Both times I've taken the S in for a change, Honda has put enough oil in that it goes to the top of the H on the stick.

Is this too much oil, or no big deal?

 

Me too, should we care?

 

I guess not, lako -- no one seems too concerned about our oil overfills!

Next time I'm going to put "Jennifer Love Hewitt Put Too Much Oil In My Car" in the subject line.

 

Overfilling the engine is not good, but not especially harmful, depending upon how high they got it.

The oil pan is just the oil reservoir at the bottom of the engine. The oil pump pickup extends down to pump oil from the pan through the passages that lead to all the bearings, oil sprays, and other places the oil is needed. After the oil is used under pressure at all the critical areas it flows back in return passages to the pan simply because of gravity. The oil is separated from the crank shaft by a baffle so the moving parts don

 

To tag on to CD's post...
This introduction of air is known as "cavitation". It does two things. Reduces the oil pressure bad () and reduces the heat carrying capacity of the oil, bad ().

 

A friend of mine checked his oil and it was at the bottom marker. Assuming it was empty he poured on 4 litres.

The end result was a blown engine. In a Eunos 800 in Aus that comes to $7500. Ouch.

But that's very differnet to 1/4 litre over.

 

So are there any noticible side-effects of too much oil that you would pick-up on quickly? Something you would notice during your daily drive?

I'm in a similar situation - I noticed before that the oil was low about one "x" on the dipstick for sometime but never changed. After what must have been only 2 weeks it was down at the "L" this last Sunday. I noticed a drop-off in Vtec so I was already suspicious but still surprised by the quick drop. I checked it while hot and after sitting for an hour or two - it was definitely around the "L". I decided to add a quart of oil (I have about 1200 miles on it). Now when I check the dipstick it definitely appears over the "H" - seems thicker too, but that may be my imagination. However, I haven't noticed any particular problems while driving...drives like new (although, still no "Vtec-surge", but that's another thread).

I'll admit - I'm not the most mechanically inclined, but I'm trying. At the moment, making the effort to try and drain some oil wouldn't be a simple task for me, but I'm willing to if it's necessary.

What do you think - am I just worrying too much? What exactly is too much oil?

 

My guess is that a few ounces too much oil is no problem, so if it is just a bit high on the stick don