My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

"Metspitzer" wrote in message
...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil

RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil


Hi,
How old is the truck? It depends how much low or high, little bit won't
be much of a concern but too much overfill is not good as well as too
low oil level. Usually we don't keep topping up the oil unless it is
close to low mark on the dip stick. I never had any car or truck burning
or leaking oil. Never had to top it up between scheduled oil changes.

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:47:33 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:



RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil


Hi,
How old is the truck? It depends how much low or high, little bit won't
be much of a concern but too much overfill is not good as well as too
low oil level. Usually we don't keep topping up the oil unless it is
close to low mark on the dip stick. I never had any car or truck burning
or leaking oil. Never had to top it up between scheduled oil changes.

It is a 91 Ford King Cab. The original engine made it 125k. The
rebuilt has lasted 100k

The stick does have a high mark and a low mark. It was my
understanding that the difference between those marks = 1 quart. I
have about enough oil in the engine to be half that distance again. I
was pouring from a 5 quart bottle.

On 4/30/2011 10:27 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:47:33 -0600, Tony
wrote:



RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil


Hi,
How old is the truck? It depends how much low or high, little bit won't
be much of a concern but too much overfill is not good as well as too
low oil level. Usually we don't keep topping up the oil unless it is
close to low mark on the dip stick. I never had any car or truck burning
or leaking oil. Never had to top it up between scheduled oil changes.

It is a 91 Ford King Cab. The original engine made it 125k. The
rebuilt has lasted 100k

The stick does have a high mark and a low mark. It was my
understanding that the difference between those marks = 1 quart. I
have about enough oil in the engine to be half that distance again. I
was pouring from a 5 quart bottle.

i wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like maybe you just didn't wait long
enough after shutoff to check it.

s


--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

Steve Barker wrote:
On 4/30/2011 10:27 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:47:33 -0600, Tony
wrote:



RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the
two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil


Hi,
How old is the truck? It depends how much low or high, little bit won't
be much of a concern but too much overfill is not good as well as too
low oil level. Usually we don't keep topping up the oil unless it is
close to low mark on the dip stick. I never had any car or truck burning
or leaking oil. Never had to top it up between scheduled oil changes.

It is a 91 Ford King Cab. The original engine made it 125k. The
rebuilt has lasted 100k

The stick does have a high mark and a low mark. It was my
understanding that the difference between those marks = 1 quart. I
have about enough oil in the engine to be half that distance again. I
was pouring from a 5 quart bottle.

i wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like maybe you just didn't wait long
enough after shutoff to check it.

s
Hmm,
OP is worrying about ver fill and wait long enoughj then oil level will
rise usually. I,proper oil level can cause oil aerating or splash. I
don't think modern engines have dual seal rings either. If worried I'll
pull a plug and take a look at it. If it looks sooty, you know what it
is. Or just do a fresh Oil, finter change at the joint.

On May 1, 1:49*am, Metspitzer wrote:
My nephew drives my truck. *When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. *I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. *I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. *It now looks a half a
quart over. *I am told that too much oil is bad too. *I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

Additionally to the above, you need to check the oil level with the
truck on a level surface. The reading on the dip stick can be way out
if the truck is on a slope.
Under filling can lead to the oil overheating.
Overfilling, the crankshaft can contact the oil leading to serious
engine damage, especilly likely if driving on a hill.
No/little oil, the enging siezes up.

On May 1, 6:58*am, Tony Hwang wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:
On 4/30/2011 10:27 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:47:33 -0600, Tony
wrote:

RBM wrote:
wrote in message
m...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the
two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil

Hi,
How old is the truck? It depends how much low or high, little bit won't
be much of a concern but too much overfill is not good as well as too
low oil level. Usually we don't keep topping up the oil unless it is
close to low mark on the dip stick. I never had any car or truck burning
or leaking oil. Never had to top it up between scheduled oil changes.

It is a 91 Ford King Cab. The original engine made it 125k. The
rebuilt has lasted 100k

The stick does have a high mark and a low mark. It was my
understanding that the difference between those marks = 1 quart. I
have about enough oil in the engine to be half that distance again. I
was pouring from a 5 quart bottle.

i wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like maybe you just didn't wait long
enough after shutoff to check it.

s

Hmm,
OP is worrying about ver fill and wait long enoughj then oil level will
rise usually. I,proper oil level can cause oil aerating or splash. I
don't think modern engines have dual seal rings either. If worried I'll
pull a plug and take a look at it. If it looks sooty, you know what it
is. Or just do a fresh Oil, finter change at the joint.



- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Check that water has not appeared in the sump. (Causes the oil level
to rise)Very occasionally the head gasket can fail letting engine
coolant into the oilways.

On some vehicals there is an oil cooler is inside the radiator, this
can fail too.

When this happens, you often see white/yellow cheesy muck inside the
oil filler cap.

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:49:13 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

You might want to verify all this: I think a problem with too much
oil is frothing, because if the oil is high enough, the cranks shaft
hits it, but oils for hte last 20 years or more have anti-frothing
agents.

Also, I don't think a half quart is too much extra most of the time,
and you don't have a small engine.

If you really wanted to remove some, they used to sell oil change kits
that took the oil out through the filler tube, iirc. Maybe they still
do. If not, you can buy various thickness of tubing at ACe hardware
by the foot, or at HD by the roll. Even going very slow, one pint
(two cups' worth) won't take very long. If holding your thumb
doesn't work, you can fill the hose with oil. Let it drain into a one
quart oil bottle, and there's no reason you can't use it when you need
oil the next time.

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:11:27 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:

On May 1, 6:58*am, Tony Hwang wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:
On 4/30/2011 10:27 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:47:33 -0600, Tony
wrote:

RBM wrote:
wrote in message
m...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the
two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil

Hi,
How old is the truck? It depends how much low or high, little bit won't
be much of a concern but too much overfill is not good as well as too
low oil level. Usually we don't keep topping up the oil unless it is
close to low mark on the dip stick. I never had any car or truck burning
or leaking oil. Never had to top it up between scheduled oil changes.

It is a 91 Ford King Cab. The original engine made it 125k. The
rebuilt has lasted 100k

The stick does have a high mark and a low mark. It was my
understanding that the difference between those marks = 1 quart. I
have about enough oil in the engine to be half that distance again. I
was pouring from a 5 quart bottle.

i wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like maybe you just didn't wait long
enough after shutoff to check it.

s

Hmm,
OP is worrying about ver fill and wait long enoughj then oil level will
rise usually. I,proper oil level can cause oil aerating or splash. I
don't think modern engines have dual seal rings either.

I've never heard that before. He drives a 91. My 95 Chrysler shop
manual is right here and for both the 2.2/2.5 and 3.0L engines it
shows two piston rings and an oil ring, just like in 1950.

If worried I'll
pull a plug and take a look at it. If it looks sooty, you know what it
is. Or just do a fresh Oil, finter change at the joint.

- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Check that water has not appeared in the sump. (Causes the oil level
to rise)Very occasionally the head gasket can fail letting engine
coolant into the oilways.

On some vehicals there is an oil cooler is inside the radiator, this
can fail too.

Why is any of this more likely than it was 12 hours ago. He was low
then, and now he's high. Not because of a pint of new water in 10
minutes but because he put too much oil in.


When this happens, you often see white/yellow cheesy muck inside the
oil filler cap.

"Metspitzer" wrote in message
...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

Retest the oil level with the engine cold on level ground. If it's
significantly over the top line, I probably would spin off the sump plug and
drain some of it. Why? Well here's what the Car Talk site says:

A word of caution: Be careful not to overfill your car's crankcase with oil.
If you put in too much oil, the engine's crankshaft can actually come in
contact with the oil. And because the crankshaft is turning at several
thousand revolutions per minute, it can quickly whip your oil into a froth -
like the steamed milk that sits on the top of a cappuccino. Why is that bad?
Well, the oil pump can't pump froth very well, and as a result, it can't get
oil to the parts of the engine that need lubrication. The result ... a hefty
boat payment to your mechanic.

O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

Oh for the Good Ol' days of SG-1. SGA was OK but the new one is
unwatchable. A bad clone of Battlestar Galactica.

--
Bobby G.

On May 1, 2:25*am, mm wrote:
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:49:13 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

My nephew drives my truck. *When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. *I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. *I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. *It now looks a half a
quart over. *I am told that too much oil is bad too. *I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

You might want to verify all this: * I think a problem with too much
oil is frothing, because if the oil is high enough, the cranks shaft
hits it, but oils for hte last 20 years or more have anti-frothing
agents.

Also, I don't think a half quart is too much extra most of the time,
and you don't have a small engine.



An extra half quart of oil isn't going to cause problems. If it
did, lots of people would be having trouble and you'd hear
about it, because it has to happen lots of times. Either
doing it yourself or having someone at a service station
check it an slightly overfill it because the oil hadn't
drained down enough when dipped, etc.

If you put an extra half quart in a lawn mower, that would
be a different story.

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:49:13 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

You might want to verify all this: I think a problem with too much
oil is frothing, because if the oil is high enough, the cranks shaft
hits it, but oils for hte last 20 years or more have anti-frothing
agents.

Also, I don't think a half quart is too much extra most of the time,
and you don't have a small engine.

If you really wanted to remove some, they used to sell oil change kits
that took the oil out through the filler tube, iirc. Maybe they still
do. If not, you can buy various thickness of tubing at ACe hardware
by the foot, or at HD by the roll. Even going very slow, one pint
(two cups' worth) won't take very long. If holding your thumb
doesn't work, you can fill the hose with oil. Let it drain into a one
quart oil bottle, and there's no reason you can't use it when you need
oil the next time.

It probably won't make a difference if it's half a quart, but that hasn't
been determined

Metspitzer wrote in
:

My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.



Leave it alone. Half-a-quart too much is fine.

When the engine is running, a lot of that oil is in circulation around the
engine anyway, plus you have something called a "windage tray" that helps
prevent the crankshaft from whipping around in the oil that's in the pan.

The primary determinant of the levels on the stick is the need to keep the
oil-pickup screen from momentarily running dry during cornering, on hills
and the like. IOW, the levels are more minimums than maximums.

Next time you check the oil, remember that the rule-of-thumb is that if the
level is between the marks, LEAVE IT ALONE. Most people check their oil
soon after shutdown (like at a gas station), not realizing that a
significant amount of oil is still hung-up in the engine and has not yet
run back down into the oil pan, so they're gettng a falsely-low reading of
the oil level.

If you want to make sure you're truly topped-up all the time, check the oil
first-thing in the morning, after the car has sat overnight. That way
anything that's going to run back down into the pan has done so; you'll
have a true reading of how much oil is in there, and can add accordingly.



If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.


Don't bother. It's not worth the trouble.



--
Tegger

On May 1, 8:06*am, "Robert Green" wrote:
"Metspitzer" wrote in message

...

My nephew drives my truck. *When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. *I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. *I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. *It now looks a half a
quart over. *I am told that too much oil is bad too. *I just can't
find out how much is too much.

Retest the oil level with the engine cold on level ground. *If it's
significantly over the top line, I probably would spin off the sump plug and
drain some of it.

That sounds real practical.....




Why? *Well here's what the Car Talk site says:

A word of caution: Be careful not to overfill your car's crankcase with oil.
If you put in too much oil, the engine's crankshaft can actually come in
contact with the oil. And because the crankshaft is turning at several
thousand revolutions per minute, it can quickly whip your oil into a froth -
like the steamed milk that sits on the top of a cappuccino. Why is that bad?
Well, the oil pump can't pump froth very well, and as a result, it can't get
oil to the parts of the engine that need lubrication. The result ... a hefty
boat payment to your mechanic.

The problem of course is that they don't define how much you have
to overfill it for that to happen. If you think damage can happen
with a mere
half a quart, don't you think there would be lots of engine failures
all
over the place? Or do you think that all the oil change guys,
service station attendents, DIY's etc never put a mere 1/2 quart
extra into a truck?

"Tegger" wrote in message
...
Metspitzer wrote in
:

My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.



Leave it alone. Half-a-quart too much is fine.

When the engine is running, a lot of that oil is in circulation around the
engine anyway, plus you have something called a "windage tray" that helps
prevent the crankshaft from whipping around in the oil that's in the pan.

The primary determinant of the levels on the stick is the need to keep the
oil-pickup screen from momentarily running dry during cornering, on hills
and the like. IOW, the levels are more minimums than maximums.

Next time you check the oil, remember that the rule-of-thumb is that if
the
level is between the marks, LEAVE IT ALONE. Most people check their oil
soon after shutdown (like at a gas station), not realizing that a
significant amount of oil is still hung-up in the engine and has not yet
run back down into the oil pan, so they're gettng a falsely-low reading of
the oil level.

If you want to make sure you're truly topped-up all the time, check the
oil
first-thing in the morning, after the car has sat overnight. That way
anything that's going to run back down into the pan has done so; you'll
have a true reading of how much oil is in there, and can add accordingly.
Tegger

**Unless the engine manufacturer has a specific instruction for checking the
oil. My engine requires the oil to be up to operating temp, then sit for a
few minutes, then checked. They also sell a cold check dip stick, which
gives the proper reading on a cold engine. Despite the fact that this six
cylinder holds over 13 quarts, the instructions are adamant about not
overfilling
The OP also doesn't know how much extra oil is in the engine, he's only
guessing at half quart

On Sun, 1 May 2011 08:06:51 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

Oh for the Good Ol' days of SG-1. SGA was OK but the new one is
unwatchable. A bad clone of Battlestar Galactica.

Firefly is supposed to be the next big thing, and it is HD. I have
only seen two, but I was not impressed. It seems more like soap opera
than a "blow em to hell" alien show.

They do have a character that plays the part of an escort that is
stunning.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Moren...1887&bi h=881
So far she is the best thing about the show.

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:49:13 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my

Thanks everyone

"RBM" wrote in :


"Tegger" wrote in message
...


If you want to make sure you're truly topped-up all the time, check
the oil
first-thing in the morning, after the car has sat overnight. That way
anything that's going to run back down into the pan has done so;
you'll have a true reading of how much oil is in there, and can add
accordingly.

**Unless the engine manufacturer has a specific instruction for
checking the oil.



Good point. Some of those instructions are meant to guard against
accidental overfilling by people who check their oil right after shutdown,
but I suppose there are automakers who have engine designs that demand the
consideration of different criteria.



My engine requires the oil to be up to operating
temp, then sit for a few minutes, then checked. They also sell a cold
check dip stick, which gives the proper reading on a cold engine.
Despite the fact that this six cylinder holds over 13 quarts, the
instructions are adamant about not overfilling



This must be a Mercedes or BMW or something else on the exotic side of
things. I was thinking of a run-of-the-mill Japanese or American 4-banger
or V6, with an oil capacity of closer to 4 or 5 quarts.



The OP also doesn't know how much extra oil is in the engine, he's
only guessing at half quart




That's true. But most dipsticks I've personally encountered were graduated
to show one quart, or one liter, between the marks. Again, I'm sure there
are exceptions.



--
Tegger

On 5/1/2011 11:45 AM, Metspitzer wrote:
On Sun, 1 May 2011 08:06:51 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

Oh for the Good Ol' days of SG-1. SGA was OK but the new one is
unwatchable. A bad clone of Battlestar Galactica.

Firefly is supposed to be the next big thing, and it is HD. I have
only seen two, but I was not impressed. It seems more like soap opera
than a "blow em to hell" alien show.

They do have a character that plays the part of an escort that is
stunning.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Moren...1887&bi h=881
So far she is the best thing about the show.

She is also the queen of the V in the remake of the series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_%282009_TV_series%29

TDD

Tegger wrote in
:

"RBM" wrote in :


"Tegger" wrote in message
...



My engine requires the oil to be up to operating
temp, then sit for a few minutes, then checked. They also sell a cold
check dip stick, which gives the proper reading on a cold engine.
Despite the fact that this six cylinder holds over 13 quarts, the
instructions are adamant about not overfilling



This must be a Mercedes or BMW or something else on the exotic side of
things. I was thinking of a run-of-the-mill Japanese or American
4-banger or V6, with an oil capacity of closer to 4 or 5 quarts.



Let me clarify that last comment. I meant to say, "I was thinking of a run-
of-the-mill Japanese or American engine, with an oil capacity of less than
half of 13-quarts".



--
Tegger

"Tegger" wrote in message
...
"RBM" wrote in :


"Tegger" wrote in message
...


If you want to make sure you're truly topped-up all the time, check
the oil
first-thing in the morning, after the car has sat overnight. That way
anything that's going to run back down into the pan has done so;
you'll have a true reading of how much oil is in there, and can add
accordingly.

**Unless the engine manufacturer has a specific instruction for
checking the oil.



Good point. Some of those instructions are meant to guard against
accidental overfilling by people who check their oil right after shutdown,
but I suppose there are automakers who have engine designs that demand the
consideration of different criteria.



My engine requires the oil to be up to operating
temp, then sit for a few minutes, then checked. They also sell a cold
check dip stick, which gives the proper reading on a cold engine.
Despite the fact that this six cylinder holds over 13 quarts, the
instructions are adamant about not overfilling



This must be a Mercedes or BMW or something else on the exotic side of
things. I was thinking of a run-of-the-mill Japanese or American 4-banger
or V6, with an oil capacity of closer to 4 or 5 quarts.



The OP also doesn't know how much extra oil is in the engine, he's
only guessing at half quart




That's true. But most dipsticks I've personally encountered were graduated
to show one quart, or one liter, between the marks. Again, I'm sure there
are exceptions.



--
Tegger

I doubt that back in 91' whatever he's got is as critical as mine. I'm not
at all sure that mine is as critical as MB makes it out to be. It sure
scares the snot out of you when every other line says something like "will
damage the engine". There is a sticker on the oil fill that says that the
use of other than specified oil will damage the engine. In the U.S. there is
a choice of one oil I can use: Mobil 1ESP formula M. Try finding that on the
shelf of your local Walmart

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:27:53 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:47:33 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:



RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

**You usually have a low mark and a high mark. Anywhere between the two is
OK. Below the low or above the high are not OK. Some engines have very
specific methods for checking the oil


Hi,
How old is the truck? It depends how much low or high, little bit won't
be much of a concern but too much overfill is not good as well as too
low oil level. Usually we don't keep topping up the oil unless it is
close to low mark on the dip stick. I never had any car or truck burning
or leaking oil. Never had to top it up between scheduled oil changes.

It is a 91 Ford King Cab. The original engine made it 125k. The
rebuilt has lasted 100k

The stick does have a high mark and a low mark. It was my
understanding that the difference between those marks = 1 quart. I
have about enough oil in the engine to be half that distance again. I
was pouring from a 5 quart bottle.
Generally an engine will not be harmed by 1/2 quart over on an engine
that size - it may, however, "adjust" the level by either burning some
or spitting some out.

I have known several engines that, if filled to the full mark, would
burn off half a quart in short order - but when down to the half-way
mark (between full and add) would stay there for thousands of miles,
or 25 hours of running, without the level dropping at all.
Got to the point we just filled then to the half mark

On Sun, 01 May 2011 02:25:51 -0400, mm
wrote:

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:49:13 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

You might want to verify all this: I think a problem with too much
oil is frothing, because if the oil is high enough, the cranks shaft
hits it, but oils for hte last 20 years or more have anti-frothing
agents.

Also, I don't think a half quart is too much extra most of the time,
and you don't have a small engine.

If you really wanted to remove some, they used to sell oil change kits
that took the oil out through the filler tube, iirc. Maybe they still
do. If not, you can buy various thickness of tubing at ACe hardware
by the foot, or at HD by the roll. Even going very slow, one pint
(two cups' worth) won't take very long. If holding your thumb
doesn't work, you can fill the hose with oil. Let it drain into a one
quart oil bottle, and there's no reason you can't use it when you need
oil the next time.
The simplest way to get rid of that pint of oil if you are worried is
to remove and drain the oil filter, then re-install it.

On May 1, 8:17*pm, "A. Baum" wrote:
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:49:13 -0400, Metspitzer wrote:
My nephew drives my truck. *When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. *I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. *I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. *It now looks a half a
quart over. *I am told that too much oil is bad too. *I just can't find
out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw and
try to get a little out.

If you checked it right after it was running for a good while it could
appear 1/2 quart low. After it sits for an hour and cools down the oil
from all the passages and the top of the heads and oil filter will run
back down into the sump pan and the level may check normal. This is one
reason there is a normal band on the dipstick. *I the level is below that
band it's usually a quart low. If you are really worried drain a little
from the drain plug. But first, consider the scenario I set and if it
matches your turn of events, don't worry about it. If not, just drain a
little out. And depending on the motor and length and width and depth of
the oil pan 1/2 a quart over may not equal a significant rise in the
overall level with the engine running.

I thought half a quart was a pint?

On Apr 30, 8:49*pm, Metspitzer wrote:
My nephew drives my truck. *When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. *I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. *I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. *It now looks a half a
quart over. *I am told that too much oil is bad too. *I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

Sounds like you checked the oil right after he parked it and the oil
hadnt had time to drain into the pan. Half a quart is no big deal.

JImmie

In article ,
Metspitzer wrote:
My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

Forget about it, 1/2 quart over won't hurt anything. Next time do not add
any oil until it is a full quart low. (34 years experience on and off road
vehicle maintenance)

--
Better to be stuck up in a tree than tied to one.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org

On Apr 30, 7:49*pm, Metspitzer wrote:
My nephew drives my truck. *When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. *I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. *I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. *It now looks a half a
quart over. *I am told that too much oil is bad too. *I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

If I check my oil and try to check it again I cant unless I wait a
long time as the curved dipstick holder gets coated with oil and shows
higher than it is, check it tomorrow and 1/2qt wont hurt anything, it
might cut your milage a tiny bit, but to do damage you need to go more
than 1 qt over, like 1.5-2 qts, and this depends on the motor, if its
a big v8 it can hold 2 qts over alot easier then some 4 cilinder
motors, the motor is just bigger and the oil wont raise up as much.
You loose mpg when the crank gets covered, and damage occures when it
slaps into the cilinders, but you might need more tha 2qt over to have
that happen. Figure this, when motors all had carburators serious
flooding could occur that could flood the motor with a quart of gas,
sure it would cook off but it didnt kill the motor.

"RBM" wrote in message
...

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:49:13 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

My nephew drives my truck. When he brought it over, I checked the oil
and I thought it looked about a half quart too low. I added about a
half quart and checked the oil again. I guess my eyes too bad or my
estimate of how much is a half quart is off. It now looks a half a
quart over. I am told that too much oil is bad too. I just can't
find out how much is too much.

If I had a scrap piece of hose I might try the thumb over the straw
and try to get a little out.

You might want to verify all this: I think a problem with too much
oil is frothing, because if the oil is high enough, the cranks shaft
hits it, but oils for hte last 20 years or more have anti-frothing
agents.

Also, I don't think a half quart is too much extra most of the time,
and you don't have a small engine.

If you really wanted to remove some, they used to sell oil change kits
that took the oil out through the filler tube, iirc. Maybe they still
do. If not, you can buy various thickness of tubing at ACe hardware
by the foot, or at HD by the roll. Even going very slow, one pint
(two cups' worth) won't take very long. If holding your thumb
doesn't work, you can fill the hose with oil. Let it drain into a one
quart oil bottle, and there's no reason you can't use it when you need
oil the next time.

It probably won't make a difference if it's half a quart, but that hasn't
been determined

An excellent point that others have missed. Even knowing the amount of the
overage isn't enough - you have to know the total capacity of the engine to
determine whether 1 quart over is a 20% overfill or less that 10%. In my
small Honda one quart over would mean a substantial overage. In
Metspitzer's truck (was it a King Cab?) probably not.

But the first order of business is to get a good read on level ground
according to the manufacturer's directions. The second order of business is
to not do fillups from a large, ungraduated container by eye. Not if you
don't want to have to crawl under the truck with a wrench and an oil drain
pan. (That means you M!) (-"

FWIW, when I've overfilled my Honda by 1/2 a quart I know it because of the
blue cloud of smoke that I can generate with a hard rev. Useful for
tailgater control but probably not good for the engine.

If it were my truck, I'd probably try to remove the excess if it was over
1/2 quart just because the cost of dealing with any potential problems far
outweighs the time and effort it would take to remove the excess. In an
engine with that many miles, there are probably already small clogs in the
oil passageways and even if modern oil has anti-frothing agents in it, you
still could have issues with oil not reaching every part it should.
Better safe than sorry.

--
Bobby G.

"Metspitzer" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 1 May 2011 08:06:51 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.

Oh for the Good Ol' days of SG-1. SGA was OK but the new one is
unwatchable. A bad clone of Battlestar Galactica.

Firefly is supposed to be the next big thing, and it is HD. I have
only seen two, but I was not impressed. It seems more like soap opera
than a "blow em to hell" alien show.

They do have a character that plays the part of an escort that is
stunning.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Moren...1887&bi h=881
So far she is the best thing about the show.

I've seen a few eps of Firefly. OK, but nothing I'd write home about.
FWIW, you can usually clip everything after the first & and the URL will
still work:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Morena+Baccarin

Although the truncated URL goes to Google Web and not Google Images. Not
sure why but I'll figure it out shortly.

Learn something new every day. This URL works as well (sends you to Google
images):

http://www.google.com/search?q=Morena+Baccarin&tbm=isch

I'm guessing that &tbm=isch directs the search to Google images although it
doesn't seem obvious what those letters mean. More research . . .

http://www.google.com/support/forum/...ed4b0470&hl=en

Yep. A message there confirms that the old usersrcript command:

*/images?*

is now *&tbm=isch*

--
Bobby G.