adamfogerty

Hi,

My car was a little low on oil so an enthausistic mechanic friend topped it up last night...only he was a little too eager and promptly over filled it

I had no choice but to drive it home as it was late, dark and in a public parking lot - It was probably a 10 mile journey home.

There was some smoke coming out the rear right fender once I got home.

So what should my next steps be?

I plan on getting it serviced in the next couple of weeks, so don't really want to do a complete oil change now, as it will be a waste of $

I'm guessing I should drain off some of the excess oil? I noticed in Adrian's book you can drain both the oil cooler lines and the crankcase - which would be best for just removing the excess?

Any other tips on things to check or how I should run it?

I know how to read off the gauge/dipstick, the correct procedure for topping it up and the importance of not over filling it...I guess I needed to be a bit more persausive and said "I want it done this way" rather than just standing back.

Oh well.

So I went from not enough oil to too much...I'm not doing a great job of looking after my brand new baby

Although it will scare the hell out of me, what's the worst I could have done?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

Chris M.

Just drain it and put less back in .

tjr

I doubt you've done anything to it, but you shouldn't drive too far without getting it sorted. This is a common problem for new 911 owners...so much so that my local Porsche mechanic up here in Oxon has a suction pump specifically for this purpose. He sticks it down the oil filler and pulls it out that way. Very quick and doesn't create a mess - not to mention you can do it while the car is running (as it goes into the oil tank not the engine) so you can monitor the level on the oil guage while you do it - you should check the level on the dipstick to make sure though.

I'm sure Steve Bull in Devizes can sort this out for you in the same way and it probably won't cost you anything as it only takes a few minutes. Even better if you've booked your car in for a service with him...

kusee pee

I echo the above - and don't panic, we've all done it!

ianellison

Hi Adam - I did the same thing two years ago! best way is to slacken the 15 mm drain plug under the oil tank, this is situated about 3" from the rear wheel driver side wheel arch towards the front. Put a large tray under it slacken off v v slowly until it starts to drip/run slowly. If you go too far and the plug comes out you will lose a hugh amount of oil and replacing ther plug whilst the oil is flowing is not easy. Do this with the engine/oil cold. drain about a litre. Restart the car and get it up to full operating temperature and check the dip stick. From min to max is 1.7 litres so you can gauge how much to add back (if any) to fill. Leave the level about 5 mm below the max mark (about 10 to on the oil gauge). The engine must be hot to get this right.

ddubois

Welcome to the club! I did it on my first oil change. I drained a little off but still had a horrible idle, hunting and dying. I ended up cleaning the ISV which helped a little. The thing that really made the difference was disassembling the air intake distributors and cleaning out the pooled oil in them and the throttle body.

Richard Curtis

Easiest way is to get a turkey baster. Sucks the oil right out of the oil filler cap. Not messy if you're careful, and it's quick. Tip: Don't use the wife's turkey baster.

DWS964

When I first got my car, I had already read about the whole oil level checking process. I was surprised to learn the relatively small range on the oil level indicator - from the bottom to the top of the needle indicator, it is one quart or less. So, when my indicator is barely moving off the bottom when the car is fully warmed up, I only add 1/2 quart or less. This quickly brings the needle up to half way or more.
Thus, I can see how easy it is to grossly overfill these cars.

deep_uv

+1 On the turkey baster.

Get the car good and oil change worthy hot. Suction out with the baster and restart and re-check oil level on the dash gauge. Reiterate until you get it right. It takes quite a bit of suctioning, I would go with 5 or 6 draws between each restart and re-measure.

Regards,

Steve

dfinnegan

I believe that drawing oil from the fill spout gets you into the oil system "beyond" the filter. Meaning that any contaminants that you let in can get to the engine without passing through the filter. Be careful not to get an grit in there and try not to scrape any oil gunge into the tank as you put the tube or baster neck into the spout.

TR6

I've gotten to where I use the gauge exclusively. Once you understand the way it works and have some confidence in it, it really is a more accurate way of monitoring oil level in my opinion. And I only add perhaps a 1/4 of a quart at a time and then wait to see the results on the gauge. My goal is to have the needle right in the halfway zone. So far, its been working well for me. I haven't overfilled yet! And there really is a lot of oil in these cars, so fears of letting them get too low on oil the moment the gauge gets to the low point are really not necessary. I've had mine work its way eventually to the bottom of the guage and then carefully topped it up to find that it only needed a half quart total to get it back in the "zone".
If this is correct, then any time you open your filler cap to add oil, you are potentially allowing grit/dirt in that may accumulate around the filler neck/cap and get knocked loose. But its really the same situation on any wet sump engine I've owned where the filler cap is on top of the valve cover. Anything that goes into the filler hole is going to go through the engine...

MarkD

+1 the gauge is great. You can see it through the rear window (or with the top down)... add a little, wait a 30 sec., add, wait, etc.

How overfilled is it? Is the guage pegged at the top? Dipstick reads... what?
The smoke from the right rear may just be from oil spilled while filling and is dripping onto the exhaust... it can take some time to go away, depends on the size of the mess from above.
If it is coming out of the exhaust, see posts above re. sucking some out.

dfinnegan

Here is a thread on the gauge vs stick readings.

warmfuzzies

Remember you are a Brit, and it should read Bumper......that should be your next step


Seriously, just drain the excess out, most of us have been there.

Kevin

ormy

I've found this thread most enlightening and it's got me worried - my oil level is a couple of inches above the max mark on the dipstick (gauge is off scale).

Does this mean "seriously overfilled"? What are the consequences of overfilling - I haven't experienced any overflow or smoke, and the oil has been at this level since I bought the car a month ago!



on the positive side, it doesn't appear to be using any oil