Oil overfill after oil change?

Just had an oil change done and noticed the on-board computer and dipstick showing too much oil. The question is: how much is too much? According to the manual, i am past the "max" level on the dipstick by about half a quart. Should i worry or is this not a big deal? Thanks...

Do you have an oil pump that goes through the dipstick tube? I've sucked oil there once when I overfilled by 1/2 a quart. I'd suck it off or you could wait for it to burn off... just don't do high-rpms for awhile.

I'd be more worried about the carpet you put the dipstick on.

You could remove the oil canister and drain out the filter and the canister. That will probably (guessing) get you 1/4 to 1/2 quart of oil. Save the oil you get from the filter to "top off" the oil level if necessary. I usually added oil until it was still about 1 line below the Full mark on the electronic readout. That way you know you won't overfill the oil.

Or.......you could go back to the place that did the oil change and make them correct the level.

Ahhh, don't worry about it. Just go run the car through the twisties for a couple of hours while making sure your RPMs don't fall below 5,000 too often. It ought to burn off some it on that trip, then next weekend go do it again. Check back with us after next weekend and let us see another pic of your oil covered dipstick, then make sure and include a pic of your ear to ear grin. Seriously, I don't believe I would worry about it at all. If the car is not smoking, then you are in all likelihood just fine. If you are truly worried about it and just can't shake the feeling that you MUST do something about it, then please follow one of the solutions listed above. Personally and seriously, I would solve it by doing exactly what I described in my previous paragraph, but that's just me. Actually, I would repeat my process over and over until the problem corrected itself. If it takes 20 trips through the canyons or twisties at a high rate of speed to fix the issue for the well being of my car, then I just have to take the 20 trips. I mean, there's extra oil in there to protect against the extra wear and tear on the car, right? So what's the problem.

Hopefully the OP has a good Porsche engine that burns no oil. Running too much oil does not neccessarily translate into smoke, but it does translate into airation which translates into less lubrication which translates into engine wear. Running the twisties with air in the oil is the worse thing you could do.

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I agree. I wouldn't run it with the oil being aerated, especially with high rpms.

When I first got the car I accidentally overfilled by approximately 1 quart and was fine for the duration of my oil change interval. Consensus on www.bobistheoilguy.com is that manufacturers leave some wiggle room in their recommendations to account for dummies like myself that overfill. Again, consensus on that oil dedicated board is that in almost all engines a quart over is probably ok as it is probably not high enough to be whipped up and subsequently aerated by the crankshaft. It is an old racer's trick to overfill an engine to prevent oil starvation in sharp corners and some manufacturers even recommend overfilling their cars whenever tracked such as Chevy does with the Corvette. All this is to say that the miniscule amount that you overfilled is in all likelihood perfectly acceptable. In fact you could probably overfill by a quart or possibly even more and suffer no ill effects. However, common sense dictates that of course the safest thing to do is not to overfill at all if possible.

I wouldn't track an engine overfilled like that, but I wouldn't sweat it too much on the street. But be sure to talk to the oil change place before you let them touch the car again.

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+1 But honestly, I wouldn't even sweat it. More than likely, it will be gone by next oil change......

You should drain the oil, I personally believe over filled oil on the 996 motor is related to a leaky RMS.

Ok folks....slooooooow the horses here. 1st of all....this is not a big deal. Why? The oil sump is a completely separated compartment from the rest of the engine. I know this due to cracking open the engine to replace the oil pan. Overfilling the sump will not harm anything. I personally ran my 996 approx 1/2 qt over normal and a full quart over for track time. There is no harm in doing this. There is no way extra oil can touch any portion of the engine. Technically, the oil sump on this engine is sort of like a tank. Only the "tank" is attached and part of the engine casing. Here is a detail: Will it cause RMS leaks? No. Why? It is completely separated from the portion of the engine. Leave it be. It's fine. Relax and enjoy the car. C.

I'll go on record in case you're adding up votes. 1/2 quart is nothing to get in arms about. Next time, fill to within the marks. Until then, don't worry about it. Spend that time worrying about the stock market or gas prices. Or as dresler said, a good carpet cleaner. Thanks for the pics Chad.

Chad, I personally have experienced RMS leak due to filling the oil leve to the digital full mark on my oil change, and the RMS stopped when the gauge reaches two level down.

The motor holds over 10 quarts (read the manual, around 2 quarts stay in the block and the valvetrain). 1/2 quart over is only 5% overfilled. To me, not a big deal by any means.

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Well...don't know what to tell you. I am apt to believe it is merely coincidence. The RMS is nowhere near the sump tank and is completely separated other than the oil that runs through the system. My caution would be that, if you are not running the proper amount of oil (digital gauge or dipstick), and you have a leak at the RMS with a full reading, get the RMS fixed. Don't mess with the oil levels or you will have larger problems on your hands. C.

I verified it 3 times and was able to repeat the RMS leak by filling the oil to the top digital gauge level during my last 3 oil changes. The RMS leak will immedately stop after the oil level have dropped below two notches on the gauge. I would think it would be related to the crank case pressure.

If you are having a RMS leak, regardless of levels...go have it checked. Speculation on the oil levels versus if it leaks or not is not worth the long term effects of running with low oil. Regardless of what is said here, go have it checked out. I am more than happy to be proved wrong. I'd simply rather see a smiling face on our friend Robin, versus a worried one about an RMS. C.

I can tell you that on my car, the higher the level in the sump, the higher the oil pressure, escpecially cold. Anyone can check it, obviously. It is easily seen on the oil pressure gauge. I found it amazing that a small increase in head pressure could do that, but I have no other explanation. That increased pressure could easily cause an RMS leak. I have no idea about entrained air.

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Your assumption is that the sump can hold the entire 10+ quarts of oil.

I do my own maintenance and in the oil change I usually do the fill in with a graduated tube. In 3.6 engines the oil capability is 8,25 liters (filter incl.) I'm very meticulous but filling in exactly 8,25 l. results one level less than the full oil digital gauge, and almost the maximun level in the dipstick. I don't like to do the meassurement in cold conditions thought is manual's advice

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Hi Chad, No worry about the smiling faces, I love the 996 and no RMS leak what so ever. As long as I don't fill the oil all the way to the top of the digital level gauge. So I still suspect RMS leak = some what related to oil fill level. Thanks

I'm with Chad....I don't think 1/2 a quart is anything to get too worried about.

Thank you all for the feedback. I no longer track the car, ever since i got an E36 M3 and "tweaked" it for the track. Also having a roof over my head makes me feel better (my 996 is a cab). And local PCA chapter lets me bring it to the PCA track events. That is not the carpet -- that is old microfiber towel I'll probably get .5 quart taken out just to make me feel better, it definitely wouldnt hurt doing.

So i talked to a porsche tech who claims this level is normal for a car which has been sitting for a couple of days. He says that i really need to check oil level with engine warm and when i do that, i am right at the max.

My digital read-out was one bar low in combination with a new oil leak , and normally; i only trust the dipstick, but i have never owned a Porsche newer than 1985. My 996 is 1999 with 50,000 miles on it. i put 1.25 quarts and now the digital read out is off the charts. The dipstick is over the max. In trouble?

One bar is only about 0.25 quart from my memory but check your manual. Souns like you are 1 quart overfill. I would remove the excess oil.

I release the oil filter canister 3 times and got 1.75 quarts out. Guess what after waiting for the computer to read the measurements which is at the bottom of the bar. How can it be just 1.75 q for overfill and now it is at he bottom. I did not drive the car. I release the first time and start for 20 seconds and **** down. Repeat 2 time.

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The cold and thick oil clings to the engine parts. Try driving the car till it's fully warmed up then shut it down and check the oil level again the next morning.

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I have a stupid question, due to a stupid deed. How much oil will drain from the engine when I remove the canister, WITHOUT draining the oil pan? I'm not concerned by the 500ml in the canister. Its a 2000 996 3.4L car. The stupid deed? I drained the oil before I tried to loosen the canister. I couldn't remove it and didn't want to force it until I had a replacement in hand. But I had to move the car, so I refilled the oil. I'd prefer not to waste the 8L of oil by draining and refilling again. :-/

Not much. Maybe 100ml or so. Messy but you won't even loose a litre.

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OR, do it yourself!

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Are you sure the RMS is leaking vs your IMSB flange when over filled?

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Good question. Could it be oil leak due to Air Oil Separator (AOS)? If there�s too much oil could it be leaking via the plenum? This was suggested by a local indie technician.

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I'm guessing he solved the problem 3 years ago.

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Duh?

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Sorry, it sounded like you were offering advice to a very old thread. Generally people try not to resurrect old threads for no reason. If you were actually asking a current question of the community, then I misunderstood and I don't understand what you're asking.

Thank your for the tips on replying. I knew it was an old thread but was offering thoughts on what other issues could be for the benefit of others. I’ll open a new thread next time. Thx again.

please disregard this edited post. it went into the wrong subforum.

It's interesting to learn and hear everyone's experience. Before I always made sure the electronic oil gauge was at max. I read somewhere recently that the 996 engine oil fluctuates depending on how hard you drive it. If you fill it to like the third or second bar from the top. If you drive it hard. The oil level goes up during the drive. This post just confused me even more now. haha

Don't overthink it, oil system is not made to require ultra precise capacity measurements.

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I just keep mine halfway between full and min and this seems to work just fine. I set my levels, always, in the garage, after 12 hours of sitting on a flat surface, engine stone cold.

if your very patient and carefull, you can verify that the low mark to mid mark, at least on my car is 1/3 quart.. The car holds 8 quarts or so ,, 1./3 of a quart aint gonna hurt either way...

I realize this is an old thread, but my '98 Boxter is fairly new to me. I parked it in my rear driveway about a month ago and it's on a slight incline, with the rear of the car lower than the front. Before I started it, I noticed the oil level gauge was at the very top (engine stone cold) ... and noticed the smell of oil smoke and rough idle after starting it. A visual also confirmed smoke from the tail pipe(s). Is it possible that the car sitting on the incline for a month has anything to do with my dilemma? Unfortunately, my Danmar 4-post lift is currently occupied with another non-running vehicle (Safari dune buggy), so I can't get the Boxter up in the air to drain some oil out. In addition to draining some [possibly] excess oil, am I looking at replacing the AOS now? ... and what else what might be on the menu?

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Couple of things. The factory AOS brand new or old doesnt like to filled full, nor parked on a hill. This creates a delema because you want to run your oil at full and you want to be able to park it on a hill. What you can do is upgrade it to the UAOS w/track drain even if you dont track your car. You will be able to run the oil at full, as well as over fill it by two quarts if you pass @Porschetech3 blow by test. Whats happening is oil is getting into your intake thru your AOS. Best case is you get alot of smoke amd burn oil. Worst case is you hydrolock and crack your cylinders. There are two very important inventions that have come to market since the M96 was first released that easily solve the design flaws of specific bolt on parts that lead to engine failure. This means you dont have to loose any sleep. (1) LN IMSB upgrade, and (2) the UAOS There is a third solution to a third problem which is water pump failure which leads to cracked heads. Easy to mitigate. All you have to do is change your OE water pump with another plastic blade OEM water pump every 5 years or so. Definable issues and very easy and simple solutions. Good luck.

If you need to take a little bit of oil out thru the oil stick tube, you can get one of these on Amazon for a cheap price.

Thanks for the replies, 'GC'. I have a Mighty-Vac that should work to suck the extra oil out. I watched a video of a guy installing an UAOS system in a Cayman, and what a chore that looked like. I can only imagine how much more difficult that would be on a Boxter ... You Tube

Yep. But it fixes the problem and a few additional problems as well.

And yet most people in the world drive these cars with stock AOS and are perfectly fine doing that.

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While running oem aos for the casual around town put put driver is probably ok along with a aos test done frequently. For the hard pressing canyon carver or track guy not so fine... Not so fine when they hydro-lock engine from faulty or easily overwhelmed aos. Yes, unfortunately the m96 has more than its share of failed engines, and recently its not the imsb. Recently,, post failure analysis has shown probable that many of the engine failures m96 experience have now been traced back to faulty aos ingesting oil causing hyro-lock engine total failures. Just running the better UAOS, allowing for up to 2 extra quarts of a 50 weight oil, goes a very long way to avoiding the all to common engine failures caused by oil pressure instability on the track or canyon carving.... jmho

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^^^^^ This !! ^^^^^^ Coming from an Engineer that fully understands the internal dynamics of internal combustion engines systems... ( I couldn't have said it better myself .) In the whole history of ICE production I can't think of a product/component that single-handedly fixes/improves/upgrades so many issues within the ICE Systems of a particular Engine... Not Marketing ::: just Cold Hard Facts, backed up by Data, Meta Data and Common Sense ... ..

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Porsche recognized the AOS problem after replacing enough engines. What they did to fix the issue was not the best solution from an engineering perspective, it was the cheapest solution possible. And the IMS bearing didn't have a vote.

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Actually Porsche doesn't get ALL the blame on the AOS issues, Mann+Hummell are the ones who designed the Crankcase Ventilation System as well as the whole Intake and Air Filtration Systems on the M96/7, just like they do for all European cars and a lot of the big OEM MFG's ... But they do have the last "say so " and they could have said " No, do better on this one" ...

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lol! In Idaho, where we try and keep things simple, the buck stops at Porscheplatz 1, Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, Germany But I do appreciate knowing the full history.

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Yeah, I would argue that most people just dont know any better. But if you have owned one long enough, you learn.

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Yep. There is nothing wrong with the M96 engine. Whats wrong are three poorly designed bolt on parts (AOS, IMSB, water pump) that Porsche approved for use; and a very bad high mileage oil change recomendation that was a major contributor to bore scoring. But I dont loose any sleep today. We have upgraded parts, better oil and the knowledge of changing our oil more frequently. But there are still a few folks that won't do any of these, and we hear about it eventually on Rennlist with a failure that could have very easily and cheaply been prevented. The M96 is such an easy engine to keep running strong.