Alf, at least on two separate occasions I\'ve asked you to watch your language when posting. it\'s also been pointed out to you that there is no point trying to defeat the swear filter by swapping characters in the swear words. I simply cannot be bothered editing you post with several \"pink fluffy dice\" comments.
If you cannot write without using explicit language, then please don\'t bother at all.
D.D.
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Alf, speaking as a qualified mechanic, I get fed up listening to fatheaded, loudmouthed morons claiming to be customers. Some of them seem to think that having their car serviced by someone more knowledgable then themselves represents a challenge. A challenge they can't meet, hence the very common resort to insults.
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DD. sorry about my reply, hackles were raised !!
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Ok I'll try and tone it down. Didn't mean to offend, just reporting things as they are.
I didn't realise you need a long motoring apprenticeship to get the correct oil level in a car. Its hardly rocket science, what it IS is a total lack of care. These are the facts I'm reporting from this dealership and if you think that this is the only one then you are being naive.
What damage does overfilling an engine with oil do?
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>>What damage does overfilling an engine with oil do?
I'm not too sure about modern engines Alf, but my 1980 Astra 1.3 needed swift attention from the RAC due to me overfilling it with oil. The amount of smoke out of the exhaust had to be seen to be believed.
Cheers
Rob
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Rob, you probably wanted your Astra to look like a bus from behind! HJ's very quiet these days. Can't she get on the machine or has she got better things to do now?
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Hmmm ...
Bafta, I'm getting a little worried here. First there was the confusion as to whether Hootie and HF were one and the same. Then there was confusion as to whether Rob and HF were one and the same. Now it seems that HF and our esteemed host are one and the same, or elses Rob knows something we don't. But ...
... could this also mean that HF, Rob, HJ and Hootie - ARE ALL DIFFERENT NAMES FOR ONE PERSON????!!!
Maybe I've stumbled onto something here. Perhaps I'm the only person who actually visits this site. Maybe the outside world is a figment of my imagination. What is the Matrix? Are we orbiting Solaris?? Do I watch too many sci-fi movies???
(PS due to the fact that misunderstandings on other threads have already occurred and been resolved, I would like to state for the record that the above is complete hysteria and nonsense).
andymc
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Hahahahahahaha!! Funniest thing I've read in ages, Andy! (as you'll have gathered, I do hysteria and nonsense cvery well myself).
Bafta - thanks for your exaltment of my identity to that of our great leader himself. Sadly, though, I think you might notice a difference if I tried writing one of HJ's columns ;)
HF
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Back to the topic.....
As I understand it from reading other posts on this site, if there is too much oil it can be picked up by the crankshaft and whipped into a froth, which means it can't be pumped around the engine with predictable results.
Anyway, enough of that, who knows about valve clearances on a Mercedes 280??;-).
Feel free to answer on a different thread on technical.
Thanks,
John
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I think the main problem with overfilling with oil is that the oil pressure can build up to too high a pressure and can cause seals to leak and gaskets to weep. So it could leak past the valve stems into the cylinders, be combusted and give rise to the blue smoke.
Hence Rob's blue smoke problem.
Jonathan
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Thanks for your opinions guys. I suppose its jolly well back to the dealer (again)! To ask them if they can satisfy this 'moron' by draining off oil to the correct level and if its not too much trouble perhaps they can clean off the grease they left on the seat and the carpet. (Sheeesh!)
Regards,
Alf
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I've been pondering on this and not posting what I want to ask for fear of it being a totally 'dumb woman' kind of question - *but* ..... in search of the answer, I have no alternative than to ask.
If over filling with oil is likely to cause damage, then why isn't there some method of level indication visible on the outside?
I was only wondering along the lines of the indicator level of salt in a dishwasher (you can't actually see the salt) or water in the steam iron (water being clear)- so why not oil?
Would taking in to account the levels rising and falling whether warm or cold, be too much of a factor?
(rushing off to hide now (again) in case that's a really stupid question (not knowing much about oil) but no need to type too slowly, I can understand when equipped with the information. If however, in the unlikely event it's a Eureka moment - then remember I put it here first. lol) ;)
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If you pull out the dipstick it will give an idication of how oil is in the engine. the manual for the car will tell you where to find it.
If a mechanic changes the oil he should kow the maximum capacity of the engine, and not put in any more oil than this. But mistakes do happen. What really matters to me is what the garage does to put it right.
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Hi Ben
Yes, I do check my own oil (honest) :-) but it was the whole question of being able to physically see on the outside of the reservoir, if you see what I mean, that I was wondering about?
Thought it may be more accurate, or more likely to prevent mishaps.
(I know I'm not very good at explaining myself - but say for arguments sake when topping up the oil, you then have to use a bit of judgement don't you, which may or may not be accurate, that set off my train of thought)
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It's not too critical, Hootie. Most dipsticks have an indication of the amount required to raise the level from the bottom to the top setting, so you only have to reach the lower line and then add the stated amount, or proportion thereof. Anywhere between the two should be safe, although IIRC, early BL 1800's (the Land Crab) were produced with a dipstick that was too long, which cause premature engine failure in a few...
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