Oil overfill

ok... just tried it in my old corolla. used a pump sprayer (old Fantasik bottle) and some tubing i had. was gonna do it in the Prius but didnt want any possible mess (it was actually a fairly neat job) took about 10 minutes to pump out just about half a quart. thyis was despite the leak that developed around the joint bet the stem of the pump and the tubing i used.

on retrospect, i should have used a turkey baster or something similiar as just priming the tube took almost half of the time. but after i got oil out of the pump, it pumped surprising well. was afraid that oil would be too thick to pump effectively.

 

I recommend you call the Toyota Customer Experience line at 1-800-331-4331 (I think there's a menu option specifically for Prius owners) and let them know your concerns (both with the original overfill and with what appears to you to be an overfill by the service department). I was in a similar situation (the difference being that the local dealers agreed it was over, just not that it was a problem). I would imagine the more they get calls on this issue, the more likely they are to communicate to service departments that this is worth paying attention to.

For me, they called the local dealer's service department, who was then willing (begrudgingly, but still...) to drain the excess for free. What I found most frustrating about the experience was the sense that the service guy thought I was being unreasonable for wanting the level to be within the marks. Needless to say, I took my car to another local dealer for it's 5K mile service and was happy to find they filled the oil just right.

 

hmmm i used one that is about 4 feet which was plenty (that was the length it was and too lazy to cut.)

but i would go with at least enough to where the pump spigot is up and over the car to eliminate drips and what not.

a good measure is the length of the dip stick plus a foot for leeway. keeps you from having to lean over too much

 

After some suggestions from Evan and Jayman on another thread, I decided to look into what manual oil pump options there were using Froogle.

Using Jayman's "dipstick oil change" suggestion, Froogle brought up a host of specially built tools for extracting oil from the dipstick opening. (A lot of them from marine equipment shops.)

Here's a few, all in the ~$30 or below range (in no particular order):

• Manual oil change pump
  [*][Broken External Image]:http://images.outdoorinteractive.net/mgen/259712_d.jpgOil Change Pump
  [*][Broken External Image]:http://www.westmarine.com/images/full/5842455.jpgoil change pump
  [*][Broken External Image]:http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/220000/225800/225854/products/9092071.jpgDrill pump oil changer -- I thought this was kind of cool; rather than manually pump the oil out, you attach it to your electric drill, and use it to pump the oil out. (No idea if it works as advertised.)
  [*]Hand-operated fluid transfer pump -- Amazon.com, somewhat more general purpose (also inflates tires, etc.)
  
  • 
    Anyway, that's a start. If anyone has any opinions on any of these, I'd be interested.

 

PR, I notice in your post you mentioned letting the car sit 30 min., 1hr and overnight before checking the level. Check your manual. The car should be at operating temp. when you check the oil. Maybe wait 5 min., then check. Make sure it's on a level surface also. Good luck!

 

I've been using a low tech, inexpensive solution. I got a long section (about 10') of 1/4" OD tubing that's translucent. I pulled the dipstick out and inserted the tubing into the oil reservoir. Then I just sucked on the tube until the oil got about 2' from my mouth. I put my finger over the end of the tube and pulled it out and dropped it into a waiting pan. I then blew the oil out and repeated the process until I got the level down.

It took several iterations. 8 feet of tubing with an internal ID or just over 1/8" of an inch will hold about .17 quarts. You can get a longer tube or transition to a fatter tube to hold more. Do it when the oil is warm and it flows out pretty easy. You'll see it moving through the tube. It doesn't take long at all.

I guess I can rightfully exclaim that "oil overfill sucks."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(enerjazz\";p=\"73911)</div>

Though not as much as duplicating this operation for septic tanks. ukeright:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bookrats\";p=\"73952)</div>

Jeff:

Funny you should mention that ...