Oil question

"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012) 06/29/2016 at 15:19 • Filed to: None

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So my sister took her 1999 Camry to a dealership to get few gremlins out of her car and got an oil change done.

She checked the oil when the car was returned to her and it all seemed fine. She went home and drove a bit. My dad now looked and claims there is like 2 extra quarts of oil in the engine. I have my doubts as my dad is only looking for a project to get his hands on and some poor shmuck to yell at.

Pretending for a second there is more oil than should be. What are the downsides? Will it leak out through some unsuspecting hole? Burn off? Break out of the Hoover dam and cause a spill?

EDIT: pops took it to a dealership and demanded they drained extra oil. They did. It’s hard to argue with a man who barely speaks English, speaks very loud and waves hands around like a damn dealership blow up tube

Jcarr > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 15:26

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Stolen from the internet:

If the oil level is too high, it contacts moving parts in such a manner as air is mixed into it. The result is air pockets oil galleries, and less liquid oil to cool parts such as piston skirts. The “foam” also sticks in place and doesn’t drain back to the pan, and insulates parts from normal heat transfer.

That said, have you looked at it?

EL_ULY > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 15:28

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Give it an hour. The clean and clear oil may fool ya at first.Once cool and calm, pull it out, clean it really good, insert, check again

PartyPooper2012 > Jcarr 06/29/2016 at 15:29

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Car is about hour and half drive away from me. Haven’t checked myself yet.

How much oil is too much oil to make the oil level too high. Surely there are tolerances. If I put a drip or half a quart in more over high mark, it might not explode.

Jcarr > EL_ULY 06/29/2016 at 15:30

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Once cool and calm, pull it out, clean it really good, insert, check again

EL_ULY > Jcarr 06/29/2016 at 15:31

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I was going to make a note of how it sounded lol, it wouldn’t have prevented anything :]

No regrets!

Jcarr > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 15:32

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Depends on the engine, but two quarts over would probably be harmful for most.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 15:34

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2 quarts high is probably on the edge of causing injury or even beyond. That being said, I have both seen people who believed that *while running* was the right time to check the oil (leading to gross overfill) and people who failed to wipe the stick when checking (false reading of gross overfill). Knowing which is operative here is key. It’s always possible some dumbass read the wrong oil capacity from the book, too, or just threw oil in at random.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 15:36

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The amount that constitute too much is going to vary engine to engine, there is no universal thats too much amount(aside from filling till it comes out the top. Having said that, my e46 will quite happily take an extra quart. I would assume 2 quarts over would be too much, but there is also no good way to tell exactly how many quarts over your sister is without draining the oil. The oil pan may not be a uniform size all the way up, so the distance up the dipstick its not a good indicator.

PartyPooper2012 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 06/29/2016 at 15:37

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true. I guess I won’t know for sure till I check myself.

Can’t trust anyone at this point. I’ll battle traffic for 3 hours just to get this shit out of my hair once and for all.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 15:48

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I’m wondering how one determines the oil level is two quarts too high, when the dipstick has no definitive markings on it besides ‘H’ and ‘L’, which are marked based on the oilpan underneath it and therefore aren’t universal.

In addition to what Jcarr said, there’s a chance that overfilling the oil will stress a seal, and on a car this old that means you could start leaking at the rear main seal or valve covers where there was no leak before.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Aaron M - MasoFiST 06/29/2016 at 16:01

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Usually if one guesstimates high to low to be a quart, then one can guess when one is a quart low, two quarts low, a quart high, etc.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 06/29/2016 at 16:15

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I guess I’m more thinking that someone pulling on specific numbers where such a measure doesn’t exist could be an indication that they’re being hyperbolic or looking for a problem, as the OP mentioned.

If the car is a 4 cylinder and the tech accidentally read the capacities for a V6, they’d put in about 1.5 extra quarts of oil. It’s possible. It’s also possible though less likely that the tech filled the oil hot, and now it’s reading above the dipstick significantly when cold (less likely only because the amount of oil up in the galleys shouldn’t look like two extra quarts...maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of one).

crowmolly > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 16:15

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That sucks, but that’s the best way to know for sure.

Like RR said, 2 qts in a Camry is certainly pushing it. I think the 4 cyl takes 4qts, so 6 qts is a lot.

wafflesnfalafel > PartyPooper2012 06/29/2016 at 21:51

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uh... how did pops determine there are two extra quarts in there?

PartyPooper2012 > wafflesnfalafel 06/30/2016 at 07:36

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Let me know if you figure it out... My sister and I threw our hands up and gave up. His shenanigans are infinite

PartyPooper2012 > crowmolly 06/30/2016 at 07:37

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so pops couldn’t sit quietly on the couch with TV on. He went to the dealership and had them drain oil and put correct amount in.