I live in the US and drive a Honda Civic 2005. I have been going to the local auto shop that specializes in Japanese cars for car maintainence. These folks do a good job for the most part except for oil change. The Civic manual says that it will take 3.4 quarts of oil but these mechanics use the last quart completely. The dip stick shows the oil is filled far above the upper level mark. Will this cause any damage to the car?
We agree that this needs to be looked into. He should bring his concerns to the shop owner, not just stomp off angry. That independent shop owner should be very keen on getting things straight and keeping them straight.
The same sort of cockup could have happened at a dealership. It is really hard to find a good mechanic these days and hard to keep them. Too many dopeheads, too many that dont know what they are doing, and too many that really dont care.
BULLSHIT! Oil change places are institutional RIP OFF parlors. Jiffy-Lube was one of the WORST at selling people shit they didn't need. I had my fill of them when I took a BRAND NEW GMC Jimmy in for an oil and filter change. They came back to me with a LONG laundry list of what it needed. Over $1,000 worth. Trans filter, trans fluid change, differential change, brake fluid flush, air filter. and it went on. The car only had 750 miles on it. They were SURE the transmission was "SHOT!" Frankly stuffing in an extra quart of oil is small potatoes for these rip-off factories. Maybe it was an innocent mistake. Frankly if the jackass doesn't KNOW how much oil a car takes - I wouldn't let him with 500 feet of MY car. Dealers OVERCHARGE for everything. But usually they fix it right. There are always exceptions. I had to get an adjustment on the valves on a new Pontiac Grand Prix (72) and they left a wrench inside. When they went to start it, so much for the engine. Pontiac sent a new crate motor for it. I wanted a new car, but since I had already put 20,000 miles on it, Pontiac said "THAT'S A NO!" Car was fine after that. The dealers are expensive but generally honest.
Most COMPANY owned tire stores are good too. Many mom and pop repair salons are great if you establish a relationship with them. But the oil change chains? As they say in new York ... Ferrrrrrrrrrgettttttttttttttt bout it!
If all it's got is the extra 0.6 of a quart I don't think you have anything at all to worry about. If the crankcase "size" is 6" x 12" and it has that extra 0.6 quart it means it's about a half inch higher then "normal". I've had v-8 cars filled with an extra 1.5 quarts that didn't seem to have any problem with it.
Even dealers, who often use dropouts for entry level work like oil changes and brakes, frequently have problem filling them right.
It can cause the crank lobes to aerate the oil (lowers lubrication property) and when too much oil gets onto the cylinder walls (overwhelms oil control rings) excessive oil consumption.
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