Out driving yersterday I hit the go peddle to overtake looked out of the rear view mirror only to see a huge cloud of blue smoke belching out of my exaust, it was that thick that I could hardly see the car that I had just overtaken. It transpires that my other half had (under the advice of the man at the garage) put 5 ltres of 10W40 magnatec oil in it.after check oil level came up on the MID. The car has travelled about 150 miles in this condition any advice please on what to do?apart from drop the oil out of it change the filter and top up with correct fluid and I hope you can answer the question is there likely to be any permanent damage,no

Do it as soon as possible - its possible to damage seals (even pistons in extreme cases)...

Maybe the wife just got it a tad wrong, as 5 ltrs is what a complete oilchange with oilfilter takes..  ;) (on the 2.0i 16v anyways)..

2.0/2.2 is 4.5l, v6 is 5.5 l

Nope.. 2.0i is 5 ltr if you change the oilfilter too (and we allways do, don't we!)

Yes, you're probably right - I did a 2.2 yesterday and it took 4.5l, but I filled oil filter before I put it on and started measuring what went it, so its 4.5l plus whatever the filter holds :)

Go and see the numpty in the garage and slap him silly. >:(

Its a 2.5 lump the oil level was about 4 inches above the max line on the dipstick :'(

Tony H wrote on 23. Jul 2006 at 21:53:

Out driving yersterday I hit the go peddle to overtake looked out of the rear view mirror only to see a huge cloud of blue smoke belching out of my exaust, it was that thick that I could hardly see the car that I had just overtaken. It transpires that my other half had (under the advice of the man at the garage) put 5 ltres of 10W40 magnatec oil in it.after check oil level came up on the MID. The car has travelled about 150 miles in this condition any advice please on what to do?apart from drop the oil out of it change the filter and top up with correct fluid and I hope you can answer the question is there likely to be any permanent damage,no

Was this drained first? If not you could have 10 litres of oil in there!! :o

Get it drained and changed ASAP!!

I am working on a oil change guide at the moment (just need to take a better picture of the sump plug, and it will be ready)

too much oil can be more damaging than not enough in some cases

Tony H wrote on 23. Jul 2006 at 23:35:

Its a 2.5 lump the oil level was about 4 inches above the max line on the dipstick :'(

Blimey!  Sort it immediately before something gets damaged!

TheBoy wrote on 24. Jul 2006 at 08:31:

Tony H wrote on 23. Jul 2006 at 23:35: Its a 2.5 lump the oil level was about 4 inches above the max line on the dipstick :'( Blimey!  Sort it immediately before something gets damaged!

Did the guy actually check the oil on the dipstick in the garage or was it the wife.

If the garage didn't do the proper checks I would go back and complain.

Hopefully there isn't any major damage.

Now I dont know if this is the case with Omegas and i'm sure an expert will advise. But i always thought if seriously too much oil.....which i would have thought 10litres is  :o apart from other damage that may happen.....the oil can spill over into the gearbox....so a gearbox oil change maybe in order.

Anybody know?? Or is this just on manuals? Dunno.....I heard it somewhere tho :-/

PS Why hasnt Omegas got an 'Oil level too high' warning.......its got sensors for everything else!!

The oil cannot get into the gearbox, they are two seperate sealed units. It is feasible that itcould be so bad it spill into the clutch though.

Basically too much oil means no crankcase air space, and that can cause serious damage as the pistons are effectively trying to compress oil instead of moving air.

I suspect you may have some serious damage mate. At the least, several oil seals and gaskets will have suffered. I stioll say slapping th garage man silly is the best way forward.

Give it to Mr McB for a day or so, hes very good with cars that have/require oil leaks... ;)

wrote on 25. Jul 2006 at 08:04:

The oil cannot get into the gearbox, they are two seperate sealed units. It is feasible that itcould be so bad it spill into the clutch though. Basically too much oil means no crankcase air space, and that can cause serious damage as the pistons are effectively trying to compress oil instead of moving air. I suspect you may have some serious damage mate. At the least, several oil seals and gaskets will have suffered. I stioll say slapping th garage man silly is the best way forward.

Thanks for clearing that up Ron.....must have got clutch and gearbox mixed up! lol! but i knew id heard summat...thats not good when way too much oil in.

Why dont they have like my merc.....a few oil changes ago....too much oil was put in...Computer was BONG....Oil level high...BONG.....every few mins....i took it back....it had only 1/2 ltr too much oil over the max on the dipstick it turned out...Drained 1/2ltr and sorted.

Hope nothing serious has happened Tony

Cheers

.....if its reached the point where people cant use a dip stick then its a poor show!

Marks DTM Calib wrote on 25. Jul 2006 at 21:49:

.....if its reached the point where people cant use a dip stick then its a poor show!

If people don't check oil weekly, what else don't they check regularly  :-/

Well, first things first I suppose. Get the sump plug off and drain that engine out completely.

Now, the fact that you have been burning oil will be one of 2 things basically. If the oilways are a bit clogged, the pistons coming down into the sump will not be able to shift the oil quick enough, so the oil could have been forced at great pressure passed the oil rings and into the combustion chamber(s).

Alternatively the oil may have been forced passed the crankcase breather system and into the plenum.

So, once oild is drained, I would pop the plenum off. Hopefully this is where the oil has got in. If so, a lot of cleaning and you should be ok. If not, you may be looking at a big problem.

As for MarksDTMCalib, if you don't behave, I will pop around and put diesel in your MV6. Then we'll have that race!!!! Swine. ;D

Anyway, step by step. Hopefully you will be ok.

Marks DTM Calib wrote on 25. Jul 2006 at 21:49:

.....if its reached the point where people cant use a dip stick then its a poor show!

I know what u mean Mark....but some spotty face kid changing your oil doesnt bother to wait a few mins after adding oil....to wait for the oil to seep down to the sump....before checking it again on the dipstick.....which i suspect happened in my case with the merc....coz i saw a kid do the same on my veccy....same garage....mentioned it to him...about waiting a bit.....boss of garage heard me told him and was str8 over to tell him too.....

I know i shud do it myself......and can....but imo its messy....getting rid of the oil.....plus no driveway

TheBoy wrote on 25. Jul 2006 at 21:51:

Marks DTM Calib wrote on 25. Jul 2006 at 21:49: .....if its reached the point where people cant use a dip stick then its a poor show! If people don't check oil weekly, what else don't they check regularly  :-/

I thought thats whats the computer for......check coolant.....check oil level.....check washer fluid.....etc.....after all we pay meega amounts for these Omegas.....the bl**dy computer shud tell us when summat needs checking....like check tyre depth....check tyre pressure....that rust spot over there needs checking....are you sure you've cancelled the papers and milk....have you got your passport.....simple things like this.....am i hoping for too much  ;D

As for the increased oil consumption, some oil is used in normal operation after it is splashed/sprayed onto the bore wall (for lubeing the piston rings etc), if its overfilled, it will be more than a splash and hence greater consumption...

Thanks for all the replys folks dropped the oil etc checked over the lump and all seems well, its stopped chuffing out plumes of blue smoke  ;D will keep an eye on it to make sure there are no oil leaks from damaged seals etc. hopfully i've got away with it :)

TheBoy wrote on 23. Jul 2006 at 22:17:

Yes, you're probably right - I did a 2.2 yesterday and it took 4.5l, but I filled oil filter before I put it on and started measuring what went it, so its 4.5l plus whatever the filter holds :)

Is there any reason for doing it that way....?

wrote on 28. Jul 2006 at 20:04:

TheBoy wrote on 23. Jul 2006 at 22:17: Yes, you're probably right - I did a 2.2 yesterday and it took 4.5l, but I filled oil filter before I put it on and started measuring what went it, so its 4.5l plus whatever the filter holds :) Is there any reason for doing it that way....?

Yep. It cuts out the large amount of air put in the system. If there is no oil put in the filter, when doing a change once you start it up there is a massive gap of no oil in the filter which would create a large amount of air in the system.

Half fill the filter with oil, and dunk you finger in there & run it around the edge of the rubber seal. It just reduces the amount of air in the system, once it starts.

Oil overfill tends to just burn off (as you have discovered already), though it could pop seals or as mentioned even cause more extreme damage.

But I think that the likelihood of any serious damage other than fouled cats and spark plugs is not very high.

If you find it difficult to drain the excess  oil (not all of us have private driveways with ramps handy etc), you could try siphoning it out through the dipstick using something like this:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040215070

HTH


(EDIT - spelling mistake corrected thanks to Lawman)

Markjay wrote on 29. Jul 2006 at 01:34:

But I think that the likelihood of any serious damage other than fouled cats and spark plugs is not very high. If you find it difficult to drain the excess

Take off oil filler cap...start engine, rev engine, turn engine off, replace oil filler cap.


Disclaimer : Please don't do this...it's really messy ;D

tunnie wrote on 28. Jul 2006 at 21:23:

wrote on 28. Jul 2006 at 20:04: TheBoy wrote on 23. Jul 2006 at 22:17: Yes, you're probably right - I did a 2.2 yesterday and it took 4.5l, but I filled oil filter before I put it on and started measuring what went it, so its 4.5l plus whatever the filter holds :) Is there any reason for doing it that way....? Yep. It cuts out the large amount of air put in the system. If there is no oil put in the filter, when doing a change once you start it up there is a massive gap of no oil in the filter which would create a large amount of air in the system. Half fill the filter with oil, and dunk you finger in there & run it around the edge of the rubber seal. It just reduces the amount of air in the system, once it starts.

Makes sense now youve explained it...cheers. ;)