Consequence of Too much Oil in the Crankcase????

[Florida Guy]

I had my oil changed yesterday at a dealer and the technician put in 6 quarts of oil instead of the 4 1/2 that is required. I drove it home - approximately 34 miles and parked it in the garage. After about 20 minutes I decided to check the oil level. I don't know why, but I found the level way up the dip stick. I then checked the invoice and found they put in 6 quarts of 5W30 Mobil 1. I then looked at previous invoices which indicated they put in 5 quarts. I won't get into what transpired during the subsequent phone calls to the dealer's service department. I drained 1 1/2 quarts in my driveway. The dip stick reads full now. This morning I drove it to another town about 50 miles distant. When I returned this afternoon, I monitored the coolant temperature on the Interstate. Max was 212 degrees. The oil temperature got up to 215 degrees. Close to home I drove at 30 mph through a residential area in 2nd or 3rd gear. The oil temperature got up to 228 degrees.

My questions for those of you with experience: When I drove it home with the 6 qts in the crankcase, is it likely that I damaged the bearings? I am concerned that the oil may have foamed and lost it's lubricating properties.

And is 228 degrees within the normal range for that oil in the above driving conditions? Seems high but I don't recall ever checking my oil temperature under those conditions before this.

What do you think???

 

[Hib Halverson]

Don't worry.

1.5 quarts over won't hurt anything as long as 1) you did run the engine at high rpm while it was overfull and 2) you drained out the extra 1.5 quarts. In any event, 1.5 qt overfull will not damage bearings. It does cause excessive oil windage and tends to "blow" a lot of oil into the PVC system and the air intake, but that should stop shortly after the oil level is restored to the correct point.

If you saved the 1.5 qts, put it in some container with a cap on it and use it as the engine uses oil over the next 5000 miles or so.

228 oil temp is nominal for a normal 2nd/3rd gear driving duty cyle in FL.

Next time you change, go from a 5W30 to a 10W30 and, because your in Florida, your engine will be better for it.

 

[boomdriver]

I had my oil changed yesterday at a dealer and the technician put in 6 quarts of oil instead of the 4 1/2 that is required. I drove it home - approximately 34 miles and parked it in the garage. After about 20 minutes I decided to check the oil level. I don't know why, but I found the level way up the dip stick. I then checked the invoice and found they put in 6 quarts of 5W30 Mobil 1. I then looked at previous invoices which indicated they put in 5 quarts. I won't get into what transpired during the subsequent phone calls to the dealer's service department. I drained 1 1/2 quarts in my driveway. The dip stick reads full now. This morning I drove it to another town about 50 miles distant. When I returned this afternoon, I monitored the coolant temperature on the Interstate. Max was 212 degrees. The oil temperature got up to 215 degrees. Close to home I drove at 30 mph through a residential area in 2nd or 3rd gear. The oil temperature got up to 228 degrees.

My questions for those of you with experience: When I drove it home with the 6 qts in the crankcase, is it likely that I damaged the bearings? I am concerned that the oil may have foamed and lost it's lubricating properties.

And is 228 degrees within the normal range for that oil in the above driving conditions? Seems high but I don't recall ever checking my oil temperature under those conditions before this.

What do you think???

No worries...
The worst that can happen if not addressed is the engine possibly "slinging" oil internally. This is the crankshaft being submerged and throwing that extra oil up onto the cylinder walls where it slowly gets burned and used. Some (fumes/mist) gets picked up by the PCV system and inhaled thru the intake. Only harmful to cats if its long term (months).

As far as the temp....keep in mind higher RPM, higher loads (hills etc) drive up oil temp. Cruising @ steady speeds and low RPM have the lowest temps. OIL is the "other" engine coolant and needs to be near boiling to be efficient so it can burn off moisture, and be at the viscosity the engine was designed for. Mr Halverson is making a good point about changing the grade of oil. Your owners manual should have a chart that indicates which grade to use for your climate. Warm to hot ambient temps need the heavier oil to lubricate at the slightly elevated temps and operating conditions. I run 20/50 in summers with 100* days and switch to 10/40 or 10/30 in winter when temps get closer to freezing. Always allow your engine to warm up at idle for several minutes from a cold start no matter the ambient conditions, but especially during winter.The oil has to get warm before it lubricates well.

I personally gave up on Iffy-lube and other "drive-thru" oil change/maint after picking up my car one day
(iffy-lube Newport Beach) and 2 miles away smoke starts pouring out from under the hood at a stop lite....
The little moron that did the work left the filler cap off, lost that and the dip stick was laying across the top of the engine...oil had sprayed out of the valve cover all over the engine...and they had the balls to deny responsibility for this.