured they left the jug on the floor of the back seat, since that's where it was when I dropped the car off. When I checked later, the jug wasn't there, but I didn't really care as the jug was Valvoline MaxLife NextGen and was FAR or so close to it that it didn't matter to me. When checking the oil later I saw that it was slightly overfilled. I had thought of removing the oil filter to drain out a bit, but there were no bubbles, IIRC, and the engine consumed about 1 qt of PP every 5,000 miles or so with the previous fill, so I just let it go and figure the excess will be consumed soon enough.

 

[steve20]

Originally Posted By: GSCJR
It's a Kia, it will burn off the excess and more in no time

AGREE--why even bother to change it

 

[Texican]

Originally Posted By: steve20
Originally Posted By: GSCJR
It's a Kia, it will burn off the excess and more in no time

AGREE--why even bother to change it

I wasn't planning to change it, not going to waste good MS5K. Well that's what I'm assuming it is, they kept on saying they use a Mobil syn blend. I know there is no Mobil syn blend, but the way they kept saying its good for a 5k oci I figure it's just MS5K.