Oil Change Troubles

[Mac]

So between working late every night and going what seems like a wedding every weekend, I haven't had any time to change my oil. I decided to take it to a shop my parents have used for years yesterday afternoon. To make it super easy for them, I gave them a new filter and a 5 liter jug of Elf. I didn't realize until later that they didn't leave the leftover oil. I pulled over and checked the level and it was above the the lip in dipstick (much higher than it should have been, well outside of the range). I guess they just dumped the entire thing in and didn't bother checking it. So I have two questions:

Did I do any damage last night driving about 70-80 miles with too much oil?

And, what should I do now, just drain a little bit out?

Thanks.

[audipotential]

So between working late every night and going what seems like a wedding every weekend, I haven't had any time to change my oil. I decided to take it to a shop my parents have used for years yesterday afternoon. To make it super easy for them, I gave them a new filter and a 5 liter jug of Elf. I didn't realize until later that they didn't leave the leftover oil. I pulled over and checked the level and it was above the the lip in dipstick (much higher than it should have been, well outside of the range). I guess they just dumped the entire thing in and didn't bother checking it. So I have two questions:

Did I do any damage last night driving about 70-80 miles with too much oil?

And, what should I do now, just drain a little bit out?

Thanks.

Yes! Drain it. I dont think you caused any damage but I would drain it right away.

[dougyfresh]

If you can get your hands on an oil pump then you can pump out some oil through the dipstick. That is the easiest method. Otherwise you have to drain the oil through the drain plug. If you go that route use a new, clean container so you can recapture the oil and re-use it (since you have <100miles on it).

Oil level should be at the top of the cross-hatch marking on the dipstick. Not the top of the notch the cross-hatching resides in.


Too much oil? You may have damaged your catalytic converter but I'd just get the oil to the proper level first and then see how the car runs and go from there. Try not to drive the car until you can get the oil level correct.

[woofster]

Holy smokes, if your parents have been to going to this shop for years, I'd go take a peek under your parents' car's hood, just in case. It's very hard to believe a shop didn't drain the oil or check the dipstick afterwards.

[04QuattroTurbo]

Too much oil also can cause you to blow an engine seal. You may want to check those as well. Sometimes it doesn't take much to blow one of those with too much pressure. If you did blow a seal, I would definitely have them pay for it. Did you tell the garage owner what happened?

[Mac]

Thanks for the help, guys.

I didn't tell the shop owner, unless something is really wrong its not worth the hassle for the $15 in labor they charged. Also, its a bit of a drive, so rather than drive on it longer, I just decided to to it myself.

I did take the opportunity to do my first Seafoam treatment. I've been wanting to give it a try for a while, so I figured now was as good as any. When I was under the car, I noticed what looked like a bunch of small cracks on the bottom of the engine. Nothing was leaking from them, but it did worry me. I took a picture with my phone, so the quality isn't great. I'll try to grab another one with a better camera when I'm back under there this afternoon.



What do you guys think?

Too much oil also can cause you to blow an engine seal. You may want to check those as well. Sometimes it doesn't take much to blow one of those with too much pressure. If you did blow a seal, I would definitely have them pay for it. Did you tell the garage owner what happened?

Is there any way to check for this?

[audipotential]

Has someone been jacking the car from the oil pan or something?

[OneBadAudi]

Has someone been jacking the car from the oil pan or something?

X2 ive never seen anything like that before...

[04QuattroTurbo]

Is there any way to check for this?

Yeah, check the block and see if you are leaking oil. The seals keep the oil in the engine. Check the front, sides and back.

I'd tell the owner regardless, especially if you need the seals done, since it would cost a whole lot more than $15. If I was the owner, I'd like to know that one of my yahoo's working for me, can potentially have made me lose money. Also, it is good to tell them and them early, in case this will have to go to litigation.

[ApexIt]

is there a chance that too much oil in the engine would cause the oil pressure warning to go off in the car while driving?

[04QuattroTurbo]

is there a chance that too much oil in the engine would cause the oil pressure warning to go off in the car while driving?

I believe that the warning light is for too little and too much pressure. If you overfilled the crankcase with oil, the pressure will be too high and you can blow a seal. Check your dipstick and see what level your oil is at, if it is above the limit then you probably have too high oil pressure.

[diagnosticator]

The marks on the pan are normal, it's caused by casting mold artifacts. If the pan was really cracked, it would be leaking oil severly. there is no evidence of any oil seepage.

[kwimberly]

The marks on the pan are normal, it's caused by casting mold artifacts. If the pan was really cracked, it would be leaking oil severly. there is no evidence of any oil seepage.

I have similar marks.