How much oil is to much ?

[cyber-bill]

Hi Fellows,
Had my oil changed the other day on two vehicles.
When I checked the level after arriving home both showed about 3/4 qt. over full. I understand that can sometimes cause seals to go from to much pressure. How much over full will be a problem? Also should I pump out the amount over full to be safe? One vehicle is a 3.8 , the other is a 4.0 ford engine.
Bill

 

[xtraham]

Re: How much oil is to much ?

it wont hurt anything, if you want to ease your mind just take off the oil filter drain the oil from the filter and re-install it, or take it back to the shop and have them do it, they should do it for you,

 

[TexomaAv8r]

Re: How much oil is to much ?

Years ago I worked as a "parts/oil changer" at Wal-Mart. One afternoon 2 guys came in with an older chevy of some sort -V8 complained of a serious oil leak. Sure enough there was oil everywhere and coming out of everything. We pulled the dip stick and it had been filled to the top of the dip stick tube! When asked about this, they siad they had never owned a car before, having come from NYC, but they were worried when they noticed a few drops of oil under the car-so everytime they saw a drop they added a quart....and so on and so on.
We drianed and refilled to an appropriate level, educated the owners and sent them away. Later tehy reported still seeing a few drops of oil but no more serious leaks (20 year old car 100K+ miles)

 

[JasonJ]

Re: How much oil is to much ?

The only thing too much oil does is cause resistance to the crankshaft as it is having to turn through the oil. There has to be a decent amount overfull to cause this. The amount of oil has nothing to do with the pressure, that is a function of the oil pump.

My mom bought a Merc Grand Marquis several years ago. The lady said it had an oil leak and she would add oil when the light came on. I ran the car and it seemed fine, but the oil level was way overfull. Then I noticed the Check Engine light would come on intermittently ( later found to be a faulty sensor connection and I fixed it). The previous owner was adding oil every time the Check Engine light came on!. Needless to say that car has not used a drop of oil since my mom has owned it....

 

[LubeDude]

Re: How much oil is to much ?

The main thing extra oil can cause is excesive foaming if it`s full enough for the crank to come in contact with it. If it`s severe enough, it can cause lack of proper lubrication due to a lowering of the oil preasure. It`s hard to how much is too much as every engine is different. Just keep it as close to the full mark on the dipstick as you can. The larger the sump the more over full you can get away with. There are cars out there that only hold about three quarts. If you overfill one of these much you would be in trouble.