overfilled the DODGE 2003 GRAND CARAVAN during oil change

I'd go ahead and remove a quart. Having the level too high puts it in greater contact with the spinning crankshaft and it get splattered around a lot more inside the engine. It might be fine, but there are some problems that can result from that.

To much can be as bad as not as not enough. :lol2: Better to be safe and get it back to the full mark. Your engine will love you for taking care of it.

Or possibly create Hydraulic Lock if the oil pressures itself past the seals...

If you replaced the filter, but have not started the engine yet, you may be seeing the filter volume (which will go away when you start the engine).

Otherwise, if you have really overfilled it, then drain out a quart or so.

You can tolerate a little overfill with no problem, but a quart or more is too much.

Are you sure you put in too much oil? I had a Dakota that took 6 qts in the 4.7 V-8. I was the first person to change the oil and the dip stick showed that it was over full. I was positive I only put in 6 qts. with the filter. I found out the Dakota had the wrong dip stick. I never found the correct dip stick, so I just filed a notch where the FULL level was.

Hank

Oil is under pressure. If there is too much oil, and the pressure builds, then it can push out seals meant to keep it out of places. If the OP is luck, it will push a seal out at one end of the engine or another and leak onto the ground or into the tranny (depending on your definition of "luck")

If not, it can push out the valve seals and drop into the engine, and since a liquid cannot be pressurized...BANG! Hydraulic Lock...

There is nothing accurate in this post... The oil pump is sucking oil out of the oil pan which is essentially a bucket. The oil pump has no idea if there is 1 quart of oil in that bucket or 300 gallons of oil in that bucket. The problem with overfilling is that the spinning crankshaft comes in contact with the oil. The whipping action of the crankshaft will aerate the oil and turn it in to a foamy froth. The oil pump can not pump this froth so you loose oil pressure and soon after loose an engine if you don't stop.

Valve seals are not exposed to pressurized oil. Any lubrication needs they have are handled by oil splashing off the other valve train components.

Steve B.

You are correct Steve. Also, don't the oil pump have a pressure relief valve built into them so that excess pressure doesn't build up?

Hank

Hank

Oh wow that's quite the story. Liquids can't be compressed eh? Well damn, that's just re-writing the laws of physics right there. I guess oil doesn't burn in the combustion chamber either. You learn something new every day.

While he's wrong about the oil "locking up" the engine, it is indeed true that liquids can't be compressed. You can put pressure on a liquid, but you can't compress it. There's a difference. That's the fundamental principle of how hydraulic systems work...

Perhaps you should have paid more attention in that high school physics class...

'88 Honda Accord. JiffyLube overfilled it by three quarts. I don't know how it happened, I know they gave me a new engine...I'm just going by what the Honda Service Manager told me. I figured he knows what he's talking about...

The oil sitting in the pan is not under pressure (under normal conditions in most engines, I am sure if I didn't write this someone would find a some engine made in east germany in 1961 that was in 45 cars that had the oil in the pan pressurized and call me a dumbass for not considering it). The oil in the passages is. The pump picks up the oil and it is pumped through the system then returns to the pan. The oil pressure builds against the resistance of pushing the oil through the small passages, bearings, etc.

When an engine is over filled with oil, the oil pressure doesn't increase, the crank dips into the oil in the pan splashing it around. The oil get frothy with air and then these air bubbles are in the oil as the pump picks it up and circulates it. Of course air doesn't do a good job lubricating internal engine parts and the engine fails.

You are probably wondering how to get the oil out.

I suggest you buy one of those pumps that are driven by an electric drill. They usually have threaded ends to accept a normal hose fitting. By rummaging around at your local hardware store, you can find adapters that couple these fittings to plastic tubing (also sold by your hardware store).

Slide the tubing from the inlet side into the dipstick hole and stick the other in a suitable container. Run the drill motor until you have removed enough oil to satisfy the "full" condition.

I did this when my friendly Audi dealer could not figure out how to avoid overfilling my A4.

Good luck,

Ken

snipped-for-privacy@registerednurses.com wrote:

The OP posted yesterday that he took care of it by having WalMart change the oil again since he couldn't figure out how to drain only a qt.

Here's what I would do: Remove the oil filter, dump the oil that's in it, reinstall it. Start the engine, let the filter fill again, turn engine off, then remove the filter again, dump it, reinstall it. Re-start engine, run long enough to re-fill filter, turn engine off. Recheck oil level. Depending on size of filter, that should have removed approx. 1 qt. of oil.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Ah yes, but you are overly endowed with a measure of common sense.

?!?

Why not just unscrew the drain plug with your fingers until you can fell the threads are completely disengaged, quickly pull it away, then quickly put it back, tighten it back in, measure oil level on the dipstick, and add whatever partial quart is needed, if you let too much out?

Ted

Hi...

Wouldn't it be easier (and cleaner) to just drain it all into a nicely cleaned pan, then put back what you need? And then, if dollars and the environment count, put the left-over into another jug to save for top-ups and the next change?

I particularly don't like the oil filter emptying trick. Grit my teeth everytime a motor starts with an empty filter, and runs for even a few seconds with no pressure. Hate it so much that I don't let it happen. With a vertical filter I fill 'er up as much as I can before installing it. And with any filter I disable the ignition and crank it for 15 seconds or so before I let it start. Dunno if it helps much or not, but I feel better :)

Take care.

Ken

I'm obsessive-compulsive too, Ken - just in different areas! :) Of course some would claim that being concerned about overfilling the crankcase means we worry too much.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')