Too much oil?
#1
Registered!!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 46
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rep Power: 0 Too much oil?
When I bought my Civic 2 weeks ago I was told by a friend that they normaly take a quart of oil per cylinder. So when I changed the oil I placed 4 quarts and a new filter into the engine. I found shortly after the the car was 1/2 a quart over the full line. One week later I read in the civic manuel that they take 3.5 quarts and that I put in 1/2 a quart too much. A diffrent friend said that having too much oil is bad because it could place unnessisary pressure on the seals and break them. My question is would having a 1/2 quart over full cause any damage to my engine and if so would it cause damage in as little as the week that it was over full? If there would be damage would it be to the seals alone or any other part? Thanx
#2
Premium Member
Hey! Look At Me!! I'm a Supporting Member!!
iTrader: (14)
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Portland, Oregon
Age: 39
Posts: 8,362
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Rep Power: 364 Re: Too much oil?
First off take the half quart out. Second dont listen to your friend.
Manual > friends
A half quart is pretty much the limit on what you should worry about. If you fill it up too much you have to worry about the oil pressure, and will actually give you less lubrication, confusing right.. If you fill it up too much, aka half quart+, the oil will start covering the crankshaft and it'll get whipped up. The oil and the small air bubbles will get pushed around and decrease the oil pressure to the moving parts. Result is wear on parts and lower fuel economy amongst others. Yeah you can have problems with your seals as well. Also "hydrolock"- basically the oil prevents the compression/decompression of the cylinder.
Its easy to take oil out. You can try draining it from the bottom and make a mess, or you can put a small tube down the dipstick space and carefully suck it till u get a flow and drain into a pan or bottle, then just raise the bottle above the cylinder head to stop the flow for a messless way to reduce the oil. When you drain, make sure the oil cap is off so it doesnt glug. Also if u think ur good, wipe the dip stick off, stick it in (with the tube out) and check the level. Should be dead center.
Manual > friends
A half quart is pretty much the limit on what you should worry about. If you fill it up too much you have to worry about the oil pressure, and will actually give you less lubrication, confusing right.. If you fill it up too much, aka half quart+, the oil will start covering the crankshaft and it'll get whipped up. The oil and the small air bubbles will get pushed around and decrease the oil pressure to the moving parts. Result is wear on parts and lower fuel economy amongst others. Yeah you can have problems with your seals as well. Also "hydrolock"- basically the oil prevents the compression/decompression of the cylinder.
Its easy to take oil out. You can try draining it from the bottom and make a mess, or you can put a small tube down the dipstick space and carefully suck it till u get a flow and drain into a pan or bottle, then just raise the bottle above the cylinder head to stop the flow for a messless way to reduce the oil. When you drain, make sure the oil cap is off so it doesnt glug. Also if u think ur good, wipe the dip stick off, stick it in (with the tube out) and check the level. Should be dead center.
Last edited by TRIZ; 11-09-2007 at 11:19 PM.
#3
Registered!!
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: We are Anonymous!
Age: 45
Posts: 3,091
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rep Power: 304 Re: Too much oil?
My experience has been that a small amount of overfill (<1/2 quart over) will not hurt anything.
It reaches a point though, where the oil reaches the height of the rotating crankshaft, and this whips the oil into a froth. Oil with lots of air in it does not lubricate well. The result can be the same kind of problems you would have running a car without oil...e.g. bearing failure, catastrophic damange.
I personally am not familar with leaks resulting from overfilling. Can anyone who has seen these first hand please give us any details.
It reaches a point though, where the oil reaches the height of the rotating crankshaft, and this whips the oil into a froth. Oil with lots of air in it does not lubricate well. The result can be the same kind of problems you would have running a car without oil...e.g. bearing failure, catastrophic damange.
I personally am not familar with leaks resulting from overfilling. Can anyone who has seen these first hand please give us any details.
#4
Jap-Euro Fusion
Hey! Look At Me!! I'm a Supporting Member!!
iTrader: (16)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Washington DC
Age: 41
Posts: 13,151
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
Rep Power: 399 Re: Too much oil?
I overfill it for the track, because beating on the car will burn a little off and it keeps the pickup submerged even in hard corners. I dont see 1/2 a quart hurting anything, but for reference, rules of thumb are useless, especially when there's a precise amount of 3.4 quarts for LX/DX and 3.7 quarts for the EX written in the owners manual.
Thread
Thread Starter
Honda Civic Forum
Replies
Last Post
emich
Fuel, Oil, Cleaners & Other Maintenance
9
12-11-2015 12:20 PM
SidCivic
Mechanical Problems/Vehicle Issues and Fix-it Forum
17
08-23-2015 03:14 AM
CdnRD
Mechanical Problems/Vehicle Issues and Fix-it Forum
6
08-21-2015 11:42 PM
fafa1234
Mechanical Problems/Vehicle Issues and Fix-it Forum
4
08-08-2015 06:42 PM
fecrni
Mechanical Problems/Vehicle Issues and Fix-it Forum
3
08-08-2015 06:15 PM