Oil over fill. How bad is this?
- Thread starter Mobil2
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If the oil level is high enough to get in the way of the crank it will be beaten by it and froth/foam mixing air into the oil, how much room you have to spare is hard to say but I would think in larger motors that you could put an extra quart in without any trouble but YMMV
some motors will reject extra oil and bun it off quickly until it gets to a reasonable level
How much extra did you put in?
some motors will reject extra oil and bun it off quickly until it gets to a reasonable level
How much extra did you put in?
Even on a small entine 1/4 to 1/2 quart should not be a problem.
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It can cause too much oil to be slung up to the cylinder area. If the right condition exist, you can suck more oil than expected into the ring area. This happened with my 78 320i. The dealer used bulk oil and over filled it. If I did a high acceleration run and went to a coast situation ..the next time I applied the pedal I'd get some blue smoke out of the exhaust.
Although I accept the aeration theory and have withnessed it in automatic transmissions, I believe that the evolution of the "lower sump level" was for energy conservation. Older engines used splash lubrication by design ..and didn't appear to suffer from the effects of oil aeration.
I wouldn't worry about it. If you suddenly see your oil light flashing ...or hear your lifters clacking away ...swap out the filter. For that matter if you're a totally paranoid type (like many of us tend to be when encountering "new terrain") ..just do it for peace of mind
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Although I accept the aeration theory and have withnessed it in automatic transmissions, I believe that the evolution of the "lower sump level" was for energy conservation. Older engines used splash lubrication by design ..and didn't appear to suffer from the effects of oil aeration.
I wouldn't worry about it. If you suddenly see your oil light flashing ...or hear your lifters clacking away ...swap out the filter. For that matter if you're a totally paranoid type (like many of us tend to be when encountering "new terrain") ..just do it for peace of mind
Some engine may only suffer lower fuel economy. Most will burn off the excess oil quickly, leading some to think that either the oil or engine is garbage. If you make a habit of overfilling, the long term effects can be more serious, like stuck rings. I found it better to run my Northstar a little low (7 quarts), (it holds 7.5 quarts) rather than at the FULL mark (which takes about 8 quarts).
My Ford owner's manuals say the oil can be above the hatchured safe zone all the way up to the F of the word Full which is about 1/2 inch above the hatchure area on the stick. I normally run mine about 1/4 inch above the safe zone. The manual says that if it is above the F you could have problems. It is easy to drain off a quantity, just unscrew the plug and carefully hold it loosely in the drain hole until enough drains out. Have a pan just in case you drop the plug
. I even installed a Fram sure drain with a full crankcase and only lost maybe an ounce of oil.
Very interesting, JohnnyG. I will keep an eye out for excess oil consumption, in which case I can back off on the level to see if consumption goes down. Given that Ford says my overfill is OK, I don't expect any problems, but never hurts to be aware. I do like running it high for the extra cooling and contaminant holding capacity. Presumably if I don't see increased consumption, then the rings should be OK too as the oil is not burning past them.
I don't think any damage will occur unless your over 1 quart on a 4 qt system. I've been 1/2 quart over with no problems. It's probably engineered in case the oil is overfilled. I'm starting to wonder how accurate the dipstick is anyway. when I check oil, it's overfull when cold. when check oil when hot, it's right at the full mark. since I bought my car used, I have no idea what the owners manual says.
Probably over filled by about a 1/2L. I burned 3L of M1 5w30 over the last 5k kms, so I'm thinking this slight over fill will burn off quickly in my 4cyl Acura with a 8000rpm redline. I mixed in some M1 0w30 this time, so I'm going to monitor the effects of this.
Just be aware Paul, that there can be more than 1 route to the combustion chambers, depending on engine design. In the Northstar, the excess oil is actually scavenged off by the PCV valve/system. The effect is still the same, oil gets burned and sometimes that pesky top ring gets stuck. Sorry for constantly going back to the Northstar engine. I've made it my business to learn all that I can about it. Though a major advance in engine design (over 1HP/cu. in.) it is picky about oil level and coolant. It's not for everyone!
Mobil2...
Is this right...?
Time to change oils (I use 0W40 in the winter in my Integra), or, maybe, engines...?
Is this right...?
3 LITERS (a quart)...?? In 5000km (3100 miles)???
Time to change oils (I use 0W40 in the winter in my Integra), or, maybe, engines...?
That is right. It was my first fill switching to synthetic and did include a full track day thou, which may have also been factors. However, I've done this major burn once before on dino oil too (I have 100k kms now). Oil burning is semi-common with this new K Series engine and semi-common with many hi-revving Honda VTECs.
I'm currently experimenting with a few synthetics that may help reduce this. For winter I'm using 0w, but in the summer I'm probably going to try a thicker 30 weight Amsoil or maybe the new Mobil Racing 0w30. We'll see how my second fill of regular M1 goes first.
[ December 30, 2003, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: Mobil2 ]
I'm currently experimenting with a few synthetics that may help reduce this. For winter I'm using 0w, but in the summer I'm probably going to try a thicker 30 weight Amsoil or maybe the new Mobil Racing 0w30. We'll see how my second fill of regular M1 goes first.
[ December 30, 2003, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: Mobil2 ]
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