Overfilled oil

rowanh

If i overfilled the oil in my car would there be an easy way to take it out? ITs only a little bit over the max amount on the dipstick. I was thinking i could syphon it out but maybe it would be easier to unscrew the bolt on the sump though messier. I dont think i have a tube for syphoning.

prospect

Overfilling can be serious.

Open the sump and drain some out.

DublinDilbert

As the poster above said over filling can be serious, but you would have to overfilly by a litre or more to do any sort of damage...

if its just a little over the Max level on the dip stick i wouldn't worry at all... you should be able to find out the amount of oil between min / max on the dipstick, then work out how much it's over filled by... if its just a little < 0.5 liters i wouldn't be worried at all...

Fey!

If you're crazy worried about it, some service stations (I know Maxol had them) and places like Halfords do a vacuum pump for taking oil out through the dipstick. However, it costs about €100.

barryfitz

well if you were taking out the sump plug it would probably be best to drain the entire well, as getting a sump plug back in while the oil is flowing and hot is quite messy and burny!!! but I wouldnt drain it if its only a small bit above the max mark.

rowanh

Thanks for the replies. So if i undo the sump and let some out and try and close it again but if that does not work pour the entire amount oil back in? Id say it should be possible to close it while its pouring out, if the oil is cold will it come out slowly?

Gerry

Taking out the sump plug and putting it back in is pretty tough. Almost impossible, unless you've practised it or something. When I got my car, the PO had enthusiastically filled it about a half litre above max.
I did drive it back 400 miles like this, and it was fine, but its not adviseable if your car is diesel.
When I got home, and found it was over the max, I got some clear tubing, stuck it down the dipstick tube, and siphoned it out. Its better to do this after warming the car up to temperature, so the oil flows easily.

cormie

There's a handy little trick where if you fill a container (with oil in your case so you can use it again) just up enough so it can cover the head of a tube, which you will put one end into where the dip stick goes and then you will suck through until you taste some oil, cover the end of the tube with your thumb and submerge it in the oil in the container, release your thumb and you'll witness some magic, the oil from the car will pump itself into your little container!

Try it with water first so you know what you're doing;)

Gerry

I didn't find to be necessary. If the tube is clear, you can avoid tasting the oil
You need to have the container on the ground, and you need to get the oil all the way down the tube, until the oil at your end of the tube is at a lower height than at the other end of the tube in the sump. At that stage, the siphon effect takes over, and it will pump itself out, into an empty container.

daedalus2097

Probably not pleasant, and not good for you either seeing as used motor oil is a known carcinogen, but that's the basic principle behind syphoning. I'd leave it be to be honies, a small amount above the max mark is allowed, manufacturers have the max and min at "safe" levels to allow for differences such as the slope of the ground, the loading of the car etc... It'd have to be a good way up over the max to cause damage - like someone said, 0.5 litres is probably ok. How much is it in proportion to the distance between max and min?

Altreab

cormie wrote:

There's a handy little trick where if you fill a container (with oil in your case so you can use it again) just up enough so it can cover the head of a tube, which you will put one end into where the dip stick goes and then you will suck through until you taste some oil, cover the end of the tube with your thumb and submerge it in the oil in the container, release your thumb and you'll witness some magic, the oil from the car will pump itself into your little container!

Try it with water first so you know what you're doing;)

It might be a good idea to use a clear tube for this so you can see how fast the tube is filling nothing worse than having the tube just at the point where its full and you give it a good suck only to end up with a mouthful of dirty engine oil

Stephen

If you do end up draining it out by the sump you might as well change the oil instead of refilling it with the same dirty oil.

Avns1s

rowanh wrote:

If i overfilled the oil in my car would there be an easy way to take it out? ITs only a little bit over the max amount on the dipstick. I was thinking i could syphon it out but maybe it would be easier to unscrew the bolt on the sump though messier. I dont think i have a tube for syphoning.

If its less than 10mm over the max point, leave it alone. It won't do any harm. If you haven't run the car after an oil and filter change, the capacity of the filter will take a couple of mm of this anyway.

Most garages will overfill by this amount to allow for some usage between services.

biko

Indeed, take this opportunity to do a oil change if you haven't done that before.
You could drive in to a garage and show a mechanic before you do anything else.

rowanh

I think its about 10mm over, cant remember exactly. I dont think i have a suitable tube to try syphoning it out, where do you get a tube about 5mm wide and 1M long? I would have thought it would be a lot easier to syphon it from the tube yuou pour the oil into though it is a little twisty. I changed the oil somewhere betweek 1K and 1.5K kms ago so doesnt need to be done for a while. If i cant get it back in the sump so i have a container of oil putting it back in wont be a problem will it? I have my nct tommorow do you think if they check the oil and its over it could be a problem?

cormie

Go into any hospital, find someone on a drip and nick their tube:eek:

brianmc

rowanh wrote:

where do you get a tube about 5mm wide and 1M long?

In a pet shop. Ask for aquarium air-line tubing.

el tel

Did you check the oil level with the vehicle parked on a flat horizontal surface and with the engine cold?

BrianD3

I woudn't bother with siphoning, just loosen the sump plug until a slow drip of oil starts, put a container under it and leave overnight. Ideally you should replace the sump washer every time the plug is loosened but you'll probably be OK.

rowanh

I think yea ill have a go at loosening the sump, worst case scenario is i have to pour the oil back in, i think i can handle that.

was on level ground with engine cold, a couple times, i was thinking wtf the first time as when i changed it i checked it then check it the next day, im sure it was bang on the full mark. I have done maybe 1250Kms since though, hope i havent done any damage to the engine, been reading how it makes froth and does not lubricate it properly.