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I had my diesel car serviced the other day and when travelling at 70mph it is not long afore the ''hi oil'' warning comes on, slowing down to 50 the warning goes off so I am returning to the garage to have a little oil drained off. What damage does too much engine oil do to a diesel car?
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<< What damage does too much engine oil doto a diesel car?
In any piston engine, overfilling with oil can lead to the crankshaft and big-ends dipping into the oil resulting in foaming of the oil, overheating of the oil caused by the extra power being put into it, and mechanical damage to the big end bearings caused by the extra forces put on them.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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P.S. And it consumes power, to the detriment of vehicle performance and fuel consumption.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Hi Oil warning? Blimey thats a new warning message on me, very clever, what car is it?
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HJ's Saturday column, a few weeks ago, answered the same question and said that damage could have been caused to the catalyst (pollution by oil) so chase this up. It sounds as though the damage could range from nil to £a lot!
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Well from where I'm sitting if your car has got a system to warn you of "high oil" and it didn't come on until you went on the motorway at 70, and you noticed it soon enough to drop back, then I doubt it would have done any damage. I'm also pretty confident that whoever designed the "high oil" system gave it some tolerance so the warning comes on at a level before it would do any damage to the engine. Get it checked and/or drained just to be sure though. What level is the dipstick at?
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Mike Farrow
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{moved to the original thread as it's all related. DD}
The dipstick on this and my last deisel has three different levels..engine hot the level is low...cold and its well up the stick...leave the car after a run for 5 minutes and its in the middle. It seems no one has the answer from the main dealers to the blokes at work or down the pub! Which is the right way to check deisel oil level?
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I would go with the cold level by convention. Someone might have a different answer though?
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Mike Farrow
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There is a very odd procedure for SAAB diesls. They say check 5 minutes after a run, with the car on level ground - this isn't the odd bit! When you take the dipstick out there is no oil showing on it at all; clean it and put it back in and you get the correct level. This is very odd and SAAB actually sent out a letter detailing the procedure as people were taking the first reading (nothing showing) and shoving a litre of oil in, which wasn't needed and probably did some damage.
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There is a very odd procedure for SAAB diesls. They say check 5 minutes after a run, with the car on level ground - this isn't the odd bit! When you take the dipstick out there is no oil showing on it at all; clean it and put it back in and you get the correct level. This is very odd and SAAB actually sent out a letter detailing the procedure as people were taking the first reading (nothing showing) and shoving a litre of oil in, which wasn't needed and probably did some damage.
Its not actually that odd. I have come across a number of engines where this happens. I think its because the dipstick tube actually goes down into the oil. When the engine is running the oil level is below the end of the tube. When the engine is stopped the oil drains back into the sump and rises above the bottom of the tube. Because the dipstick top is an airtight fit in the tube, the oil can't actually enter the tube. Removing the dipstick allows the oil to flow into the tube and then you can take a correct level.
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Aprilia. What a totally brilliant and, I am sure correct, explanation of the quirks of getting a SAAB's oil level. This will also apply to any other GM product using the 2.2 diesel engine (Vectra, Frontera et al).
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They say check 5 minutes after a run, with the car on level ground
Same on the Fiat group 2.4JTD as fitted to the Marea and Alfa 156.
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Have you pulled the dipstick to verify the oil level is too high? Maybe the warning is to notify you that the oil temperature is too high, rather than the oil level.
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If too much oil is put into a C5, the oil level indicator (not the dipstick) says the oil level is low. It is ultrasensitive at the upper level and the slightest excess will cause a false readout.
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Dunno how helpful this will be, but it is kinda relevant.
Many moons ago I used to drive an old scania with @ 900k on the clock. Not a bad old tug, but used about a 1-2 gallons of oil a week, so topping up was a regular thing. One sunday I noted when dipping that the oil level was ok and assumed that someone else had topped it up if they needed to use it. well, set off for southampton and got to M6 at about J12 when I glanced down and saw the big red stop light on, and naff all oil pressure. pulled over and checked oil-still ok. limped into hilton park and called boss, who came out himself and brought me a nice F12. the scanias motor still ran and sounded fine so he drove it back to base (about 100 miles) and later in the week I was informed that the diesel lift pump (bolted to the block and running off a lobe on the camshaft) had sprung an internal leak and was diluting the engine oil with neat derv!. (they dropped the sump and replaced all the big ends, but the old ones looked ok so they didnt bother with the mains).
Sorry for rambling on so, but hope this was at least of interest if not helpful
WTM
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WTM, In a similar vein I recently witnessed a MAN engine rev. out of control until it wrecked itself. The driver, being new to the vehicle, and unfamiliar with the oil filler tube had managed to top up the sump with derv. (only a couple of gallons though). The engine breather on this particular engine is linked from the sump to the induction system and as soon as the oil / derv mixture splashed into the breather circuit it was drawn into the air intake system, turbocharged, and then fed into the cylinders. The engine was unstoppable but eventually it was forced into gear and stalled. Result - bent con rods and scored liners.
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Used to work for a firm that had an old ford cargo for local work and shunting. It was a dog and no-one liked it, but I didnt duck fast enough when tasks were being handed out I got stuck with a weeks worth of driver assesments for some potential young hopefuls. Anyhow, oil and water fillers are both on the back of the cab, oil about level with top of wheel arch, water about halfway up the cab. First chap of the day, we check both. (in fact I hung back with them all to see how many would do so. sadly, very few did.) he checked, took the caps off and declared it needed both. I told him where the water tap and can was, and I went to stores for the oil. when I returned, I discovered he had overfilled the water, and it had overflowed straight into the oil filler. must have put about half a gallon into the oil.
We soon sorted it though, and he was one of the few I actually recommended (he got one of the jobs). It was a long time ago, but he still buys me pints.
WTM
BTW, worth saying this: CHECK YOUR OIL AND WATER ON A REGULAR BASIS!!!
So what if its a works car/van or a hire vehicle and you dont have to pay when it seizes. Do you REALLY want to be stuck on a hard shoulder or a lonely road (maybe with no signal on your phone) for god only knows how long?
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VW PD engines (as fitted to my Galaxy) clearly state in BIG letters next to the oile filler cap OVERFILLING CAN DAMAGE CATALYST or similar.
Service capacity = 4.3 Litres.
Fraud garage still managed to put 7 litres in at service though!
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I have noticed that Renaults are somewhat querky about oil, both trucks and cars. In a wagon I used to drive if you topped the oil up to the full mark then within a couple a of days it would be half way down the dipstick, but it would stay at that level for ever and a day. The same thing happens with my Laguna, seems to be a Renault thing as have never come accross it on any other vehicle.
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