Too much oil?
 

Is there any harm in putting too much oil in the car? (I think I might have a little over 7 quarts in there)

Would having too much oil cause the "Check Engine" light to come on and stay on. I've never had the CE light stay on for 3 straight hours and come right on every time I restart the car. It came on a few miles after the oil change. :(

i thought i was leaking oil at one point, so i threw in a pint...turns out i wasn't leaking oil, just got a bad reading...i drove around for about 2,000 miles...till the next oil change...and it didn't seem to do any harm

Kelli

Yeah, that's what happened to me, I got a bad reading. It was all warmed up but still showing only halfway between full and low on the dipstick with 6.5 quarts in there. I put the other half in and didn't drive it till the next morning. After only a couple miles the CE light came on and hasn't gone off for over 100 miles now. And dipstick reads way over full, take the oil cap off and there is fresh oil splash still right under the cap. I say it is probably a little more than 7 quarts because I didn't have the car perfectly flat when I drained it.

Seemed to drive fine all day, guess my main concern is whether the CE light is just because of the oil, or there is another serious problem lurking.

i never got a light or any problem related to overfilling the oil, i would think you would be okay....just get an oil change soon, or bleed out some oil...

Kelli

how long till you have to get one anyways?

Overfilling your oil can cause seepage in various places over an extended period of time. You might experience blow-by through your oil fill spout or even your oil dip stick. I would think that it might affect engine temps all over.. I would always recommend filling it to factory specs otherwise you might encounter a messy engine compartment. :eek:

I can't answer your question due to cause of your engine light coming on. I would ASSUME that overfilling would cause your C/E problem if it illuminates after your oil change and nothing else...

I thought about replacing my oil drain plug with a drain cock/ butterfly valve. I don't know if I trust those though. Has anyone here used a drain cock/ butterfly valve for easy oil draining/ replacing???

I would definately check it again as mentioned above IF someone else did the change like grease monkey or any quick lube "like" place. Most mechanics or lube outlets are dumbfounded with the SVX dipsticks. The level is difficult to read....Level grounds, engine temps, to the clearity of the new oil...

Troy,

If you use inexpensive oil, I would recommend just draining and refilling it again. Don't bother replacing the filter, just the oil. I don't know of any quick way to drain out half a quart or so.

My mom's Legacy (no my Legacy) was once overfilled by a non-Subaru dealership. Right after, oil seals started blowing all over the place. The tranny was removed three times before they fixed everything.

Now, that problem was compounded by a seal for which the car was recalled (and then recalled again because the replacement seal had to be replaced by a third revision), but it does lead me to suspect that too much oil can lead to problems.

Well hate to say it, but I was the guy that changed the oil and did this. :rolleyes: Like I said, I had it all warmed up and got a low reading so I just put the rest of the 7th quart in. And then thinking about it, the car wasn't level when I drained so there could be some leftover to add to that amount as well. (dumb mistake!)

I just did this yesterday, so the CE light coming on after just a couple miles seems awfully suspect. The fact that I did it yesterday also means that I hate to do another change: especially since I use Mobil One. :eek:

But sounds like I better do something about it, this may get messy. :D

Be messy
 

Rookie thoughts:

Meet this week, lots of driving = more pressure? Not that we'll be drag racing, but still...

I would just be messy and do it. You could try to recapture some of the oil with a clean container, or cut the tops off of the old oil containers to collect it before it hits the regular oil-catch container. Still messy, but you could save some of the Mobile One. All-synth, right?

Good luck!

Messy
 

Well I went out to the driveway and drained some. I had bought a few six packs of Mobile One at Costco so I had plenty of back up and figured the loss wouldn't be quite as financially bad as it would be had I bought it retail. I basically just took the plug out and then put it back in as fast as I could, which wasn't super fast since hot oil was shooting out everywhere as I tried putting it back in. :eek: Managed to catch it all in the pan though (not to save, but to keep the driveway clean). I then dumped it into the empty bottles I had from yesterday and filled 4 quarts. I figured probably another .5 to full quart was spilled in the process of filling the bottles. So since I was way over before, I just put 4 back in. Warmed it up a long time, drove it around, and the stick read right in the middle of the two marks. :cool: Put another half quart in for now, and after I drive to the meet start tomorrow I'll check it again and see if she needs the last half. :)

ON the bad side of things, the check engine light is still on, not even disappearing for a while like any of my past experiences. This leads me to believe that something must be really wrong, but I have no idea what since everything is running okay. Has the meet monster transferred from Randy to me. :(

why dont u just pull the code from check engine and c what it is?
and will go from there

i had CE light on when oil got on O2 sensor... i cleaned it and light is off for good 4 months

also u could try to reset the CE after u get the code out.
and c if it comes back again
look in how- to section for instructions

cheers

Sergi

Yeah, what HE said!
 

My BF said the same thing about the O2 sensor (before I read the post, even, woo-hoo! He's my hero...):p

You're still coming to the meet, I hope, at least to the start point?

Until you pull the code you are just guessing what the problem is.

Pull the code!!!!

i was always under the impression that over filling oil could blow your seals under heavy loads.