Too much oil: Causes and solutions

Hello everyone,
How dangerous is it to have too much oil in the bathtub? What exactly happens then?

It can be "extremely dangerous" for a diesel engine. If you're unlucky, the oil can enter the combustion chamber through the crankcase ventilation system, causing the engine to run uncontrollably. In that case, even turning off the ignition key won't help.

However, if the shut-off valve were to activate, that might help... but do you really want to try it?

Adding a little too much oil might not be disastrous, but it can damage the engine, which in turn could affect the catalytic converter. If there's significantly too much oil, it's possible (though I don't know if this still happens with modern motor oils) that it could cause foaming.
If there's too much powerful hardware inside, it can cause space problems within the case, and I don't even want to think about what might happen then.

How much is "too much," exactly? Are you talking about 10 ml, 1 liter, or 5 liters?

As far as I know, Tino's car doesn't have a swirl flap – meaning it's a TDI engine from before 1997.

It then revs up strongly and must be immediately brought back down using the clutch.

Sure, here is the translation of the text from German to English:

"m" translates to "male" in English.

That's a valid point. I hadn't considered that. But the question seemed quite general...

Hello everyone!

So, I think you're being a bit overly cautious there. With a well-designed system, I would assume that it's possible to overfill it by at least 0.25-0.5 liters without creating any risk.
I've always found that authorized workshops tend to overfill the oil because they don't take the time and simply add the nominal amount of 4.5 liters. Based on my experience, this carelessness should lead to quite a few damages.

According to my experience, exceeding the maximum mark by 2-3mm is not a problem. However, if it's more than that, I would recommend removing some oil (e.g., using a large syringe and a hose inserted through the dipstick opening until the maximum mark is reached).

Regards,
Alex.

"In my Bully (vehicle), having 0.5 liters too much oil doesn't cause any problems! The oil pressure has remained the same."
I always add 0.5 liters too much on purpose, because my worn-out JX engine needs up to 3.5 liters per 1000 km depending on how I drive .
"In my Golf II JR with a 0.3L engine, I had too much oil, but that's no longer a problem. I haven't tried [something] yet to see how it works."
with the oil pressure due to foam formation. I think that more than 0.5 liters poses a significant risk of foam formation .

Hello,

T3Surfer wrote:

I always add 0.5 liters too much on purpose, because my worn-out JX engine needs up to 3.5 liters per 1000 km depending on how I drive

.

I do the same thing with the JX; it needs significantly less oil when the reservoir is filled to the maximum level. The oil then doesn't get as hot, and consequently degrades more slowly. The oil cooler is in the shed next to the LLK (low-level coolant), but that equipment simply doesn't install itself .

Quote:

With my Golf II JR, consuming 0.3 liters too much was no longer a problem, but I haven't yet tried to see how it works. with the oil pressure due to foam formation. I think that more than 0.5 liters poses a significant risk of foam formation

.

My girlfriend once added 2 liters of oil to her AAZ-Toledo somewhere in the middle of France because, according to her quote, "a red light was blinking" (it turned out later that it was the water level indicator). Two weeks later, I happened to check the oil and almost had a heart attack – it was about 2cm above the maximum mark! However, the car drove perfectly normally. A few years and several oil changes later, something went wrong, and there was water in the oil due to a faulty head gasket. The water apparently evaporated, which caused larger amounts of oil to be transferred into the crankcase.
In my opinion, there's still a lot of space between the counterweights and the oil level.

Best regards, Uli (with this resurrected AAZ engine now in a VW Golf Mk2).

Hey everyone,

"I managed to do it in my old Golf2 (54 hp, JK) by filling it up about 1 cm above the mark (which I shouldn't have done!), and then driving uphill at 5500 rpm (the engine was modified - not full throttle, a 75 hp gasoline engine wouldn't stand a chance). Then, there was a cloud of smoke behind me, like an F1 engine failure, and the tachometer hit its maximum. It stalled, but it didn't hurt anything (it's still running in an old Post-Golf). However, I would be careful about overfilling - at least, I would avoid full-throttle runs in the future..."

Regards,

JK is the diesel engine code for the Passat 32B and Golf 1 models, with a power output of 54 horsepower.
The naturally aspirated Volkswagen Golf 2 is a JP model with 54 horsepower.

SCNR.
Okay, please provide the German text you would like me to translate into English. I will only provide the translation.

I know.

It was a Go.1 machine. The previous owner had simply cut off the engine mount on the passenger side. I didn't really care; I only had the machine for a week. The AAZ engine was at home, ready to be installed with its gearbox. Then I pushed it as hard as I could – it was practically indestructible! Later, the person who drove it after me experienced a cylinder head gasket failure at around 230,000 km, and there weren't even any hairline cracks in the combustion chamber!

Regards

Hello!

donalexo wrote:

Assuming a reasonable design, I would expect that it is possible to overfill by at least 0.25-0.5 liters without creating a hazard.

In the automotive sector, I haven't really seen many well-designed products lately.

Quote:

I have always found that authorized workshops tend to overfill the oil levels. Based on my experience, this carelessness should lead to quite a few damages.

The workshops were instructed accordingly some time ago.


Severe overfilling can lead to serious problems, especially when the oil reaches the crankshaft and is processed by it accordingly.

BYE
TDI mechanics.