Thread: Overfill Oil by 1 litre - engine seems to now be shaking. help?

Originally Posted by RR90_Goat

gday all...

Oil light came on the other day and i ended up putting in 2 litres of penrite into the 3.9l V8 (95 LSE) and the oil light went away - 1 litre initially, but because it was still low, i put in another litre - i've subsequently belted myself around the head a few times. I took the car on a country trip a few days later (500km round trip in a day) and there was no hint of the issues i'm now experiencing, infact the car hummed down and back and all was very good.

when it all went pear shape
The wife then drove the car the other night and the next day i get into it... it doesn't feel right. after blaming the wife and driving it some more... it still hasn't improved and the symptoms are as follows.

* At idle 800rpm, the dash is shaking
* Power transfer from the pedal to the engine seems to be lagging
* The exhaust isn't smoking, but it's bluttering (bla-bla-bla-bla-bla) and not the normal consistent exhaust note
* I can get the vehicle up to 100km'hr but i'm fingers crossed - at around 80km/hr the rattle seems to go - engine somehow becomes balanced.
* Oil dipstick level shows over filled (considerably)
* Transmission fluid levels all good and seemingly no issues stemming from here.

I am wondering if the overfill of oil in the sump is causing the engine to be off balance or could i have done some damage to one of the cylinders which would give that same out of balance feel.

Welcome any assistance and advice.

I suppose i'm best to release the sump plug and change out the engine oil and oil filter as immediate actions.

My Rovertech mechanic not back until the new year and need the car as it's all we've got.

Could i have done irrepairable or costly damage to the engine.

thanks in advance for advice or assistance.

G'day mate,

For sure drain your oil. Probably wouldn't bother with filter unless its due.

Over filling will not do any damage. It may cause a bit of oil resdue on the cyl walls but that's okay..

Before you beat yourself up just try the simple things before you go committing suicide okay haha.

Let me know how you go.

2 liters of oil is quite a bit...

Sounds like you might have a miss as well.

A miss-fire shouldn't be related to over filling oil.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers

Jeremy

An over filled engine can cause excess oil to pass the rings if they are overloaded with oil splashing around. You've possibly fouled a spark plug. Remove all the plugs and look for one caked in oil. Replace as required. Then drain the oil until it is near the correct level again.

i think you have scared it !
i agree with bee utey that there is to much oil causing misfire from oil fouled plug therfore giving it the shakes 8-1=7
drain your oil back to correct level .
roverrob

advice taken and results are very positive.

No 4 spark plug was full of gunk, the rest were ok, but i tidied them up whilst they were out.

Dumped 1.5 litres of oil, but still can't figure out my oil dipstick.

even running the engine for five minutes and then turning it off, pulling dipstick and wiping it clean, putting it back in and then pulling it out... and there is very little visible evidence of any oil mark on the dipstick.

the fact does remain... the engine is running as it should, no shakes and no oil light.

i'll keep an eye on it and next time i take it for a decent run i'll check the oil levels again.

thanks for the advice... it was very accurate and very responsive.

cheers

Tim

Engine oil level should be checked after the vehicle has stood for some time. First thing in the morning is the best time before you cold start the engine. Consistency is the key, check at the same time of the day and you can see a level drop better. You also check coolant levels when cold, do it at the same time.

Checking just after hot switch off will give you a poor reading because of dripping and thin oil smearing the mark. Some auto transmissions use the dip-within-certain-time-after-warm-up method.

RAVE claims approx 6.6 litres total engine & filter. From my ruff approximation, the Z9 filter can hold up to 1 litre, maybe 800 ml for sure...

If the dipstick tube has'nt been moved..and you're still worried, drain and measure what comes out.

On mine, there is about one litre differance between the "ADD OIL" and "FULL" dipstick marks.

James.

'95 Classic Vogue SE 3.9 V8 with working EAS (sort of...) and cleaned out radiator.

mmmm.... it seems that i didn't overfill the oil in the first place... it seems that the oil line inside the radiator cracked open and essentially dumped the oil into the cooling system. that's where the 3 litres of oil went. cheap aluminium radiator out of china - mechanic has seen a number of these come into the workshop over the last few months... including td5 engined vehicles.

now on the hunt for a range rover/discovery radiator for an auto... if anyone has a spare one, i'd be keen to hear.

mechanic has told me to do some overtime this week... as it happens i do overtime everyweek to keep the rangey on the road.