Oil too full?

[Opti-Mist]

Check to see if the oil capacity is specified in Liters (and fractional quarts). If so, a (dare I say "lazy") technician may not have stopped filling before emptying the last 1 qt. can. Sometimes this is the cause of the 1/2 qt. overfill.

 

[KICK]

I'm of the opinion that the level of the fluid doesn't really matter until the crankshaft starts whipping the oil into foam and you begin losing oil pressure due to aeration of the lube oil , OR the oil level is so low that you start sucking air along with the oil which also causes low oil pressure for the same reason.

so anywhere in between those two extremes is SAFE

you gotta figure there is some leeway in there, Farmers and trradesman who operate these machines aren't known for being the most meticulous people in the world when it comes to stuff like that, the machine in question was designed to be operated and maintained by those same folks therefore I am of the opinion that unless half a quart overfull would make the crankshaft start dipping into the lube oil and cause foaming/aeration it won't hurt anything.

it won't cause a seal leak either.
if a crankshaft oil seal is exposed to 60 psi oil pressure and it doesn't leak, why would it leak because the oil level was overfull?? unless somehow the oil level being overfull causes excessive oil pressure its not going to happen.

 

[Deerfoot]

I checked the oil when I first took delivery of the machine and it was over the full mark then and had not moved up or down. After joing this forum last week I thought it would be wise to ask the experts for some advice on whether this was OK. All I can say is the dealer I bought the tractor from has not shown me much in the area of expertise, so this is just one more thing. As far as total capacity the owners manual states "Crankcase and filter: 3.4 qts" Currently I have 16 hrs on the tractor so I hope there is no damage done to the engine.

 

[Kaliburz]

Check to see if the oil capacity is specified in Liters (and fractional quarts). If so, a (dare I say "lazy") technician may not have stopped filling before emptying the last 1 qt. can. Sometimes this is the cause of the 1/2 qt. overfill.

That's what probably happened......

Prob. didn't know and thought 4qts w/ the filter.....

 

[Atlas]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but, except for the pressure induced by the pump isn't the oil essentially at atmospheric pressure? Isn't the system basically vented via the dipstick?

 

[RobJ]

I'm not saying you are wrong, but how would it cause seal failure?

I was told that if there was too much oil in an engine such that the crankshaft "splashed" in the oil as it went around, it would beat the oil to a froth. The oil pump would not be able to pump enough oil to the engine in it's frothy form.

I think the basic theory is not beating the oil into a froth, but the crank actually hitting the liquid. Picture what happens when you slap your hand in a pool of water. Some engines (mostly in cars that I've seen) have an oil splash pan under the crank. These higher revving engines are keeping the oil splash off the crank. But I think you'd have to really overfill it to get it up to crank high. Seems I recall most engines I rebuilt the crank and rods stay mostly flush with the bottom of the block.

If it was only 1/2 qt high then I'd leave it alone. I'd overfill by 1/2 qt just to not have to store a 1/2 qt of oil for months.

 

[RalphVa]

Half a quart overfull isn't very much normally. On my Benz, several times over the last 23 years, I've seen the dipstick register as much as a quart or more over. Don't know why it does it every so often. It's only 1 quart out of a total of about 7 in there. Never has been a problem. Has nearly 200,000 miles on the clock and 23 years old. Seals still do not leak. In fact, it has no leaks at all.

My father ran service stations from the time I was about 14 until after I finished university.

One day, my high school principal brought his car in for an oil change. My Dad did it. Not long after the car was taken out, the principal drove it back, with the engine's hydraulic lifters hammering like mad. My Dad had put in new oil without taking the old out! (He obviously didn't check the dipstick after either.)

Way too much oil will allow the crankshaft to beat the oil surface and foam it up. Foam can then go into places where all liquid should be, like in hydraulic lifters. Probably can get so bad that the oil pump is actually pumping a combo of oil plus foam.

Ralph

 

[kozak]

Oil will heat up as you drive which will cause the oil to expand. If the oil has less space to compress into then it will find other areas to go....potentially blowing seals or getting into the intake of the engine.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Oil will heat up as you drive which will cause the oil to expand. If the oil has less space to compress into then it will find other areas to go....potentially blowing seals or getting into the intake of the engine.

Okay, I will bite. How much does the oil expand? 1% 3%? 5%
Bob

 

[NewToy]

I don't think a 1/2 qt would have bothered your engine. I wouldn't leave it in there, you did the right thing draining it. I noticed on my Farmtrac the hi & lo marks on the stick are pretty far apart. Like 2.5 inches, never seen a spread that big on a dipstick. The book says 4.75 qt but that just puts it at the add mark. I put in .5 -.75 qt additional and that put it right in the middle. Unless you were making whipped oil you are in good shape.
John