Reading oil level on Honda GCV 135

[Fredbear]

Hi everyone this is my first post and a request for some information please.
The deck on my 15 year old push mower finally rusted through so time for a new mower although the 3.5 hp Briggs still running as sweetly as when i bought it on an annual oil change with 10-40 left over from when I had a Peugeot car.
As I am 60 in January and thinking this mower will need to last me 10 years or so I better get a self propelled job this time. So I gets me a 16" Honda GCV 135 mower.
As usual stickers on the mower saying no oil in engine and to put the whole contents of the small bottle(600ml-think about 20oz in American!) of supplied Honda 10-30 oil. So I put about half the oil in and thought i would check the dipstick and was concerned to see that the level is well over the max mark so this doesn't seem right. My mistake was that being used to Briggs engines you thread in the dipstick to get a level whereas with honda you just insert the dipstick in the tube and not screw in. I would appreciate it if someone can confirm that this is the case as the Honda manual is rubbish and does not cover this explicitly being lots of diagrams that can be understood in all countries but with few words.
Even using the dipstick properly it only took 400ml before being up to the max mark. so i guess there must of been some oil left when they tested it in the factory. At least its not made in China this one said made in France.
Anyway if someone can confirm i am on track with getting the correct level by not screwing the dipstick in would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[chubbs1]

You don't screw the dipstick in all the way.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Yes, you insert the dipstick without screwing it in at all. Just insert it until you hit the threads and pull it back out.

 

[Fredbear]

Thanks for replies and confirming correct method.
After posting I thought I would contact the technical helpdesk of the internet retailer i got the mower from and couldn't believe what i was told-bear in mind this an official retailer of Honda power product. He told me to put the whole bottle in and not to worry about overfilling as he knows some customers fill the engine to the top of the filler neck and they don't have problems and he confirmed that i should check the level by screwing the dipstick all the way in! I did challenge him on this information but he said don't worry he deals with queries every day on Honda products and his information was correct.
i knew it wasn't but knew i would get the right answer on here.
just imagine the damage to a new engine from having the oil filled right up to the neck of the dipstick tube-would it even start. Crazy!

 

[dwendt44]

I don't know if it would 'damage' the engine, but it certainly would make it work harder to throw around all that oil. And it would cause a lot of foaming of the oil as well.

It's also wasteful.

That 'tech rep' is an idiot.

I wonder how hard it would be to report that fool to mother Honda HQ?

 

[TFB1]

If it doesn't have the extended neck filler which adds approx 2.5", filling to the top of the threads probably won't hurt it, still I'd go by what the stick says setting on the threads...