Dealership overfilled my engine oil

[mike the snake]

Took my car in for the "complimentary" first oil change at 3000 miles.

Drove home (10 miles) and checked the oil the next morning, it's like an inch over the top "full" mark.

I searched and some said I should check the oil warm, so i drove it today enough to warm the car completely and now when I checked the oil warm it's even higher.

I'm going in tomorrow at 7:30 when they open and going to ask that they deal with this immediately, before they work on other cars.

I know a little overfilled is OK, but this is over an inch above the full mark, and I'm guessing that continuing to drive with it this high will cause damage.

[mfbmike]

Excessive oil can cause damage to catalytic converters.

GL.

[Deadspool]

sounds like they forgot to drain it.

[mike the snake]

If they forgot to drain it, I would suspect the levels on the dipstick to be Much higher, and I would suspect oil to puke out from seals, dipstick tube, etc.

What I'm sure happened is, they looked and saw the car takes, say, 5 quarts, and they simply drained the oil and dumped in whatever the specified amount was, without considering the leftover oil inside the engine on a quick drain, and didn't check afterwards. Bad practice if you ask me.

When doing my own oil, I always add 1/2 to 1 quart less than what's called for, and top off until it's just right.

[mike the snake]

I brought the car in this morning. They tried to tell me that they overfill these cars because they can burn up to a quart of oil in as little as 1200 miles, and that my oil level was just fine.

When we checked the oil there at the dealership, the level was still about 5/16" above the line, checked warm, after the car had been off for a minute.

I told him I had checked the level on flat ground, after the car had sat for 5 minutes warm, and cold, and the level was quite a bit higher. He appeased me and sucked some oil out for me.

When he brought the car back, the oil level was under the full mark. I checked it after i got home with the car sitting for 15 minutes, and the oil level now is Juuust above the full mark.

All in all, I'm glad I had them take the extra oil out, as I felt that even though a little overfull is OK, my car had too much oil in it.

SO, what I've learned is that the oil level readings can vary quite a bit depending on how you check the oil.

[bkblitzed]

i always just fill in 5 quarts. It has always been between the 2 holes in the dipstick. Now im 6 quarts with the oil cooler D:

[frslee]

I went in for the first complimentary servicer and never going back.
Not only they overfilled the oil, did not even use drain plug gasket. I did see minor oil drip though. It didn't cause any excessive oil lose, but still. Do the oil change by yourself next time. It's designed very easy. Filter on top, drain plug area already has hole in it.

[EAGLE5]

The main danger of overfilled oil is the crank whipping the oil into a buttery texture that doesn't lubricate well. I really don't know how much oil it would take for that to happen. Probably quite a bit to be honest.

[mike the snake]

I'm switching to Motul fluids in a week. I was just taking advantage of the free 1st oil change.

Next week the car is getting turbo, radiator/oil cooler, exhaust, clutch, tune, new fluids, rear swaybar install.

Originally Posted by frslee

I went in for the first complimentary servicer and never going back.
Not only they overfilled the oil, did not even use drain plug gasket. I did see minor oil drip though. It didn't cause any excessive oil lose, but still. Do the oil change by yourself next time. It's designed very easy. Filter on top, drain plug area already has hole in it.

[autobrz]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

rear swaybar install.

not enough oversteer?

[kALMIGHTY]

Originally Posted by autobrz

not enough oversteer?

There's never enough oversteer.

[mike the snake]

I put staggered wheels and tires on (18x8.5 and 18x9.5 with 246/265 PSS tires) lowered 1.5" with ST coilovers, which doesn't help with the understeer. Now that the car is sticking so well in turns, I can feel the back end rolling over more. I'm hoping the rear swaybar will help neutralize the handling when I get on the track or AX.
I'll hopefully be rocking over 300 to the wheels (shooting for 320-350) so I went for the wide tires, but went staggered for looks. The car is 95% street.

Originally Posted by autobrz

not enough oversteer?

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

I brought the car in this morning. They tried to tell me that they overfill these cars because they can burn up to a quart of oil in as little as 1200 miles, and that my oil level was just .....

All in all, I'm glad I had them take the extra oil out, as I felt that even though a little overfull is OK, my car had too much oil in it.

Self fulfilling prophecy. Of course the extra oil will get burned off, if you're lucky!

Extra oil gets best up by the crank and causes excessive oil burning. If bad enough it can take out your cat.

The things these dealerships dream up to justify their incompetence.

If they pull a line like this again ask them to show you where Subaru specs say they can do this.

You were absolutely correct to get them to take the overfill out.

[mike the snake]

I guess it is kind of normal for Subarus though, I read about the older engine's dip sticks having a notch just above the "full" dot that was supposed to be where they were supposed to fill to. The shop manager mentioned this as well.

He also said the BRZ engines do have a windage tray, I asked twice. I'd like to confirm this.

My engine was filled WAY above the "full" dot or even wherever they might have put a notch above that. It was an inch above the full dot on the dipstick.