Too Much Oil

Ron_CA · September 17, 2010

My Wife went to the local GMC dealer today and had the oil changed in her Denali. The dummy tech put too much oil in. Like 1/2 inch over the fill line on dipstick. Do I need to climb under and drain some, or let it go?

[email protected] · September 17, 2010

Just let her be, it'll burn it off, anyway.

r1byker · September 17, 2010

I think you need to drain it out or you'll run into cavitation, that is, air bubbles in your oil created by the crankshaft stirring it up. That'll result in reducing the effectiveness of the oil pump's ability to pump oil through the system. Not a good thing. Not too tough to drain a bit; just might be a little messy.

Ron_CA · September 17, 2010

Just let her be, it'll burn it off, anyway.

You sure...or guessin?

jblakeney · September 17, 2010

It will be aight... That is not that bad......

I had some younger customers walk in my store several years ago (one jr highish and possible a 20 something). Purchased 2 quarts of oil and walked out..... A couple minutes later I see them again (I did not wait on them) I again see them leave with 2 quarts again..... Several minutes pass, they again walk in ( I am still BUSY) and they purchase more oil. To myself I am saying 2 + 2 + 2 = 6........... Several minutes pass again. Again I see the same 2 guys... Now I am thinking 6 + 2 = 8 I stop them quit waiting on my customer and ask them what they are doing with the oil. There comment the car is low. I regretfully asked how much they were spilling? I got a quick answer NONE. We have a funnel. Quickly I said I have seen you leave out with 6 QUARTS OF OIL. Turns out the JR high kid was adding the oil. They had just had the oil changed, he had told the other dude they did not put enough oil in the car at the quick lube........ Now it was a Caprice with a 4.3 V8.......... I quickly said it ONLY HOLDS 5 quarts...

Turns out they put the right amount in at the quick lube. The younger dude never pulled the stick. He informed me that you should fill the engine with oil till it comes out of the filler cap.............

You do the math 5 + 6 is ????????

I call it rearranging engine parts. It is hard to compress water but oil is even better. 11 quarts of oil was in the car. Took 2 drain pans to remove the oil and refill the engine.

That is around 3/4 of a quart........... You will be alright. You might see some seepage from the front and rear seal. Do not be surprised.

Jbo

Ron_CA · September 17, 2010

It will be aight... That is not that bad......

I had some younger customers walk in my store several years ago (one jr highish and possible a 20 something). Purchased 2 quarts of oil and walked out..... A couple minutes later I see them again (I did not wait on them) I again see them leave with 2 quarts again..... Several minutes pass, they again walk in ( I am still BUSY) and they purchase more oil. To myself I am saying 2 + 2 + 2 = 6........... Several minutes pass again. Again I see the same 2 guys... Now I am thinking 6 + 2 = 8 I stop them quit waiting on my customer and ask them what they are doing with the oil. There comment the car is low. I regretfully asked how much they were spilling? I got a quick answer NONE. We have a funnel. Quickly I said I have seen you leave out with 6 QUARTS OF OIL. Turns out the JR high kid was adding the oil. They had just had the oil changed, he had told the other dude they did not put enough oil in the car at the quick lube........ Now it was a Caprice with a 4.3 V8.......... I quickly said it ONLY HOLDS 5 quarts...

Turns out they put the right amount in at the quick lube. The younger dude never pulled the stick. He informed me that you should fill the engine with oil till it comes out of the filler cap.............

You do the math 5 + 6 is ????????

I call it rearranging engine parts. It is hard to compress water but oil is even better. 11 quarts of oil was in the car. Took 2 drain pans to remove the oil and refill the engine.

That is around 3/4 of a quart........... You will be alright. You might see some seepage from the front and rear seal. Do not be surprised.

Jbo

It seems like seepage, could cause future leakage. No?

pm26 · September 17, 2010

If it was my truck, I would just drain about 1/2 quart and be done with it.

Edited September 17, 2010 by pm26

Se77vN · September 17, 2010

If it was my truck, I would just drain about 1/2 quart and be done with it.

+1 why worry about it? remember the more you take care of your truck the more it will take card of you.

JBR

tanked_darren · September 17, 2010

My Wife went to the local GMC dealer today and had the oil changed in her Denali. The dummy tech put too much oil in. Like 1/2 inch over the fill line on dipstick. Do I need to climb under and drain some, or let it go?

Uh why not take it back and have them make it right?? You paid for a service to be done correctly.

If you did it yourself I wouln't worry about it, but its not hard to drain out some.

Ron_CA · September 17, 2010

If it was my truck, I would just drain about 1/2 quart and be done with it.

+1 why worry about it? remember the more you take care of your truck the more it will take card of you.

JBR

Probably take me 5 min tomorrow morning. I'll drain a little. Thanks

Then I get to call and mess with service advisor

jblakeney · September 17, 2010

It seems like seepage, could cause future leakage. No?

Possible, but I doubt it. It will leak more than likely when the engine is off. If the seal is submerged. I have seen worse amounts in engines with out damage....

I don't remember if the LS engines have a crank wiper or not........

Heck drain a little out (and play it safe)..... Be careful though, it only takes just a couple seconds to drain the entire thing..... But I have over filled stuff before... Not as much as the two I mentioned above but I have over filled..... Sometimes I have a hard time remembering which of my vehicles take 5, 6, or 7 quarts..... I rarely ever pull the stick after filling with oil.. It is usually several weeks later when I get around to checking the level.

Jbo

tanked_darren · September 17, 2010

Someone told me a story of a guy who had an engine rebuilt and he called the guy who built it back because it wasn't running right. When the mechanic went to take a look the guy mentioned it was really low on oil so he filled it up. Turned out the guy filled the engine up to the oil fill cap.

Don't know how much truth is behind it, but I'm sure there's people out there who've done it

r1byker · September 17, 2010

If it was my truck, I would just drain about 1/2 quart and be done with it.

+1 why worry about it? remember the more you take care of your truck the more it will take card of you.

JBR

Probably take me 5 min tomorrow morning. I'll drain a little. Thanks

Then I get to call and mess with service advisor

Good idea.

whizbanger1 · September 17, 2010

I have a 07 5.3 and it always reads high. Read some where that these trucks are full when its comes up to the 2nd digit in the serial # on the stick. There's a few posts floating around about it.

GPSilverado · September 17, 2010

I wouldn't worry about it if it is truly only 1/2 inch above the fill line. The engineers designed it so that if the oil is below the fill line it means that you should add oil. There is room for one additional quart at that point without damage to the engine. This was written in print from GM many years ago (mid-80's) but I have no way of trying to find it, since I haven't been a GM tech since the mid-90's.

We did have a Cavalier Z-24 in the shop once with too much oil, but it was way too much. The crank had beaten the oil nd that resulted in the baffles being broken loose from the oil pan, which wrapped around the crank and caused major issues.

If you want to be entirely certain that everything is fine, take it back to the dealer and get tehm to sign off on it. If it does harm, they are responsible.

Edited September 17, 2010 by GPSilverado