Word of Warning: Oil Overfill

In my humble opinion, it seems they actually put in 5 quarts. 3.9 doesn't seem enough to have it "spill or froth" into the intake manifold. That takes a lot of oil for that to happen. Yes, doing it on your own may be the safest bet. A good dealership would also be good. Man, I can tell you ridiculous stories of mine regarding one of those quick oil chain places. My issue was having other leaks happen after visiting them, that didn't occur before.

 

it's just carelessness. prius may be a little more than susceptible than your average gasser, idk. but that's why we avoid quicky bube, and always check the level before driving off, no matter where you take it. anyone can make a mistake, and mistakes are sometimes expensive. glad they took care of yours.

 

It's not just the oil change chains, the dealer personnel can overfill too.

I once gave them a 5 quart jug of oil and expected them to return the unused amount. However, when I got the car back, there was no jug. Checked the oil level, and sure enough, it was overfilled.

I removed the excess oil myself.

 

Good move. The pros are too rushed, and quicky oil price place "pros" are the most rushed. Maybe the guy lost count, and opted to throw in another bottle for good measure. Or, perhaps was being diligent, checked the dipstick, and misread it.

I know reading 3rd gen dipstick with brand new oil is an exercise in futility. If I check ours right after an oil change it invariably reads quite a bit low, even though I've put in the correct quantity. Best to just dump in the spec'd amount, do a cursory check to make sure you can see something, then ignore it for a day or two.

 

Just be thankful that the Prius gave you the red triangle of Death when you lost oil pressure. Other cars would have continued to egg-beater the excess oil into a foam until the engine seized from lack of oil pressure.

Bill the Engineer

 

I was wondering if being 1/8" above the dot on the dipstick is cause for concern.


iPhone ?

 

^ No. Just think about it, nothing is that critical.

 

How much did your mechanic charge to drain out a little oil?

 

Used Jiffy Lube 2 yrs ago on my daughters jeep. I had a Jiffy Lube Groupon and thought I would save a few bucks. What a waste. Their oil filter leaked. Slow drip that tightening would not correct. I changed it myself a week later.

Never again. I can do my own oil in 30 min and get to look for other issues.


iPhone ?

 

A fill of 3.9 U.S. quarts is exactly the correct amount of oil. I did that several times when I was a new owner until Patrick Wong on PriusChat finally got me to relax and just put in 3.5 and call it good.

So, it if was overfilled, they put in much more than 3.9 quarts.

 

Kris got me to pay more attention to draining the used oil out of the engine. Now I raise up the rear of the car and the left front corner, while the right front corner is lowered, to help the used oil to drain out of the crankcase more thoroughly. Then I put in 3.7 quarts to bring the new oil level up to the top dipstick dimple.

 

i put in 6 quarts and call it a day.

 

This is not funny.

Unless you're talking about a 3.5 liter Camry V6, 6 quarts would be perfect in that application.

 

IMHO, too much oil is too much oil and it needs to be drained off.

In my 911 and many if not all of my club members fill to the middle of the dipstick. The reason is when the engine gets to operating temps and level is above the recommended mark, the oil gets into the intake and upon restart, out the pipe resulting in a ploom of smoke and fouling up the throttle body. Here in Cali, it causes high HC readings at the bi-annual Smog Check for post 78 cars which will FAIL the test.

Infact, my buddy and I drove up to Laguna Seca and he overfilled it, He sprayed oil all over my car. I was so POed

In the 02 Prius, my MIL thinks she needs to keep adding oil, as a result, over filled it and threw a CEL. I had to drain a bit out and worse part was taking the intake apart (yes, I could have left it in the car but it is much easier to clean not hunched over that tiny car) and the CEL for that issue never appeared again.

Bottom line, keep it between the two marks to be prevent any future issues. 3.7 qts is a happy medium

 

I use Jiffy once in a while. There now Havoline no more Jiffy down here anymore. Same place same nitwits.

In there computer it says the Prius G2 takes 5 quarts. Same computer Jiffy had. I always say that's nice your putting in 3.5 quarts. And to make sure they do I bring the Mi 5 quart jug with just 3.5 quarts in it. And I stand there and watch them.

I bring the $4 oem filter and the jug. With a coupon its $21.

Guaranteed dealer over fill too. There using the pneumatic hose filler from the dirty vat and its not very accurate so they give it one or 2 more shots. Not that they check after.

Consistant overfill with dirty oil and constant upsell and 2 hour wait. But nice donuts.

 

Oil does not expand when it reaches operating temp. Not sure what cars your talking about but Toyota put the full mark on the dipstick for a reason. And as far as oil in a PRIUS intake that's very normal and is always there. There's always a pool in the bottom of the TB. Its part of the Atkinson cycle.

In a Prius the oil needs to be checked first thing in the am before you start the car. Takes a long time for all oil to drain back completely in a Prius. There's a lot of oil up in the VVT section. If you check your oil at a gas stop it will constantly show low which is probably why your MIL
kept adding oil.

 

Does nobody check their own oil anymore?

 

rarely. i'm waiting for the light to come on first.

i have been to nifty loob only once. they made me wait in a room with a window. i could barely see my car. it took an hour, and i had to make them drain the excess oil. the guy did a good job acting like he couldn't figure out how it was above the max line, when he only filled it to just below.

 

I'm pretty particular about draining every single drop I can get to, and 3.9qts fills my Prii up to the very top of the full line on the dipstick. 3.5-3.7qts is probably the best practice for most people. Being a little under the top line is no problem at all (it's even desirable).