I did an oil change. Thought the car took 4.4 quarts but it only takes 3.7 quarts. I poured in slightly under 4 quarts. The engine is a 1.5 in-line turbo (Honda Civic Si). It’s reading past the fill line slightly. How bad is it? Do I need to pour some out? What am I risking? What symptoms should I be looking for?
You will be ok. Over filling will not do anything other than make seals break easier. Oil circulates throughout the block all the time. A tiny bit more or short will not effect any long term performance.
I have worked on cars my whole life and I am a logistics manager for a fleet of commercial vehicles.
Automechanic for 10 years here.
No. A little over the max fill line on the dipstick isnt going to hurt it. 1/8 of an inch overfilled or less is okay.
Usually if you don’t prefill the oil filter and only add what they say then sometimes it can be a little under. Its not a big deal.
Way too much and you risk damaging piston rings or flooding, but you really have to fill it to the point its spilling from the dipstick tube.
we’re supposed to pour it onto the oil filter too?
I mean, you don’t HAVE to. But you can pour some oil into the filter to pre-fill it so the oil doesn’t have to pump so long for the air you cycle out of the system, but the amount of time that happens for is so small it basically doesn’t matter. If the oil filter is easy to access and faces upward (the solid part faces the floor and open part faces up) then I would do it, but I wouldn’t do it in any other circumstance just to not have oil spilling and making a mess everywhere.
Youre not going to blow up the engine if you don’t. But it gives some people better peace of mind.
My wife was a mechanic (lube tech) for a year or two when we were first dating. One guy came in after TOPPING OFF his oil with WATER and was complaining that it wasn’t running right
Its pretty unusual to have lube techs doing any diagnosis, but did she ask him if he likes chocolate milkshakes? Because That’s exactly what you create when you mix water in engine oil. Just don’t drink it.
*Old man knowledge here, not a professional mechanic. *
It’s fine.
Close enough!
Edit for a recommendation to OP: if you plan to change the oil in the same car for the foreseeable future – get a transparent plastic pitcher and add a fill line mark for the oil on the outside with nail polish, in your case 3.7 quarts. I do this with my car and makes for a no brainier oil change.
I usually fill mine right to the top and it hasn’t hurt the last sixteen cars I’ve had.
It sounds like you’re going through cars a lot faster than average. Are you sure it didn’t hurt them?
Hi Dave.
Oil is good, more oil is gooder.
Ah, I hadn’t considered that! I normally apply that logic to my food but now I feel dumb for not realising it applies to everything!
If you had got it changed by a professional, they would have simply poured in all four quarts. You didn’t hurt a thing.
