Is this an Engine Oil Overfill??

Anyone who's seen my previous posts will know that I am currently away in Corfu for the summer, an island with no Land Rover main dealers or specialists.

My 2004 Range Rover TD6 has become due for an inspection 2, I brought all the necessary parts over from the UK last week in order to carry out this service, found a recommended mechanic but in the end, based on advice through Landyzone, decided to change JUST the oil and oil filter, as I was unsure as to whether or not the mechanic was firmiliar enough with this car, as Range Rovers here simply don't exist.

Anyway, this morning he carried out the oil change, I provided him with 9 Ltrs of 5w/30 Castrol Oil and told him to use only 8.5 ltrs, as I wanted to avoid overfill, and thought, if necessary I could always add more later.

Upon completion of the oil service, he handed me back the remaining half litre.

However, I've just returned home and checked the oil level which seems to be higher than I expected!! Please can anyone tell me if I've got this wrong.... The dipstick has if you like 3 segments, the centre one being the gauge, I always thought that the level should always stay within this centre segment, never falling below, and never going over.

Currently, it is displaying a reading of approx 5mm above the centre segment... I'm not sure how this can have come about as I thought 8.5 ltrs would not take it over, so my questions are:

1. Is this 5mm over on the dipstick likely to cause damage to the engine? (also this engine never uses any oil, so is unlikely to reduce with use)

2. If I need to take some oil out is there an easy route to doing so?

Thanks again for any help anyone can give

Dave

its probably not too much to worry about if its only 5mm although I am sure some on here will say it is.

just crack the rump nut off with a can ready if you want to lose a bit but at the prices you apid I wouldnt want too

If it was me, I would undo the drain plug, be VERY careful that you don't let it all drain out, just a little about .5lt

Make sure you have a big container to catch the oil you let out. Crack the drain plug open with a spanner and then use your fingers to unscrew the drain plug very slowly. Keep a little pressure on the drain plug and you will feel when its at the end of the thread.

Don't do this when its hot and if I was you I would not drive it when its over full, I would take a little out first.

At a guess I would say he did not change the oil filter, that would hold a bit less than .5lt. I might be wrong but as I said at a guess it sounds like he didn't change the filter, just the oil.

I personaly wouldn't be overly worried about a 5mm overfill on the dipstick. 25mm yeah, but 5mm will equate to less than a half litre.

Mine'd get through that in a week!!

Hi Fett

Thanks for the quick reply.... It doesn't seem to be smoking or anything, plus the engine is still warm (34 degrees here today so taking it's time to cool down), don't know if that makes any difference to the reading or not.

Your right about the price of the oil (150 quid, I'm still trying to blank it out), However, although the petrol station ripped me off on the oil, the mechanic today only charged me 20 euros for the oil change and wouldn't take anymore... That's about 18 quid!!

Having said that, maybe he's in training judging by the oil level!!

lol, when we used to track day bmw's we added and extra litre of oil to the engine to combat surge/no pick up and we worked them fookin hard with no bother!

Thanks the real boss and spudh also for your contributions. I don't have any tools here, and if I'm honest I would probably make a complete mess of it if I tried anyway....

I set off back home in 4 weeks so only have about 2k miles left to do in the car before I can get it to a proper garage... I think I'm just going to have to take my chances and get it sorted when I get back....

There doesn't seem to be any smoke coming out the exhaust, unlike the time when I was 18, just passed my test and was told that the works car needed some oil in it, I bought 5ltrs and filled it up until I could see it through the cap opening!! That day, this Vauxhall Astra coughed and spluttered in to life and behind me all that could be seen was a whitey, blue coloured, complete blanket of smoke... Traffic behind me came to a complete stop!!

This is just one of the reasons why I don't do anything mechanical myself!!

you say there is 3 marks the middle is normel the higest is max and the low is min you can stay any where in the 3 marks but never lower or higher

Hi Com

If I'm understanding you correctly, then I'm a bigger Jerk than people tell me, and only more certain that I should keep my head completely out of the underside of a car bonnet!!

Are you telling me that anywhere within the flattened plastic segments on the dipstick is acceptable, up to the point where the plastic begins to shape like the flight of a dart..... Are you saying that for the oil level to appear anywhere up to the base of this dart flight shape is acceptable???

As I always thought the level had to remain between the 2 ridges of the centre segment??

If you are correct, I feel like a proper F*****G IDIOT!!

Please can 'com' or anyone else confirm this.

Thanks

Dave

Not a Land Rover but this should help

Thanks the realboss, but sadly it doesn't really.... You see, it's not quite that straight forward, the dipstick in the TD6 (and I'm not referring to myself, despite what some of you may be thinking!!!) shows 3 different segments, before reaching what I can only describe as a flared top which looks a bit like the flight of a dart....

Do I have to keep it between the 2 ridges of the centre segment? or is anywhere up to the flared part acceptable?

I hope I'm making sense, as it's a bit difficult to describe, thank you in advance for any help that can be offered.

Dave

I had a look at the manual in RAVE, there's a picture of the dipstick. It looked nothing like you

I assume the one in RAVE is for the petrol but it looks exactly as you describe with the flights of a dart. With this there are two slots between which your oil level should be. If is above the top slot you've too much, if its below the bottom you've too little.
The manual says (again all this is for the petrol) if its between but closer to the bottom slot add a half quart (~0.5litre), if its below the bottom add a full quart and check again. So this gives a litre from bottom slot to top slot. If you're 5mm above the top slot you're somewhere between 0.25 and 0.5 litre over.

Again if it was me I really wouldn't be the least bit bothered about it but since it is genuinely troubling you, you're better off to remove a small bit for the piece of mind if nothing else.
If I was you I'd get a 1m length of clear plastic hosing like for fish tank, push it down the dip stick hole (obviously while the engine is cold!!) and suck until you see oil coming up the hose. Cover the top of the hose with your finger and lift it out like you used to do with coke in a straw when you were young and let it off into the oil can. do this a few times and you'll soon be right on the mark and able to relax again.

Hi Spudh

Thank you for taking the time to look in to this for me, and for sending me your thoughts.

I will follow your good advice with regards to removing a small amount of oil tomorrow, and get it sorted and fully serviced again when I get back to the UK in early August.

Thanks again

Dave

I hope the hose is cheaper than the oil was for you mate

U will need a pump to remove it from.the dipstick!