Hi we recently bought a discovery 3 and it's been great , a few small jobs and I will have to do the dreaded handbrake soon, anyway I went with mobil 3000 and did the oil , first put in the 5 lts and ran it to the filter which I believe is not a great way to do it ,anyway then I started pouring the litre to fill to the mark, well between being distracted, trying to read a very silly dipstick and being me I put in .7 of what was in the litre bottle , so in total 5.7 liters , I'd be happy but trying to read this wonky dipstick it appears I have filled it to the ball that the top arrow is printed on , not the bottom of the arrow , need I worry ?? The overfilled is tiny surely ?
Did I overfill
- Thread starter 13er
- Start date
This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Many many years ago I was at school* with a girl, who, when she learnt to drive filled her car engine with oil - and I do mean filled 
... She blamed it on the fact that the engine oil filler was simply labelled "Oil - Fill" and she had done exactly that
IIRC it was a four pot BMW of some sort - was very quiet, but wasn't really running right - she said it was gutless, and brought it to her brother and I for "diagnosis" .... Some time later, after we had picked ourselves up off the floor, we drained the ( significant ) excess, and all was well again
( * - Yeah, I know, scary innit - both that I actually did go, and that I can remember that far back )
OP:- if I understand you correctly, then I wouldn't worry - it sounds as though you have overfilled it by a tiny margin ..... if you want to - you could always drain a bit out
... She blamed it on the fact that the engine oil filler was simply labelled "Oil - Fill" and she had done exactly that IIRC it was a four pot BMW of some sort - was very quiet, but wasn't really running right - she said it was gutless, and brought it to her brother and I for "diagnosis" .... Some time later, after we had picked ourselves up off the floor, we drained the ( significant ) excess, and all was well again
( * - Yeah, I know, scary innit - both that I actually did go, and that I can remember that far back
)OP:- if I understand you correctly, then I wouldn't worry - it sounds as though you have overfilled it by a tiny margin ..... if you want to - you could always drain a bit out
For some reason every land tdi onwards has total dog **** sticks, For the D3 the std oil fill is 5 to 5.5 litres, the stick is hard to read, and once you have tried more than once or twice, the oil now on the insides of the tube makes a mess of an following readings! Iirc my level hovers around the highest ball on the stick, but most times so long as it has oil on it it will do.
I'm on the top ball with the full arrow marked on it , I know I'm only very marginally over and being an 08 it might fill a gap or two , that took 5.7 lts so I'm guessing 5.6 is more or less bang on the arrow , think il drop a pipe in alright a take a little bit out
Last edited:
- Posts
- 41,547
- Location
- East Dorset
And I think it is worth pointing out, OP if you are reading this as well, that LR products are designed to go along steepish sideslopes as well as up and down much steeper gradients than most production cars, where again the engine still needs to be able to suck up oil into the pump. so you'd have to put in a ton of oil before you had a real problem.Many many years ago I was at school* with a girl, who, when she learnt to drive filled her car engine with oil - and I do mean filled
IIRC it was a four pot BMW of some sort - was very quiet, but wasn't really running right - she said it was gutless, and brought it to her brother and I for "diagnosis" .... Some time later, after we had picked ourselves up off the floor, we drained the ( significant ) excess, and all was well again
( * - Yeah, I know, scary innit - both that I actually did go, and that I can remember that far back
OP:- if I understand you correctly, then I wouldn't worry - it sounds as though you have overfilled it by a tiny margin ..... if you want to - you could always drain a bit out
Just wait for it to leak out, it's an LR after all!
- Posts
- 41,547
- Location
- East Dorset
And did she promptly get the nickname at school, "dipstick". She should have!!!!!!!Many many years ago I was at school* with a girl, who, when she learnt to drive filled her car engine with oil - and I do mean filled
IIRC it was a four pot BMW of some sort - was very quiet, but wasn't really running right - she said it was gutless, and brought it to her brother and I for "diagnosis" .... Some time later, after we had picked ourselves up off the floor, we drained the ( significant ) excess, and all was well again
( * - Yeah, I know, scary innit - both that I actually did go, and that I can remember that far back
OP:- if I understand you correctly, then I wouldn't worry - it sounds as though you have overfilled it by a tiny margin ..... if you want to - you could always drain a bit out
- Posts
- 41,547
- Location
- East Dorset
Also I find cold oil tends to take for ever to find its way into the sump. So overfilling is just too easy. I get it up to the lower measure on the stick then drive around a bit so the oil is easier to read and fresh stuff will flow easier in a hot engine, before adding more in very little bits waiting all the time between sips!
I find only truly accurate reading is after it has stood for several hours, tdi real bad for oil return to engine.
All replies very much appreciated between them all I've decided that filling very marginally over the arrow isn't really an issue but i will keep to 5.5 lts next time and take a new reading following morning , which brings me to how long do you guys leave your oil in with normal driving mainly b roads , I was thinking 5000 kms or so as its not really a King's ransom to change out
TheMunster
Active Member
- Posts
- 350
I've been chaging oil every 5k in the D3. With the top mounted oil filter its actually an easy clean job to do. Only bugger is removing the engine undertray, but you can get under and do this with the car in off road height without jacks or stands.
I usually put 5.5L in then start, stop and let it settle for 5 mins. As long is on the top half of the dipstick I leave it as is, it burns nothing over 5k.
I usually put 5.5L in then start, stop and let it settle for 5 mins. As long is on the top half of the dipstick I leave it as is, it burns nothing over 5k.
Hi is that Miles or kms was thinking the same every 5k kms
- Posts
- 41,547
- Location
- East Dorset
That is very frequent. nothing wrong with that, just saying.
The Haynes Manual will tell you and they usually err on the side of safety.
Don't forget you will have two filters to change, the centrifugal can be a little tricky as the ally holes the bolts go into have a tendency to lose their threads!
There are threads (!) on here with various work-arounds peeps have found to deal with this!
The Haynes Manual will tell you and they usually err on the side of safety.
Don't forget you will have two filters to change, the centrifugal can be a little tricky as the ally holes the bolts go into have a tendency to lose their threads!
There are threads (!) on here with various work-arounds peeps have found to deal with this!
- Posts
- 41,547
- Location
- East Dorset
Feck me, i must have dozed off somewhere, thort it was a Disco 2 we was talking about, especially when someone else mentioned a tdi.
My apologies!!!
TheMunster
Active Member
- Posts
- 350
Sorry it was 5000 miles, I tend to do less than 10k yearly so if not 5k then I'll just change twice a year.
This is not just a D3 thing I did the same on my TDI and Td5, I do a lot of short journeys and the cars get abused as family workhorses so regular oil changes are the least I should do I think
This is not just a D3 thing I did the same on my TDI and Td5, I do a lot of short journeys and the cars get abused as family workhorses so regular oil changes are the least I should do I think
- Posts
- 41,547
- Location
- East Dorset
Quite.
Manuals usually say, "every X miles, OR once a year". And as you imply, long fast runs are in many ways better than shopping trips. 90% of engine wear occurring on start up, and all that!
Similar threads
Disco 3 (LR3)
Losing coolant.
