djlarz

Hello all,

Recent oil change completed and using the dipstick or electronic oil indicator shows over the bars. I checked both cold, warm and at operating temp after a drive. Called the dealer who stated they put in 10 qts! I thought it was 9.25qts but I could be mistaken.

No smoke coming out of the exhaust and it ran like a champ like it usually does. Just wanted you guys opinion on this.

For reference it’s a 99 C2 with 70k miles.

Thanks!

az968gpw

As Jake Raby has advised me, check the oil in the morning when cold, the proper level is right at the mid point between the top and bottom mark. Overfilling is very bad. Then when the level is down to the bottom bar, add 1/2 quart to get back to the mid-mark level.

If your level is above the mid-mark, get it back to the shop and have oil removed. And next time tell them how to fill it properly.

dkraige

You can only check the oil level after the car sits overnight, on a level surface. So do that for starters to get an accurate read. If it shows high after that, you need to remove some oil to get it somewhere between the "min" and "max" marks on either the stick or the electronic gauge. You can do this by cracking the drain plug loose and letting it drip without actually removing it. That will let you remove whatever volume you need in an extremely controlled fashion, literally one drop at a time. Or you could remove the oil filter housing to remove about 1/2 quart at a time. Or you could use a vacuum pump down the dipstick tube to suck oil out. Whatever works.

Stuff like this is why I change my own oil. Shops don't take the time to properly fill and check oil levels; they just dump in a little more than the manual calls for and send it out the door. In your case, to save time they probably didn't let it drain all that long, so they probably only got out about 9 quarts or so. Then they dump in 10 since the manual calls for 9.5 or whatever, and they send the car on its way, clearly overfilled. This happened to my car the only time I had engine work done at a dealer and they had to change the oil in the process. I removed some on my own afterward.

This is also the reason my Audi A4, which calls for about 4.6 quarts of oil or something, was significantly overfilled when I bought it used. On that car they don't even open the drain plug to change oil at the dealer, they just suck it out the dipstick tube; the oil filter is on top too, so no reason to even go under the car for an oil change; this keeps the dealer's lifts freed up to perform more costly jobs. So I'm sure they probably only get 4 quarts or so out with the vacuum, leaving half a quart un-sucked in the engine, and then they just dump in a 5-quart container and send the car. Close enough, right? Every single Audi 2.0T engine in the world that's serviced at a dealer is probably rolling around with almost a full quart too much oil in it.

TexSquirrel

Too much oil is bad.
I’d remove the oil filter and drain the oil in it.
That might get you closer to where you need to be.

I’ve got one of the oil extractors that sucks the warm oil up the dipstick tube like the Audi mentioned above.
I’ve used it before and was surprised that it got all the oil in the pan of the car.
On the first few cars, I removed the drain plug and there were just a few drops of oil left.
I only use it occasionally.
Mainly on vehicles with rounded off drain plugs and for customers who don’t have time for a normal oil change.
Never on a BMW, Porsche, or Mercedes.

Flat6 Innovations

Being over filled is worse than not having enough oil. On the street these engines can run more than 2 quarts low and not see issues.. Over fill them by a pint, and things go down hill.

lowpue

Jake,

What actually fails due to too much oil....does it cause overpressure and then blows out seals or what? I always wondered....

Flat6 Innovations

Having too much oil in the engine pickles the internals, and promotes oil consumption. It can also effect ring seal, and can even effect the operation of the AOS.

People are way too hypersensitive when it comes to oil level. They spend time trying to keep the oil level at the very top, and in doing so they overfill the engine. I had one guy that checked his oil 5 times per day when driving the car, finally I told him he needed to see a Dr., to and get some sort of prescription, before he ended up creating a failure.

wildbilly32

Sad thing is probably no-one ever told him things like that before and they should have...

lowpue

So it is an overpressure thing and oil goes where you don't want it....the good news I always get it to the halfway mark for all my cars. In fact...I am just as crazy about halfway mark. Whenever I get the car back after an oil change I suck some oil out of the dipstick tube if the car still has one....I need a Dr. too.

NuttyProfessor

I was considering a Carrera with super low miles, but unfortunately, the owner was just like what Jake described - very hypersensitive about topping it off with oil. The owner explained that he killed the engine from overfilling it. Basically it suffered from hydrolock like 808Bill's AOS situation, but instead, he attempted to drive it until the motor finally gave up. He towed it to a Porsche shop and they confirmed oil hydrolock from overfilling it. He wanted low 20s for it which was about 10K lower than average at the time, but putting another engine in it would exceed the value. I passed.