jkb

Just had an oil change done and noticed the on-board computer and dipstick showing too much oil. The question is: how much is too much? According to the manual, i am past the "max" level on the dipstick by about half a quart. Should i worry or is this not a big deal? Thanks...

ArneeA

Do you have an oil pump that goes through the dipstick tube? I've sucked oil there once when I overfilled by 1/2 a quart.

I'd suck it off or you could wait for it to burn off... just don't do high-rpms for awhile.

dresler

I'd be more worried about the carpet you put the dipstick on.

gota911

You could remove the oil canister and drain out the filter and the canister. That will probably (guessing) get you 1/4 to 1/2 quart of oil. Save the oil you get from the filter to "top off" the oil level if necessary.

I usually added oil until it was still about 1 line below the Full mark on the electronic readout. That way you know you won't overfill the oil.

1999Porsche911

Or.......you could go back to the place that did the oil change and make them correct the level.

StuartFirm

Ahhh, don't worry about it. Just go run the car through the twisties for a couple of hours while making sure your RPMs don't fall below 5,000 too often. It ought to burn off some it on that trip, then next weekend go do it again. Check back with us after next weekend and let us see another pic of your oil covered dipstick, then make sure and include a pic of your ear to ear grin.

Seriously, I don't believe I would worry about it at all. If the car is not smoking, then you are in all likelihood just fine. If you are truly worried about it and just can't shake the feeling that you MUST do something about it, then please follow one of the solutions listed above. Personally and seriously, I would solve it by doing exactly what I described in my previous paragraph, but that's just me. Actually, I would repeat my process over and over until the problem corrected itself. If it takes 20 trips through the canyons or twisties at a high rate of speed to fix the issue for the well being of my car, then I just have to take the 20 trips. I mean, there's extra oil in there to protect against the extra wear and tear on the car, right? So what's the problem.

1999Porsche911

Hopefully the OP has a good Porsche engine that burns no oil. Running too much oil does not neccessarily translate into smoke, but it does translate into airation which translates into less lubrication which translates into engine wear. Running the twisties with air in the oil is the worse thing you could do.

ArneeA

I agree. I wouldn't run it with the oil being aerated, especially with high rpms.

phaphaphooey

When I first got the car I accidentally overfilled by approximately 1 quart and was fine for the duration of my oil change interval. Consensus on www.bobistheoilguy.com is that manufacturers leave some wiggle room in their recommendations to account for dummies like myself that overfill. Again, consensus on that oil dedicated board is that in almost all engines a quart over is probably ok as it is probably not high enough to be whipped up and subsequently aerated by the crankshaft. It is an old racer's trick to overfill an engine to prevent oil starvation in sharp corners and some manufacturers even recommend overfilling their cars whenever tracked such as Chevy does with the Corvette.

All this is to say that the miniscule amount that you overfilled is in all likelihood perfectly acceptable. In fact you could probably overfill by a quart or possibly even more and suffer no ill effects. However, common sense dictates that of course the safest thing to do is not to overfill at all if possible.

Doug Donsbach

I wouldn't track an engine overfilled like that, but I wouldn't sweat it too much on the street. But be sure to talk to the oil change place before you let them touch the car again.

Tippy

+1

But honestly, I wouldn't even sweat it. More than likely, it will be gone by next oil change......

Robin 993DX

You should drain the oil, I personally believe over filled oil on the 996 motor is related to a leaky RMS.

Chads996

Ok folks....slooooooow the horses here.

1st of all....this is not a big deal. Why? The oil sump is a completely separated compartment from the rest of the engine. I know this due to cracking open the engine to replace the oil pan. Overfilling the sump will not harm anything.

I personally ran my 996 approx 1/2 qt over normal and a full quart over for track time. There is no harm in doing this. There is no way extra oil can touch any portion of the engine. Technically, the oil sump on this engine is sort of like a tank. Only the "tank" is attached and part of the engine casing. Here is a detail:



Will it cause RMS leaks? No. Why? It is completely separated from the portion of the engine.

Leave it be. It's fine. Relax and enjoy the car.

C.

pat056

I'll go on record in case you're adding up votes. 1/2 quart is nothing to get in arms about. Next time, fill to within the marks. Until then, don't worry about it. Spend that time worrying about the stock market or gas prices.
Or as dresler said, a good carpet cleaner.

Thanks for the pics Chad.

Robin 993DX

Chad,

I personally have experienced RMS leak due to filling the oil leve to the digital full mark on my oil change, and the RMS stopped when the gauge reaches two level down.