oil level increasing in 2003 Acura MDX 3.5 V6

[bryceban]

Does it "always" seem to increase the "same" amount?

 

[Jasper8146]

Thanks so much for the informative and thoughtful response. As for the coolant, about a month ago I had to add just a little bit (which was the first time I can recall I've ever had to), but since then, I have been watching it like a hawk and it does not seem to have lost any more. And, yes I can post the complete oil analysis (in parts per million by weight) which showed the following:

aluminum antimony barium boron 89 potassium calcium 2123 silicon 6
chromium copper 4 sodium 62
iron 3 tin lead magnesium 9 zinc 935

Fuel was 1% and water as % of volume was <.10% Do any of these numbers shed any further light on this?

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Doesnt ATF notoriously expand when it's hot? Isn't ATF loaded with VIIs that cause this phenomenon? Same thing could be going on here. Maybe. Otherwise it could just be a drainage hot vs cold issue.

 

[demarpaint]

It is also possible that the filter is not as full, than when the oil was last checked. My E-150 filter sometimes comes off with a little oil in it and other times chock full of oil. Come to think of it my Aerostar does the same thing. Brand of filter doesn't matter either.

 

[Jasper8146]

No. The first time I realized there was an issue was about 4500-5000 miles ago during the last oil change interval. Everything was fine for probably 2000 to 2500 miles, the level was spot on full. Then after around 2000 miles more without checking it again, when I next checked it was overfull probably around 1/4 to 1/2 quart. After another 500 miles right before changing it, it seemed possibly even more overfull but not by much. During the change, I noticed many more bubbles and foam than I ever had before. In fact, after sitting over night in the drain pan, when I transferred the drained oil into a different container to take to recycling, a lot of bubbles were still present. Realizing something strange was up, when I last changed oil (from Valvoline Synpower 5w-20 to Redline 5w-20), I purposely under filled it by about .3 quarts, and the level on the dipstick was about in the middle between full and add. For 500 miles, nothing changed. Then, my wife then put 2500 highway miles on it during the span of one week, and when she got back, I checked it (in the same spot I always do after sitting over night). It then read about the same amount overfull that it had been right before changing it the last time. After draining out exactly 1/2 quart for oil analysis purposes, it then read spot on full. Doing the math, that means that over the span of 3000 miles it gained .8 of a quart. Now it gets even stranger. Over just this last week and weekend, we put around 1200 more miles on it, and the reading has now gone from spot on full to just ever so slightly down a hair. Needless to say, I am truly mystified by this. Plan to do another oil analysis in a couple thousand miles and it will be interesting to see what that shows. I will definitely post the results.