I can't believe I've been so stupid...(long post)
- Thread starter Matsuba
- Start date
Thanks for this tip about the oil seals as up till now I was only aware that driving an over filled engine could cause damage to the CAT due to oil being picked up by the piston and blown out with the exhaust gas.
Matsuba
Member
Well I've managed to remove the 2 litres of oil I put in. What an easy way to rid myself of thirty hard earned quid!
I went to the local diy store but they only had thick tubing that wouldn't ever have fitted down the dipstick pipe so I went to our pet shop and she had some thin stuff used in fish tanks (10p a yard...bargin!) which I fed down into the sump and sucked the first bit of oil up with the hoover nozzle (I read how to do this on another thread) but I guess the tube was too narrow to drain out like it was supposed to. I got about 50ml in about 5 hours! I needed another plan.
I remembered I had a small plastic syringe (5ml) laying about from when we had to give the dog some drops. Luckily this fitted perfectly onto the tube and I've spent the past few days syphoning out the oil. It's taken me so long because of the cold. I've only managed about an hour at a time before I've not been able to feel my fingers anymore!
I would have bought a proper suction gizmo but I couldnt really afford it after the oil expense. So...I'm now in a different situation. Firstly, I have to say that I topped up the coolant level with half antifreeze and half de-ionised water and the warning level light has stopped coming on for the time being. I'll keep my eye on that one.
So I've removed the 2 litres of excess oil that I put in but the level on the dipstick isn't moving. It still goes above the top of the black part and onto the actual dipstick. I know the garage that I bought it from did an oil change before I picked the car up so all I can think is they filled it up WAY too much. I've done around 4000 miles in the 7 months I've owned it, some slow but some fast. I'm guessing any damage to the catalytic converter or any seals, etc. will have been done already.
What side effects could I expect from this damage as the car seems to be running just as well as it always has?
I'm now thinking maybe I should ask you guys how to do a proper oil and filter change then at least I'll know for sure that the right amount of oil has been added? But the display says I've got 3000 miles till a service is due but I'm SO tempted to just ignore it and take it over to Mike Skipton and let him give it the once over?
Any advice, opinions or input would be grand.
Matt
I went to the local diy store but they only had thick tubing that wouldn't ever have fitted down the dipstick pipe so I went to our pet shop and she had some thin stuff used in fish tanks (10p a yard...bargin!) which I fed down into the sump and sucked the first bit of oil up with the hoover nozzle (I read how to do this on another thread) but I guess the tube was too narrow to drain out like it was supposed to. I got about 50ml in about 5 hours! I needed another plan.
I remembered I had a small plastic syringe (5ml) laying about from when we had to give the dog some drops. Luckily this fitted perfectly onto the tube and I've spent the past few days syphoning out the oil. It's taken me so long because of the cold. I've only managed about an hour at a time before I've not been able to feel my fingers anymore!
I would have bought a proper suction gizmo but I couldnt really afford it after the oil expense. So...I'm now in a different situation. Firstly, I have to say that I topped up the coolant level with half antifreeze and half de-ionised water and the warning level light has stopped coming on for the time being. I'll keep my eye on that one.
So I've removed the 2 litres of excess oil that I put in but the level on the dipstick isn't moving. It still goes above the top of the black part and onto the actual dipstick. I know the garage that I bought it from did an oil change before I picked the car up so all I can think is they filled it up WAY too much. I've done around 4000 miles in the 7 months I've owned it, some slow but some fast. I'm guessing any damage to the catalytic converter or any seals, etc. will have been done already.
What side effects could I expect from this damage as the car seems to be running just as well as it always has?
I'm now thinking maybe I should ask you guys how to do a proper oil and filter change then at least I'll know for sure that the right amount of oil has been added? But the display says I've got 3000 miles till a service is due but I'm SO tempted to just ignore it and take it over to Mike Skipton and let him give it the once over?
Any advice, opinions or input would be grand.
Matt
bretti_kivi
Member
what's peace of mind worth?
The dipstick is awful. Try taking it out, cleaning it with kitchen roll and reinserting, wait a couple of mins and then remove again.
If the front of the car is lower, the oil will always be very high on the 'stick. Suggestion: go to a petrol station, park up. Grab a tea and a sticky bun, scoff those in 15 mins and then check it after it's been on the (relatively) level forecourt. Remember to give the oil time to settle after driving!
Bret
The dipstick is awful. Try taking it out, cleaning it with kitchen roll and reinserting, wait a couple of mins and then remove again.
If the front of the car is lower, the oil will always be very high on the 'stick. Suggestion: go to a petrol station, park up. Grab a tea and a sticky bun, scoff those in 15 mins and then check it after it's been on the (relatively) level forecourt. Remember to give the oil time to settle after driving!
Bret
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I would worry about damage to the CAT if the oil level is only a little over the max mark. This is because the car has to cope with oil being filled to the max mark while coping with steep slopes and speed bumps. (I would imagine that there would a leveled clearance of 2 to 3 inches from the max level to the bottom travel of the pistons.)
So it will be unlikely for the pistons to be picking up the oil if the oil is only a little over the max mark by a few mm. 2 litres over is something else (an inch or so (25mm??), but I suspect that you would have probably gotten away with that too as you didn't run the car for too many miles - any damage to the CAT due to oil fouling/contamination will take some time to build up and will probably show up at the next MOT as an emission test failure.
Regarding the oil seals, on second thoughts, I am not sure if the oil seals will be all that sensitive to the oil levels - for a normally aspirated engine, I would imagine that any increase in pressure caused by an increase of 25mm of oil will be negligible compared to the pressure from the oil pump. Has anyone actually experienced this type of damage?
In my view there are a three potential problems with very high oil levels in the sump -
1) The crankshaft counterweights may continually run in the oil causing it to foam and overheat. Over long periods this can result in reduced oil pressure leading to bearing damage.
2) Large ammounts of oil can flood the crankcase breather system and block the flow of blowby gases (combustion gas which escapes past the piston rings). This could pressurise the crankcase and blow one or more of the oil seal
3) Large ammounts of oil can be thrown up the cylinder walls. The piston oil control rings may not cope causing an increase in oil consumption.
Note these are general observations as I don't have any first hand experience of this happening on an A2.
Cheers Spike
1) The crankshaft counterweights may continually run in the oil causing it to foam and overheat. Over long periods this can result in reduced oil pressure leading to bearing damage.
2) Large ammounts of oil can flood the crankcase breather system and block the flow of blowby gases (combustion gas which escapes past the piston rings). This could pressurise the crankcase and blow one or more of the oil seal
3) Large ammounts of oil can be thrown up the cylinder walls. The piston oil control rings may not cope causing an increase in oil consumption.
Note these are general observations as I don't have any first hand experience of this happening on an A2.
Cheers Spike