Over Filled Oil

[Al]

This is from another board. Thoughts?
Back in Sept., my engine's head gasket had gone out but only to the extent of coolant leaking into Cyl. #1 and causing harsh starts. Now, there are sounds coming from the engine bay that sound like valve slap and there's oil on the passenger side of the engine bay. The mechanic who worked on my car said that he "enjoyed" working on it because the bay was so clean; it was actually spotless as I ALWAYS Simple Green the bay following changing the oil.

Here's the kicker:
I'll begin by saying that it was an idiot move on my part to have not checked the oil until today (2.5 months/3300 miles later). I should have done this sooner...like, right after getting the car back.

The engine was idling at 1000 rpm's when I got the car back, and the throttle cable would stick when coming to a stop - causing the engine to idle at 2000 rpm's. I went ahead and adjusted the idle back down to 750, per the FSM, because I didn't want anyone else fooling around with my car anymore. After doing so, I found out why they set the idle so high: it was to mask the fact that the engine was having hardcore idling issues, similar to how a big-displacement motor lobes/cams at idle, and there's the occasional hickup by the engine. After cleaning the throttle body, this was a little relieved, though it's been a continuing problem.

To FINALLY get to the point: this morning, I pulled the dipstick to see what the oil consumption had looked like, only to see that the oil level was so high that it was past the bend on the dipstick! I then checked the work order/reciept for my car, and sure enough: THEY HAD PUT 4 QUARTS OF OIL INTO MY LITTLE QG!!! (For those who don't already know, the QG requires only 2+7/8 quarts of oil!)
So I'm sure that tomorrow morning will be a fun little extravaganza when dealing with these guys.

My question to the guru's here on the board is what damage may have occured as a result.
1. From what I know, having the oil level too high will cause it to run up into the vacuum system and cause problems there.
2. After talking to ChimMike and getting his spin, which sounds very feasible, he stated as a result the oil level being to high, it will get splashed around in the engine and become frothy. This then causes friction in the engine's components because proper lubrication is no longer occuring due to the oil not being a fluid in the lines.

This really blows and I'm sure it will be a HUGE ordeal.
__________________

 

[ekpolk]

Sorta makes you wonder at which point the owner's negligence in failing to check his own oil surpasses the negligence of the shop that installed way too much oil?

 

[JTK]

Al, I'm thinking if it went 2.5 months & 3300mi without the hint of an oil related issue, you are fine. You can guarantee many Nissan Sentras (assuming that's what you own?) get filled with 4qts all the time. I know back when I owned a 2001, I nearly added that 4th qt just out of habit on my first OCI. IMO, these are tough enough little engines to handle this. I know I've seen unbelievably beat Sentras still manage to live long lives.

Joel

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Al, I'm thinking if it went 2.5 months & 3300mi without the hint of an oil related issue, you are fine.
Joel

Yea that's what I'm thinking. They are issues but I'm not sure they are fatal.

btw its not mine.

 

[wander2039]

The shop overfilled one of our Taurus's by about a quart or more at work. Nice smoke show every so often. If it didn't blow out a gasket you should be good.

 

[JTK]

It's frightening when you look at it terms of having ~28% more oil in the sump than is spec'd, but it sure looks to have made it though this with no problems.

Joel

 

[Jaymus]

I wouldn't worry about it. [censored], it's been 2.5 months.

While they SHOULD have checked their oil, you should have brought it back to them WAY sooner... ie. the next day. Then you could have got it fixed and saved $3.50 on a quart of oil.

 

[Curious Kid]

I wonder just how much the change in engine behavior can be attributed to oil ingestion via oil through PCV valve? Excess carbon in the combustion chambers that might raise compression ever so slightly, also serving as pre-ignition sources leading to ping (source of noise?), albeit a little extreme. What's the condition of the spark plugs - soot loaded posing potential ignition quality issues also?

I think the biggest treat in over filling is foaming of the lubricant and windage loading as the crank beats the oil, and possible oil introduction to the intake stream via PCV system that might approach fluid locking that would bend rods, etc.

Good luck to the owner - sorry to hear of it.

 

[Gary Allan]

If it's still running in any manner without substantial issues, then most likely everything is fixable without mechanical repair. All the side effects should be oil infiltration/migration to places that you don't want it. He didn't report any knocking (low oil pressure due to aeration) nor perceived low power (due to hp losses due to windage-causing aeration). He was totally numb to things being "unright" other than his idle being too high.

I can't see the PCV adding too much here. The traffic at the top end is hard to trump for oil flying around. The blow-by volume should be the same ..so unless draining back was inhibited

If he engaged in a number of high vacuum decells (which should have produced some plume of blue smoke) then I'd see a decent amount of oil being sucked up through the rings. This should have produced (as was mentioned - along with other side effects- deposits) pinging and whatnot just due to it lingering around for a while.

Heck, he had his own oil bath blow-by cleaner in the crankcase before it ever got to the PCV plumbing