Can you damage anything if you overfill oil by a couple of quarts? TIA.

 

A couple of quarts? Don't know. Usually it's just a quart, or so and it ends up getting back into your intakes via the breather line from the tank. That fouls the Idle Stability Valve (ISV) causing a poor idle and, sometimes, running problems.

The ISV is easy to clean. The intakes, themselves, a bit more work.

Though, no damage that I've heard of.

 

If you've overfilled it, use a turkey baster to extract extra oil through the oil tank fill tube.

 

Maybe this is a dumb question but why not drain some out and then recheck and adjust as needed?

 

Yes , it can do real damage .
If that oil gets into a cylinder and locks it , something will have to give .
If that oil gets into a cylinder and ups the compression ratio to high , something will have to give .
You do not want a slug of raw oil getting into a cylinder .
The vent for the oil tank goes into the intake system .
An overfill can get out via the vent hose .

 

Indycam is right.

At the VERY least, excess oil gets pushed into the intake manifold to be burned and that really piles on heavy carbon deposits on the head surfaces as well as piston crowns which significantly reduce the threshold of detonation.

It doesn't go away, either.

I would strongly recommend that you drain some oil from the tank to the correct level on the dipstick (not the gauge).

 

+1. Get the oil level between the marks, or risk a lot of problems. Same is true on any car - an over-filled wet sump engine will overload the oil rings, and the oil turns to whipped cream by the spinning crankshaft.

 

If you've overfilled by 2 qts, then just drain the oil out of your engine case; around 2 qts will come out. Problem solved.

If you remove the oil tank plug to try removing 2 qts, PLEASE put the video on youtube because I'd love to see you try to get the plug back on after 2 qts have come out.

 

I recently watched someone do that; "Oh, I'll just let a little surplus oil out by removing the plug- WTF!!?!"

He couldn't get he plug back in (it was very hot too- the oil and the plug) and it looked like the Exxon Valdez; OIL EVERYWHERE- the approx. 1 qt. container he used to catch the oil oddly enough would not hold 12 qts.

 

Drained about 5 qts - Start the car - lots of smoke. Oil level gauge on the bottom - let the oil temp warm to second tick (8 Oclock) - add a quart of oil, nothing, let runn a little, nothing - add another quart - Full. Check the dipstick - Nothing. I think the gauge is screwed up. The oil that I drained was definetly dark enough to read on the dipstick (warm, idling, level, etc) Sometimes when I turn the key w/o starting the car the gauge is pegged at the top - manual says this is a short...... I'm taking it for service Tues.......

 

I've drained some oil from the drain plug. Just loosen it a bit and the oil starts to drizzle out. If you don't pull the plug all the way out it's no problem to tighten it back up. You'd be surprised how fast the oil will come out even without removing the plug all of the way.

 

In my experience, you need to let the oil temp gauge needle go BEYOND the third tick-mark (assuming the first tick mark is dead cold), which is around 8 o'clock on the gauge face. After the oil gets that hot, the thermostat opens, the oil flows to the cooler and THEN the needle will drop back to just below the third tick mark. THEN the oil level is ready for checking. Sometimes, it takes a long time for the oil to get that hot. Ex: today, I drove mine at 60 mph for about 25 minutes in 80 degrees F ambient temps before the oil gauge needle moved to the 3 o'clock position after sitting for 30 seconds on a level surface.

 

I actually drained the 5 quarts with the oil not warmed up - about two quarts came out - then I put the plug back, started the car briefly, then more was available to drain out...quickly! You are right - I dont think I could have done it with hot oil - not so much getting the plug started - but the hot oil burning my fingers.

 

Go to your local DIY store, buy a pumps that fits into the chuck on your drill, add two lengths of plastic tube, one end into the oil tank via the filler the other into an empty oil container, within 1 minuts. problem solved. No mess, no fuss... Easy old game...

 

I siphoned out a quart recently after my first oil change

I recently watched someone do that; "Oh, I'll just let a little surplus oil out by removing the plug- WTF!!?!"
...so good

My oil is so hard to read on my dipstick, as it looks like...well, fresh oil. Is their a secret?