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Overfilled Oil


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My boyfriend drives my car back and forth to work every day. He told me earlier today that on his way there yesterday the DIC displayed "VERY LOW OIL PRESSURE. TURN OFF ENGINE" so he pulled into the NAPA that was a couple buildings away from where he was. He said he checked the oil and it wasn't showing up on the dipstick at all, so he went inside and bought a few quarts of oil. He put in 2 quarts, checked it, it was still low so he added a little more (half a quart) which brought it a little under the FULL mark. He got in it, started it, and drove the rest of the way to work, and home later last night with no more obvious problems.

He told me about this earlier and an alarm immediately went off in my mind because I JUST did an oil change less than a month ago, and there's no way it could have lost that much oil already. I went outside to check the oil myself and look around for leaks. I pulled the dipstick out, and I could see around the top of it where it looked like oil had leaked out of the dipstick hole. I checked the oil and the level on the dipstick was about 1/4 inch over the top of the plastic fill level indicator, which means about 1/2 inch over the full mark on it. Being that he drove it most of the way to work and all the way home (about 60 miles) like this, I am VERY afraid that something has been damaged. I know he's not stupid when it comes to cars and that he would never have intentionally overfilled it, so I believe him when he says that the level wasn't even reading on the dipstick when he first checked it.

My two questions are 1. What damage could this have caused? I drained the excess oil out, but I'm sure that any damage that could be done probably already is.

2. What could have caused the LOW OIL PRESSURE warning and the oil to appear low? Even though it couldn't have been low since it's now obvious that it was overfilled.

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Relax. No damage done Carla. Low oil pressure warnings are usually a failing oil pressure switch on the filter adapter. If you replace it, use A/C Delco. Not sure what to say about the oil level. Maybe he misread the dipstick. You should get a check oil level message at about 2 qts low. That's just about the time that the oil level drops off the dipstick. If there (really) was none on the dipstick and he added 2 qts, that would have brought it right where it should be.

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Relax. No damage done Carla. Low oil pressure warnings are usually a failing oil pressure switch on the filter adapter. If you replace it, use A/C Delco. Not sure what to say about the oil level. Maybe he misread the dipstick. You should get a check oil level message at about 2 qts low. That's just about the time that the oil level drops off the dipstick. If there (really) was none on the dipstick and he added 2 qts, that would have brought it right where it should be.

Perhaps he did misread it, or put more oil in it than he told me he did, thereby overfilling it. All I know is that it was definitely overfilled by about 2 quarts, then driven about 60 miles that way. My concerns are damage caused by driving while it was overfilled. I've heard some scary stories about driving with too much oil, everything from blown seals and gaskets from too much oil pressure to the oil getting frothy from contacting the crankshaft and not being able to do it's job of lubricating everything, which can result in disaster. How likely is it really that something like that could have happened or still could happen to my car?

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Look at replacing the PCV valve (inexpensive maintenance item), as excess oil can blow out that way. For a short period hopefully no damage done. My low oil pressure warning came from an oil pump pickup that dropped off.

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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I've heard some scary stories about driving with too much oil, everything from blown seals and gaskets from too much oil pressure to the oil getting frothy from contacting the crankshaft and not being able to do it's job of lubricating everything

Oil pressure has absolutely nothing to do with oil quantity and motor oils have an anti foaming agent in them. I seriously doubt any damage was done.

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I've heard some scary stories about driving with too much oil, everything from blown seals and gaskets from too much oil pressure to the oil getting frothy from contacting the crankshaft and not being able to do it's job of lubricating everything

Oil pressure has absolutely nothing to do with oil quantity and motor oils have an anti foaming agent in them. I seriously doubt any damage was done.

I am with Ranger on this one.

I doubt that any damage was done.

It's not like he was running at 6000 rpm for a long distance. :D

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Bruce, I already changed the PCV valve in February because the old one wasn't working and kept getting forced out of the valve cover due to excess crankcase pressure. I haven't had that problem since I put in a new one. Thank you for the suggestion though.

I feel a TON better about it now that I have heard from a few of you that it SHOULDN'T have done any damage. Of course that doesn't mean it hasn't but I am a little more confident about it.

As far as the low oil pressure message, I will ask my other half when he gets home if he had any more issues with it at all. I'm sure if he did he would have called me by now. I think it more than likely is just a sensor related issue because the car still runs and drives perfectly fine. There also weren't/aren't any codes present at all...except my TCC code as history, but that's been there a long time and has nothing to do with this. I will check the codes again in the morning just to be sure. Wouldn't a bad sensor throw a code?

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I doubt it has done any damage either. Usually the first thing too much oil will do is blow a main seal. I would imagine you would need at least 4 or 5 extra quarts to do that.

Someone that I was standing behind kept adding oil to her truck because someone told her you had to add oil every so often (she never checked it). When she went to take it in to get the oil change, she was 6 quarts over! Suprisngly with no immediate damage. I didn't know the person so I don't know if something happened later.

-Dusty-

2006 Cadillac DTS Glacier Gold Tri-Coat with 175,000 miles

1993 Cadillac Sixty Special Gold Mist with 185,000 miles

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This should make you feel better.

Sometimes on the 93 to 95, the pressure relief valve will hang up causing NO oil pressure. The remedy is to overfill the crankcase to a total of 15 quarts then rev the engine to 4000 rpm to force prime the oil pump, see this..... the fellow bobynski he is referring to was the GURU

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Thanks. That does make me feel a LOT better. biggrin.gif

So far the only thing I've noticed is that there was a knock in the engine when I started it this morning. It was only present for about 2 minutes until the car warmed up a little, then it went away.

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Thanks. That does make me feel a LOT better. biggrin.gif

So far the only thing I've noticed is that there was a knock in the engine when I started it this morning. It was only present for about 2 minutes until the car warmed up a little, then it went away.

Perhaps some more oil than normal was combusted when there was an overfill condition and left some carbon deposits in the combustion chambers. Then you may have got some cold-knock, aka cold carbon rap, at start-up. If that was the case, it is not dangerous, and also fun to cure: find a good stretch of road with little traffic and (when safe to do so) floor it to burn off the deposits! If you see some smoke/dust behind you when you floor it, you probably had some carbon build-up that was burnt off. Search for WOT procedure on the forum.

Another explanation could be that you listened more than normal after the overfill and therefore heard it now, even though it was present before. I cannot see how too much oil would damage the bearings, so I don't think that the overfill caused any harmful knocking condition.

/Jonas

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It sounded like cold carbon rap. I had that issue when I first got the car, and a few good WOT's cured it. I haven't given it a good drive in a while...perhaps another WOT is in order now that my brakes are fixed.

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Another explanation could be that you listened more than normal after the overfill and therefore heard it now, even though it was present before. I cannot see how too much oil would damage the bearings, so I don't think that the overfill caused any harmful knocking condition.

/Jonas

I agree with Jonas, that this could be the reason you are hearing something new. I think all is fine

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Ok you stated that you did an oil change very recently, I will tell you from many many experiences to be carful whatoil filter you use.

Nearly every Cadillac with the 4.6 I have seen with a fram oil filter has had a low oil pressure condition. Honestly I only buy AC-Delco to rule that out. I also find that powerflo and purolator seem to perform well also.

It has something to do with the filter element.

Just a thought, Also The newer oils have antifoaming agents to protect engines from ovefilled crankcases, to an extent. Now if it was over by like 5 quarts I might be worried. Now there is also an actual procedure for checking the oil level on the 4.6. It requires you to add oil and start the engine, run till warm, then shut the engine off and recheck the oil.

I hope this helps you.

Go perform a WOOT procedure and have some fun

GM FAN FOREVER

Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile

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Ok you stated that you did an oil change very recently, I will tell you from many many experiences to be carful whatoil filter you use.

Nearly every Cadillac with the 4.6 I have seen with a fram oil filter has had a low oil pressure condition. Honestly I only buy AC-Delco to rule that out. I also find that powerflo and purolator seem to perform well also.

It has something to do with the filter element.

Just a thought, Also The newer oils have antifoaming agents to protect engines from ovefilled crankcases, to an extent. Now if it was over by like 5 quarts I might be worried. Now there is also an actual procedure for checking the oil level on the 4.6. It requires you to add oil and start the engine, run till warm, then shut the engine off and recheck the oil.

I hope this helps you.

Go perform a WOOT procedure and have some fun

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to get the AC Delco filter, but they were sold out so I got a Purolator high mileage one (intended for my car) instead. I never buy fram anything except for an air filter a long time ago. I've heard some not-so-wonderful things about their quality. I also only use Quaker State 10w30 oil. I've always used Quaker State in all of my cars and never had a problem with it at all so I figured, why switch now?

WOT procedure is lined up for this weekend. I wish I could do it sooner, but there is only 1 highway near me that has a speed limit over 55 and it's quite a few miles from me. Hopefully that will rid me of the knocking.

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Just curious...

On my 93 Eldo, after doing several WOT's on the same day. The next time I go to start the car it runs really lousy . Studders, coughs and shakes. It sounds like it's running on two or three cylinders. The first time this happened was the very first start after cleaning the Phenolic spacers. I attributed this conditioned to the carbon that was scraped out was getting hung up on the valves. The problem cleared after a few minutes.

This problems typically occurs about once a year, and shortly after performing WOT's. The problem clears after a few minutes and then runs fine. I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.

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I think you might be on to something with your observation that it is rough after you cleaned the spacers

Its possible that you are dislodging carbon with the WOTs

When you cleaned the spacers did you clean the 'mouse holes'?

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

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I took my car on a good, long drive earlier and did a few WOT runs. I started the car a few hours later so that the engine was cool, and there was no more knocking. She's running smooth as ever!!

Now to get the strut rod bushings and ball joints replaced so I can be rid of the clunking....

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I took my car on a good, long drive earlier and did a few WOT runs. I started the car a few hours later so that the engine was cool, and there was no more knocking. She's running smooth as ever!!

Now to get the strut rod bushings and ball joints replaced so I can be rid of the clunking....

She loves long highway drives as you have found out

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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At 200k miles I cleaned the phenolic spacers including the mouse holes for the second time. This time I stuffed rags into the ports to prevent carbon from entering the valve area. Took extra care in vacuming before removing the rags. This time the engine started and ran fine. The first time at 100k I wasn't as careful and this is when it struggled upon start up. As I said earlier, every now and then, typically once a year, or very other year after WOT's the next start the engine it will run crappy for at few minutes and then it's fine. I was just wondering if anyone else had a similar experience.

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I took my car on a good, long drive earlier and did a few WOT runs. I started the car a few hours later so that the engine was cool, and there was no more knocking. She's running smooth as ever!!

Now to get the strut rod bushings and ball joints replaced so I can be rid of the clunking....

She loves long highway drives as you have found out

Yes, and I love them just as much! biggrin.gif

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