Excess Oil

[Qashqai]

Yesterday I took my Rogue to the dealer for an oil change. Normally I would like to make all my basic maintenance by myself (changing filters, rotating tires, checking fluids, servicing the brakes). However, for $20 labour, I think it is a good idea to take the car to the dealer for an oil change and for warranty issues, it is good to attend to the Nissan service once in a while.

I brought my own oil to the service. An unopened, 5lt Castrol Synthetic 5W-30 oil. All they have to do is lift the car, drain the old oil, change the filter and pour 4.6 lt of oil. That was so simple...

This morning I checked the level of my oil. It was well above maximum. I mean it was at least 1 inch above mark "H". I couldn't believe my eyes, so I checked at least 10 times....but no, that idiot filed the engine with the whole 5 litres of oil! I can understand + / - 100 ml, but it was more than that.

So I could go back to the dealer and complain. In that case, what they will do is to lift the car, unscrew the drain plug little bit and let 300-400 ml of oil leave the engine. The problem is I don't trust them. They can easily strip the bolt on the drain pan or God know what else when they are performing something unusual. On the other hand, since the mechanic will be extremely upset, he may "accidently" damage the car? Who knows...Next time I will but a huge post-it on the oil bottle and say "Please fill the engine with 4.6 lt only".

My solution is to suck 300 - 400 ml of oil from the dip stick hole with a tube and syringe.

My wife thinks I am crazy, but I know it is not good to overfill the engine.

Do you think I am crazy?

Do you think I should ignore 400 ml (0.42 US Quarts) of excess oil, or sucking is a good idea?

[Scooter71]

It's not good for the engine in either direction...I don't think your crazy, I'm the same exact way. I will never trust a mechanic or a dealership (especially a dealership) to work on any of my vehicles. They are all a bunch of half assed hacks, that waaaaaay overcharge. You deff need to drain some of that oil out. Too much is just as bad as not enough, your suffocating the system.

[darylzero]

I don't think you are crazy either. Overfill of oil is just as bad as under-filling.

[Rogue One]

Dangers of Overfilling
While it may not seem like a big deal to overfill the oil in your car, it can cause major malfunctions and potentially cost you thousands of dollars. When too much engine oil fills the crankshaft in your car, the oil becomes aerated and is whipped into foam. This is caused by the high rotation of the crankshaft. Foamy oil cannot lubricate your car well, and in many cases it will cause oil flow to halt completely, overheating your oil and causing loss of oil pressure. The engine then becomes starved for lubrication and may potentially lock up.

An overfilled engine can also huff enough oil into the combustion chamber(s) to hydrolock an engine. Since the oil will not compress this means that something is likely going to give. This can range from an engine locking up suddenly and suffering little or no damage to something major like a bent or broken connecting rod. Higher RPM's on the highway is when this most likely would occur. A catastrophic failure certainly can occur from overfilling the oil.

If you have too much engine oil in your car, you must drain it from beneath the car. Loosen the oil plug as much as you think necessary to drain excess oil. However, be careful not to loosen the oil plug too much, as it will result in a flood of oil. Continue to check the oil dipstick until the oil level is even with the full mark.

[Qashqai]

Thank you guys for your responses...at least I didn't feel like stupid/crazy while sucking the oil with a syringe.

During my lunch brake, I went down to the parking lot and suck the oil by using a syringe and 4 feet flexible silicone aquarium pipe (while my colleagues are looking at me as I am crazy). I sucked aprox. 350 ml (0.37 Quarts) of oil!

I checked the oil level 5-6 times and it is now at the "H" level. Will check again this afternoon.

I said really "bad things" about that mechanic . I mean, how complicated can it be to put 4.6 Lt (+/- 100 ml) liquid to a closed container?

[Rogue One]

Would have been a good idea to get video documentation of your problem. Granted the grease monkey at the dealership probably gets paid little more than min wage, they need to be aware of the potential problem this could have caused.

This should serve also as a word of caution to everyone. No matter where you have the work done, things can go wrong. And as the case here, you can head off potential future problems by checking the work yourself. Speaking from personal experience, I've found damage to my vehicle, and the occasional tool left in the engine compartment.

[kerrton]

SAme thing happened to me with our new Kia on the firs oil change. I was really angry that they messed up such a simple thing - they are supposed to check the dip stick before finishing the work so there's no way it should be overfilled. I called them and complained, service manger checked with the tech, he said "it won't hurt the engine, but if you bring it back we'll drain some oil for you". I said no thanks, drained the oil myself, got oil everywhere but at least the level was set properly. Definitely a very important issue and very big deal.

[Qashqai]

...got oil everywhere ...

Well actually I should be proud of myself. With my purple nitrile gloves, blue aquarium pipe, huge syringe and 3-4 bright yellow micro fibre cloths, I didn't mess the engine... but looked so strange/funny from outside.

[ImStricken06]

half a qt is nothing guys. it is indicative of an idiot who worked on your car at the dealer though. i only say he is an idiot because its something that could get him fired. he is lazy and simply does the standard 5qts into every 4cl-6cyl engine. the dealer would be more pissed that he is wasting their oil, than worried about a non-issue. this would not break anything in your car.

• a. over filling by half a qt isnt a big deal. its only a big deal in high rpm engines such as sportbikes, racecars, and other engines that regularly see 8,000-18,000rpm. thats when the pressure in the crank case can reach high enough levels to rupture seals due to having more oil in the crank case.
  
  b. engine oil will not foam up that easy. even if you have a full extra qt. engine oil has anti-foam agents that stop it from foaming up under normal operating RPM broadband's. (again, unless you have a very high revving engine)
  
  c. you do realize that when you check your oil, your engine has to have been running at least 2-5 full minutes, and shut off, and immediately clean the dipstick, and then get your appropriate reading. if you check your level on any car - when it has sat for a while, the levels will always be high due to the excess oils draining down.
  
  d. our car takes 4.6L but i always pour the whole bottle 5 to 5.1L without ever an issue. you burn up some oil through your pcv system, so having that extra half a qt isnt a big deal at all. its actually helpful if you do extended oil changes. take a look at your oil level after 5,000miles... it just might be lower than you started with PS: your car was level right?(not inclined on some driveway)

PS: with many years at the racetrack racing my bike, i have had the time to chat with the car guys. one of their all-time small tricks is to add an extra quart to the engine to help with oil starvation during high-G turns, stops, acceleration. its really not a big deal, and can help your car in many ways. (mostly with extended drain intervals)

[Qashqai]

You are like Papa Smurf ImStricken

I usually check the oil in two conditions:
1- After a minimum 10-15 minutes drive, parking the car on a level surface and check the oil after 15-20 minutes.
2. When I leave the office, after parking the car 8-9 hours on the level parking lot.

Both of them always show the oil at level "H". I never realize a change in the level in relation to time.

..and yesterday it was the first time I saw the level well above "H"

... engine has to have been running at least 2-5 full minutes, and shut off, and immediately clean the dipstick, and then get your appropriate reading. if you check your level on any car - when it has sat for a while, the levels will always be high due to the excess oils draining down.

I didn't understand "immediately clean the dipstick, and then get your appropriate reading" part. We have to wait for 10 -15 minutes to let oil drain to the pan, right?

d. our car takes 4.6L but i always pour the whole bottle 5 to 5.1L without ever an issue. you burn up some oil through your pcv system, so having that extra half a qt isnt a big deal at all. its actually helpful if you do extended oil changes.

I totally understand the logic behind adding an extra quart, but the dipstick has a "High" level and the manual says "do not fill above the H level". There must be a reason why the engineers pick that certain level as the "highest", right? Maybe with our 4 cylinder regular RPM, daily driven cars don't need extra?

[ImStricken06]

I didn't understand "immediately clean the dipstick, and then get your appropriate reading" part. We have to wait for 10 -15 minutes to let oil drain to the pan, right?

start your car
let it run for a few minutes, till warm.
turn off the car.
remove dipstick, and wipe it clean from the oily splash marks.
reinstall dip stick, and get your reading.
re-clean dipstick, and reinstall.
remove dipstick for 2nd reading.

the reason you want to not wait 10-15mins, is you want to get as close of a "running level" reading as possible. if you wait 10-15mins for the oil to drain into the pan, you are not getting an accurate sump level. you might as well wait 3hours later at that point. you want to make sure that while your engine is running, there is enough oil in the oil pan. otherwise you will not get the appropriate reading that can tell you whether your engine is suffering from oil starvation while the oil is being circulated (load).

I totally understand the logic behind adding an extra quart, but the dipstick has a "High" level and the manual says "do not fill above the H level". There must be a reason why the engineers pick that certain level as the "highest", right? Maybe with our 4 cylinder regular RPM, daily driven cars don't need extra?

dipsticks in 90% of cars and bikes are notoriously wrong, and give weird readings. there is no way to get a perfect reading every time. you have to guesstimate when reading a dipstick.

google this, and i am 99.99% sure you read other forums and threads that will tell you that half a qt, or even a full qt - in an every day car is nothing to be worried about.

running slightly more oil is actually going to become a new standard as longer change intervals become more common. to many dopes are still changing their oil every 3500miles. our filters are getting better, thus being able to work longer. our engines are getting cleaner running, thus polluting the oil less. our oil is at a state where its lifespan is almost limitless. the only thing that inhibits us from using the same oil for a year or longer, is that our cars; even healthy ones, eat oil. sooner or later you will run out. our PCV system does consume oil. so if you double your 3500 mile oil change interval, you will want that extra qt or more (depending on the condition of your engine, driving style, RPM range, etc).