Repercussions of 18 qts of oil in a 6 qt. engine?

[RiotGrip]

Originally Posted By: Hethaerto
I once knew a girl that stopped at a gas station to buy some oil because her CEL was on.

She bought a few quarts and proceeded to pour the oil all over the top of her engine.

She then demanded her money back because the new oil wasn't black.

True story.

Wow! I can almost see where twisted logic might make you think you need to "fill" the crankcase, but this follows no normal thought process.

 

[Eddie]

VWs and Germain beer go well together I would guess.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: saaber1
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: saaber1
A guy on a VW forum said he put up to 18 quarts of oil in his R32

Come on... we need the rest of this story. Why did he do that?


I asked, but I don't want to contribute to that being a bashing thread so I won't push it. It is bound to happen though I suppose (becoming a bashing thread I mean). Some of those threads go on for like 20 pages. Remember the Subaru kid who put gear oil in the engine and couldn't figure out what was wrong? That one was brutal. It doesn't help the OP at all though when they already feel bad and are looking for help.


Saaber:

Thank you, and everyone else, for your restraint. You won't see any 20 page bash-fest threads here -- they WILL be ended long before reaching anything close to bash-fest critical mass. That's just not what this site is about. I'll be the first to admit that I've been wrong about things (even things related to cars...), and that I've asked a "dumb" question or two -- though I can safely claim that I've never filled an engine to brimming at the filler cap. The closest I've come to that, I think, was when I was an early teen (I'm 48 at the moment...), and I actually thought that thick black shiny stuff all over the head and valvetrain of my Mom's 73 Dart was some sort of "grease".

Yes, it's true. "Thankfully" (mercifully?), there was such an abundance of it, I felt no temptation to add more grease. Obviously, I hope, I've learned a thing or two about cars since the mid-70s.

So, let's not forget that while we may properly get a chuckle or two at the expense of others' mistakes, let's remember that most of these folks are just trying (as misguided as they may be) to do what all the rest of us are doing -- saving some money (and perhaps getting some satisfaction) by taking care of our rides.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
VWs and Germain beer go well together I would guess.


Alas Eddie, and in the good spirit of my immediately preceding post, VWs and German beer may go well together, but you and a Spelling Bee would NOT be a good combo. . .

 

[KrisZ]

5 min. of driving is not a lot, but if it smoked a lot I would check the spark plugs, they are probobly fouled.

At this point there is nothing that can be done except hope that everything comes to normal after changing oil and putting the correct amount.

 

[stangyellow]

Off topic, but years ago there was an SRT4 post about some weakling who couldnt get his oil plug out, so he removed his oil FILTER while the car was RUNNING so the oil would come out. I searched for the thread, but cannot find it. The thread lived to have hundreds of replies though.

 

[Corvette Owner]

One guy (on a forum) asked if he should run his engine with the drain plug out to make sure that he got all the dirty oil out while draining his oil for an oil change ! Needless to say he got his answer, a resounding NO.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Corvette Owner
One guy (on a forum) asked if he should run his engine with the drain plug out to make sure that he got all the dirty oil out while draining his oil for an oil change ! Needless to say he got his answer, a resounding NO.



And these people have drivers licenses??

 

[FusilliJerry82]

Originally Posted By: saaber1
Remember the Subaru kid who put gear oil in the engine and couldn't figure out what was wrong?


Can someone PLEASE link to the thread he's talking about?

 

[ARB1977]

I guess he thinks seeing oil at the top of the fill hole is full.

 

[saaber1]

Originally Posted By: FusilliJerry82
Originally Posted By: saaber1
Remember the Subaru kid who put gear oil in the engine and couldn't figure out what was wrong?


Can someone PLEASE link to the thread he's talking about?


Since they updated the software, I can't post links anymore with my browser so you have to cut and paste sorry.

S

Post in thread 'Classic Thread'

Jan 15, 2008

I heard that the blue marine wheel bearing grease is the way to go. Supposedly you just push it into the engine using a plastic spoon from Dairy Queen.

• saaber1

 

[BuickGN]

I would be more worried about it blowing out a front or rear main seal. Other than that, drain it, change the plugs, and it should be ok.

We've run my friend's Subaru with water in the crankcase and auto transmission for a couple days before it went to the junkyard. It had blown the front seal out of the trans and needed a quart every few miles so we figured water was cheaper than oil. Never did have a problem with it in those two days.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Probably popped off some seals like the valve stem seals..... I am surprised he did not hydro lock it! All of the lip loads on the seals had to be exceeded. TO be honest though I have no clue I would check all hoses,filters and oil galley plugs to make sure they are all in tact and not full of oil. I have never ever run into anyone that stupid...usually mentally challenged people are not allowed to drive and they normally do not drive high end VW's but I guess he could just be the product of two ultra liberals having children and more money then brains!

I am almost glad I am not a man of means because my kids would be stupid and have more money then brains as well. Poor peoples kids never do stupid stuff like this it is always people with money!

Like the other poster said drain it and drive it....Either it was damaged or it was not short of him getting one of his comic book budies to scan it with his x-ray vision their is no way to know!This is not even covered in automotive trade school because again they figure no one is that stupid!

Does the car's owners manual list it's capacity in pints or something and this guy did not know the abreviation for pints versus quarts???? Did he say how he made a block head mistake like that?

 

[dbvettez061]

His name wernt Cletus wernt it??? Think i have heard everything now....

 

[tonycarguy]

I don't think the seals would be compromised. The volume inside the crankcase is fixed. When one piston travels down, the other travels up, so the movement of the pistons shouldn't cause increased pressure. And if there was substantial oil pressure, the weak link would be at the dipstick or PCV -- oil would gush out of there before the seals burst.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Here's the explanation of how he ended up with so much oil.

Quote:

As for how I got 18 quarts in there... this is my first oil change for this car, and for the 3.2 VR6 for that matter. I pulled the small oil drain plug on the oil filter cartridge, thinking it was the only one. I didn't see nor know that there was another one kind of on the backside of the oil pan, and even "the" DIY doesn't specifically mention it. But after pulling the small plug out and draining all the oil, I didn't have the right size socket to pull the cap off the cartridge. So I cussed a bit and put 6 quarts of new oil back in. Turns out that in trying to take the cap off, I cracked the cover and when I started the car it started pouring oil out of that crack. I bought a new cap for it, repeated the process, and added another 6 quarts of oil.

I thought I was draining all of the oil from this drain plug, because I was using a container that already had oil in it and couldn't tell how much came out. The last time, though, I used a new container and realized only a very small amount came out - maybe 1 quart, probably less. So in total I had 6(original)-1+6-1+6 (or so) in there. I then took it out for a drive and everything I mentioned in the first post happened.

Once I looked for, found, and pulled the REAL drain plug on the oil pan, I emptied enough oil to almost fill a 5 gallon oil container. 5 gallons is 20 quarts.


I actually feel bad for the guy. I remember my first oil change on the A4... I took a picture of the oil pan and posted it on the forum asking if what I'm looking at is indeed the oil drain plug. I was worried I'd drain some other fluid by mistake...

 

[yeti]

once again -- this is what happens when cousins marry.

 

[saaber1]

Originally Posted By: yeti
once again -- this is what happens when cousins marry.


Give him a break. He is trying to do the right thing. He made a mistake. He feels bad. He is not trying to hide or cover up his mistake or be in any way arrogant. He's asking for help and that does take some courage. I say offer help if you can and try to refrain from being negative.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: Corvette Owner
One guy (on a forum) asked if he should run his engine with the drain plug out to make sure that he got all the dirty oil out while draining his oil for an oil change ! Needless to say he got his answer, a resounding NO.



And these people have drivers licenses??


I've read threads on this forum about cranking the engine to get the last drop of oil, it's not far from running it, some people just have to take their OCD to the next level lol

 

[sciphi]

Ouch! I feel bad for the guy, because that can happen to the best-intentioned oil-change noob.

Makes me thankful Honda stamped "Oil" and an arrow on the bottom of the oil pan of my fiancee's Fit. And the filter being out in the open, easy to change.