Is this too much oil?

[Sequoiasoon]

Sometimes when I have known oil burners in the shop, I use a heavier weight and don't even tell the owner. Examples include most Subarus (esp FBs that call out 0W20) and old, tired V8s.

I have one guy who has obvious, diagnosable OCD (picture Tweak from South Park) with an '11 Forester. He brings his own oil and blabs while I change it. He simply CANNOT bring himself to run anything other than 0W20 because that's what the cap says. He uses a quart every 900 to 1000 miles, even with only 80k on the motor.

Knock on wood, new motor is not using anything yet. I will have it on the severe schedule, not the MM. It also now has 5W-30 VRP and will stay on that if I can instead of the 0W-20 syn blend his shop used or whatever bulk dealer was using. So now it has almost 6qts of the same thicker viscosity I added prior to replacement and running well

 

[Astro14]

The rounded top of the oil line appears to indicate it was held upside down or at least running up the dipstick after removed from engine.

And it is incredibly clean…

 

[TomYoung]

"Stress of the oil"? Not following. It might take a little longer to warm up. Not a huge problem here, in this case

Stress of the oil reading

 

[thetricky]

There are threads on this site of people purposely putting more oil in, not unlike OP’s level, for an extra safety margin. Motor on with peace of mind and don’t give that outfit your money again.

 

[Astro14]

There are threads on this site of people purposely putting more oil in, not unlike OP’s level, for an extra safety margin. Motor on with peace of mind and don’t give that outfit your money again.

The Volvo Dealership* in Salt Lake City does that deliberate overfill to my daughter’s V70, claiming that “they all use oil”.

She assures them that it does not.

She has had an Indy change the oil lately, with oil she supplies, and it leaves the shop right at the full mark.


*Ken Garff in downtown SLC, if you’re curious. Like many dealers - they have a couple of oddly held beliefs about oil.

 

[thetricky]

To each their own, that’s strange to me though! I personally go to the full mark or just a smidge over.

 

[JeffKeryk]

If slightly overfilled crankcases were that bad all my cars would be dead.

 

[TomYoung]

To each their own, that’s strange to me though! I personally go to the full mark or just a smidge over.

Agree. A smidge show class. This is more than a smidge, though.

 

[Donald]

The best advice for folks is to avoid Quicky Lube places all together. I have talked with some of the managers in the past. They have a constant fight to find and keep any workers and they pay them minimum wages to do a tough job. Lots of them have total 100% zero experience with automobiles so can one just imagine how things can turn out!? If one can not do your own oil changes anymore (like me-disabled) get someone you can trust (my nephew does mine) at home. He also does any automotive work I need done even if I have to tell him what to do. If one cant find someone to do it at home I would trust Walmart as you can stand and watch exactly what they do.

I would argue people go to quick change oil places because convenient, no appt. Better a quick oil change than no oil change.

Better do it yourself, but that's a small percentage of people.

We hear about the mistakes that quick oil change places make but never hear about all the people who got an oil change with no issue.

And mechanics need to start somewhere. Hopefully they double check things before you drive out the door.

 

[Shel_B]

I would argue people go to quick change oil places because convenient, no appt. Better a quick oil change than no oil change.

Better do it yourself, but that's a small percentage of people.

We hear about the mistakes that quick oil change places make but never hear about all the people who got an oil change with no issue.

DIYers don't make mistakes? Perhaps more than one might imagine, but there's no one to complain about them.

 

[Donald]

DIYers don't make mistakes? Perhaps more than one might imagine, but there's no one to complain about them.

Wives

 

[TPK]

I agree with samve but if they did overfill, just drop some out, if you have the availability. Shel-B has a point, but the top pic is not really an issue, however, hard to tell on the bottom pic, could be a bit high? All depends on the engine and year!!

 

[Foreman04]

I have a 2002 Acura TL sType with 204k miles on it. I took it in yesterday to the drive through oil change places and am concerned if they put too much oil in my car. Please tell me if this will hurt my car or does it need to be drained? This was what my dipstick read this morning after I let my car sit overnight in the garage.

View attachment 246711

For peace of mind, why don’t you call Honda Customer Service and ask them (not a dealership, but Honda direct). I did that once with a Subaru for a similar issue and it put my mind at ease.

 

[Gebo]

What can really will mess your mind (my mind) up is when you read BOTH sides of the oil stick. Like what Trav mentioned
in earlier post.

 

[Patman]

Turn the dipstick over and see if it is the same level. People get crazy checking some dipsticks that look a qt over on one side and the correct level on the other side. I have one.
If it is the same it looks about 1/2 a qt and should not be an issue.

My Corvette is like that. The dipstick goes in on an angle so one side is drastically different than the other. I just rotate it around before pulling it out so that both sides read the same and use that reading.