UPDATE** What I thought was a possible blown head gasket

Launcher · Oct 16, 2019

So like I said in my other post i took my car to the dealer two weeks ago on the 4th of October ... after I got it back my car started not turning on right and stalled on lights and loss of power on hills.. I took it to the dealer thinking my car had a blown head gasket. (Smoke from exhaustion and fouled spark plugs,) just some things that are symptoms of blown head gaskets .. Turns out my car had too much oil in the crankcase and it caused a lot of performance issue.. I changed the oil a month ago (I kept checking oil level on dipstick)and had no issues till after I had left the dealer from the tire rotation.. but today my car felt great again no stalls and no loss of power uphill more of my car seeming to run extra strong

Im not gonna lie I’m new to maintaining my car etc. after all I got my car last year. But glad I’m back with my car even though it seems I made a miscalculation with how much oil I added to my car.

nothome17 · Oct 16, 2019

How did you make the miscalculation so others here don't make the same mistake.

saiko21 · Oct 16, 2019

Driving with too much oil can actually damage your engine internals. The oil gets bubbled up and can cause cavitation in bearings or scoring damage

Launcher · Oct 17, 2019

saiko21 said:
Driving with too much oil can actually damage your engine internals. The oil gets bubbled up and can cause cavitation in bearings or scoring damage

Hopefully my car didn’t get to that point as far as damage after all I barely drove 30 miles with that issue. And it’s running great again nothing seems of and it runs smooth and strong ... as soon as I got it and turned it on I felt good too like I wasn’t nervous maybe since I’ve had it for a year now I’m one with it.. but yea don’t scare me like that

Launcher · Oct 17, 2019

nothome17 said:
How did you make the miscalculation so others here don't make the same mistake.

First off what I thought was flat enough of part of my driveway may have not been that flat after all and another was stay doing and focus on what you’re doing with your car and have all your tools ready .. I kept leaving my car to get things every now and then so sometimes I forgot how much or what i had to do next... also when I did put what I had to put on my car it was reading Close to the top mark on the dipstick so idk how I ended up putting more oil into it honestly..

Whiting087 · Oct 17, 2019

Launcher said:
So like I said in my other post i took my car to the dealer two weeks ago on the 4th of October ... after I got it back my car started not turning on right and stalled on lights and loss of power on hills.. I took it to the dealer thinking my car had a blown head gasket. (Smoke from exhaustion and fouled spark plugs,) just some things that are symptoms of blown head gaskets .. Turns out my car had too much oil in the crankcase and it caused a lot of performance issue.. I changed the oil a month ago (I kept checking oil level on dipstick)and had no issues till after I had left the dealer from the tire rotation.. but today my car felt great again no stalls and no loss of power uphill more of my car seeming to run extra strong

Im not gonna lie I’m new to maintaining my car etc. after all I got my car last year. But glad I’m back with my car even though it seems I made a miscalculation with how much oil I added to my car.

A lesson well learned... and no serious harm done. Well, maybe a little dent to the ego.

Launcher · Oct 17, 2019

Whiting087 said:
A lesson well learned... and no serious harm done. Well, maybe a little dent to the ego.

honestly that last part you said is true .. going back home yesterday I was just like wow what had I done etc and that all my fault I could’ve ruined the car .. a week without it was terrible but getting it back knowing it’s back and working is a great feeling. Still beat myself over it could’ve been worse but still

360glitch · Oct 17, 2019

How much "extra" oil do you think you had in there?

Launcher · Oct 17, 2019

360glitch said:
How much "extra" oil do you think you had in there?

It’s the second time I’ve done the oil change first time had no issues at all and the dealer said “found crankcase had an excessive amount of oil” on this oil change I did a month ago .. just trying to figure where I went wrong with my my calculation :|

Gotch · Oct 17, 2019

What calculation?

1.5L
Oil Capacity
Without filter: 3.4 quarts
With filter change: 3.7 quarts

2.0
Without filter: 4 quarts
With filter change: 4.4 quarts

Gruber · Oct 17, 2019

This shows to anyone concerned with oil dilution by fuel, that in the cases of extreme oil dilution you will be first facing this sort of problem, before any issues arising from the oil being too thin.

I reckon that to cause these symptoms (loss of power, white smoke, possibly "limp mode") the oil level has to be well over half an inch over the upper mark. Far above the orange plastic tip. I drove with the oil almost to the top of the plastic with no symptoms.

REBELXSi · Oct 18, 2019

How does one not know how much oil they use? You're more than likely either using 1qt bottles or a 5qt jug. It's blatantly obvious how much oil you use.

SCOPESYS · Oct 18, 2019

REBELXSi said:
How does one not know how much oil they use? You're more than likely either using 1qt bottles or a 5qt jug. It's blatantly obvious how much oil you use.

AT the end of the day, what is the most important thing is the ACTUAL LEVEL, not the exact amount of oil you poured in. The numbers for the 1.5L & 2.0 are the Oil Capacities of the cars, not necessarily the exact amount that needs to be added during an oil change. They are a GUIDE as to how much oil to add.

You should do ( well, at least this is what I do, and I am somewhat OCD)

Add most of that oil initially, and then measure the oil level with the dipstick, after waiting a few minutes for the oil level in the crankcase to stabilize.
Then add a little bit more, and wait for it to stabilize, and measure again, until you get it to the MIN mark on the orange.
Then run the engine for a few minutes to distribute the oil. Turn off engine.
Wait a couple of minutes and measure oil level again.
Then go back to adding a little oil at a time, waiting for the level to stabilize, and measure again, until you get the level to the MAX FULL level on the dipstick.
Run the engine again, for a few minutes, then off, wait a few minutes, and measure again.
At this point in time, it should still read at the same MAX Fill level as it did earlier.

The next day, before starting the car, measure the oil level again.. It should still be at that same MAX FILL mark.

Why be so OCD and exacting. ?

My reason, is so that I know EXACTLY that I have re-filled to the MAX line mark, with repeatable accuracy.

Thereafter, if the level RISES over time, it must be doing so because of OD, and I now have a Precise indication of how much OD I am getting, because I know the EXACTLY accurate level that the car was filled with non Gas diluted New oil.

Of course, you Dealer tech, doing your oil change is not going to fill to such a precise level... If they did, you would not like the Bill for all the time !!!

But if you do it yourself, you should be able to afford the time to do it RIGHT, and get the satisfaction out of doing a good job RIGHT the 1st time.

SCOPESYS · Oct 18, 2019

Gruber said:
This shows to anyone concerned with oil dilution by fuel, that in the cases of extreme oil dilution you will be first facing this sort of problem, before any issues arising from the oil being too thin.

I reckon that to cause these symptoms (loss of power, white smoke, possibly "limp mode") the oil level has to be well over half an inch over the upper mark. Far above the orange plastic tip. I drove with the oil almost to the top of the plastic with no symptoms.

If you fill to EXACTLY and Repeatably to the MAX Line on the orange part of the Dip Stick, then, if your Oil level rises (Due to OD) to the TOP of the Orange plastic, you have approx 5% OD. Much more than 5% OD is cause for concern, and should probably be addressed.
Oil level above the Orange ( due to OD or overfilling) is also cause for concern, as overfilling the oil can cause issues with the distribution of the oil, and /or its effectiveness as a lubricant etc etc.
TOO much oil can be worse than the oil at the Low level !! More is not better !!!

Gruber · Oct 18, 2019

SCOPESYS said:
AT the end of the day, what is the most important thing is the ACTUAL LEVEL, not the exact amount of oil you poured in. The numbers for the 1.5L & 2.0 are the Oil Capacities of the cars, not necessarily the exact amount that needs to be added during an oil change. They are a GUIDE as to how much oil to add.

You should do ( well, at least this is what I do, and I am somewhat OCD)

Add most of that oil initially, and then measure the oil level with the dipstick, after waiting a few minutes for the oil level in the crankcase to stabilize.
Then add a little bit more, and wait for it to stabilize, and measure again, until you get it to the MIN mark on the orange.
Then run the engine for a few minutes to distribute the oil. Turn off engine.
Wait a couple of minutes and measure oil level again.
Then go back to adding a little oil at a time, waiting for the level to stabilize, and measure again, until you get the level to the MAX FULL level on the dipstick.
Run the engine again, for a few minutes, then off, wait a few minutes, and measure again.
At this point in time, it should still read at the same MAX Fill level as it did earlier.

The next day, before starting the car, measure the oil level again.. It should still be at that same MAX FILL mark.

Why be so OCD and exacting. ?

My reason, is so that I know EXACTLY that I have re-filled to the MAX line mark, with repeatable accuracy.

Thereafter, if the level RISES over time, it must be doing so because of OD, and I now have a Precise indication of how much OD I am getting, because I know the EXACTLY accurate level that the car was filled with non Gas diluted New oil.

Of course, you Dealer tech, doing your oil change is not going to fill to such a precise level... If they did, you would not like the Bill for all the time !!!

But if you do it yourself, you should be able to afford the time to do it RIGHT, and get the satisfaction out of doing a good job RIGHT the 1st time.

That's about what I do, except I don't need to add oil and run the engine so many times just after changing the oil. I only first add most of the oil, then run the engine once and make sure it's somewhere between the marks, but below full. Then I might go for a drive or not. The next morning when the engine is cold I add oil to the final desired level and check again the next day. So my oil change is a 3 day job.... :yes:

I ignore the oil capacities given in the specs. With the civic it seems like they are accurate, but with my CRV there seems to be some 0.4 qt difference between theoretical and experimental volumes, confirmed by other owners.

SCOPESYS said:
If you fill to EXACTLY and Repeatably to the MAX Line on the orange part of the Dip Stick, then, if your Oil level rises (Due to OD) to the TOP of the Orange plastic, you have approx 5% OD. Much more than 5% OD is cause for concern, and should probably be addressed.
Oil level above the Orange ( due to OD or overfilling) is also cause for concern, as overfilling the oil can cause issues with the distribution of the oil, and /or its effectiveness as a lubricant etc etc.
TOO much oil can be worse than the oil at the Low level !! More is not better !!!

That's why I never let it go over the orange and now it never even gets there. After I stopped idling too long on cold engine and stopped using ECON (certainly never before the engine is fully warmed up), oil dilution was reduced to negligible even in winter and even without any long trips. With 0W30 oil it was completely eliminated.

UPDATE** What I thought was a possible blown head gasket

Launcher

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nothome17

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saiko21

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Launcher

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Whiting087

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Gotch

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