Over filling with oil.

[benough]

The GTI was sounding a bit "dry" yesterday I so took it round the block to get it to operating temperature and check the oil.

When I got back the oil was barely reading on the dipstick, so my hair turned blonde thinking the sump was completely empty, not 1mm below the bottom of the dipstick, put 4L of oil in.

A couple of hundred metres down the road and the exhaust turned into an industrial smoke stack of blue smoke. I shat it an pulled over immediately.

Thinking the motor was toast I decided to check the oil again. You guessed it, it was about 4cm above the max mark on the dipstick.

I started it up, much to the disgust of the girl parked behind me and coasted home.

Now that's said, is there a process I should follow to sort this out properly?

I am going to drain the oil obviously and put new stuff in but are there any other precautions I should take?

Cheers

[static1800]

If you had just run it, the oil would have still been up in the motor. You need to let it sit for a bit before checking.

The engine only takes 4L in total so you have overfilled it big time.

You could have ruined the Cat and maybe damaged the engine from the overfilling. If you were poring out smoke you were burning oil which isnt good....

I would suggest draining and filling it correctly before driving it again, I'm going to let someone with more mechanical knowledge fill in with more detail before you should drive it.

[oracle1]

the only thing you can do now is drain the oil and refill to the correct level. Have a look on the outside of the block and see if you can see any signs of external oil leakage. The likely scenario now is that you have burst seals and gaskets. If you run the engine and it behaves normally, rev it in the driveway watch it for 10 mins or so. Check for leaks, take for a short drive monitoring oil pressure then stop and check the engine for leaks. Make sure you don't have a major leak and go the other way and seize the engine. Then drive it and hope you haven't done any damage. Post again I will watch.

[benough]

Yeah there is an external leak on the top at the oil breather but I couldn't see one anywhere else.

Would I have likely to have bent anything?

When I coasted home it was blowing smoke but no where near as much, kinda faint.

[oracle1]

that's probably just oil rising up through the block with nowhere to go and its got an opening, that's probably a good thing as it has vented pressure. Its unlikely that you have bent anything but at this stage the damage is done (if there is any). Without being there I cant tell if anything is broke but cross fingers you might get away with it. Hopefully you haven't got enough oil above the rings to cause hydraulic damage. Drain the oil, check you haven't got a gutful of oil out of the breather into any intake and if possible rotate the engine by hand to make sure its going to turn over before using the starter motor. If there is any oil astray in the top of the pot you could bend your rods. You have to get it running again and see how it behaves. If its starts and runs really rough like something is bent stop it immediately as more damage will result and the bill will be larger. Generally speaking most engines will take AT MOST about a litre from bottom to top marker, cars of course

[benough]

Well I pulled the breather off and no oil came out of it.

I ran it again in the garage at home and it seemed fine. Only for about 30 seconds though.

I had to go out last night so I left it but will check again tonight. Should I just drain it now and let it all come out over the course of the day?

[brad]

The GTI was sounding a bit "dry" yesterday I so took it round the block to get it to operating temperature and check the oil.

:

oil level should be checked with the oil cold. If possible, the car should sit overnight on a level surface.

If you are compelled to check the oil level when hot then the car should be allowed to sit for at least 5 minutes before you check the level. This gives the oil the opportunity to drain back into the sump from the rocker area, etc.

[benough]

From what I understood you needed to check it at operating temp because if you were to check it cold and the oil was, for example, not much above mimimum, When the engine warms up, the oil go up into the motor and the oil level available to the oil pump would drop, not giving a true reading.

[static1800]

Having it filled up to the correct mark when all the oil is in the sump means you will have enough oil at operating temps. That what the mark on the dipstick is there for.

[brad]

From what I understood you needed to check it at operating temp because if you were to check it cold and the oil was, for example, not much above mimimum, When the engine warms up, the oil go up into the motor and the oil level available to the oil pump would drop, not giving a true reading.

I have no idea what you are saying - it probably makes sense if sketched on the back of a beer coaster. Some things need lots of diagrams & arrows.

Oil expands when hot..... but not much. Maybe a few mm on the dipstick at most. The difference between hot level & cold level isn't enough to worry about (for most people).

If you are really anal about oil level then look at your dipstick. There should be:

• A lower line. This is the "Oh Jesus I need some oil right now" line.
• there is a cross hatched area. This is the "my engine is happy" area. If it is getting to the bottom of the cross hatches then you might think about adding a cup or two of oil.
• A top line. This is the absolute maximum when the engine is hot but has sat for 15 minutes draining back into the sump indicator line. You don't want it above this line.

As i said, check your oil when the car has been sitting for a while. First thing in the morning is good. If it needs oil (bottom of crosshatch) then add 0.5L and wait 10 minutes for it to drain into the sump & repeat the checking process. Aim to get it to the top of the crosshatches, no further.

The only time I buggerise around with hot oil is when i do an oil change.