oil overfill?

What would happen if I overfilled my Carrera 3.2 with oil? I got a little impatient wanting to drive it after the 20 minute run-in oil change on a fresh rebuild. I wound up draining it after it got up to operating temp and noticed I'd put too much in. It didn't run abnormally.

[JRISER]

Ted:

How's the breakin going? I didn't know that you knew my kid brother, SRISER. Did you ever find the chip you needed?

John,
The break-in is going well, so far. I had two oil leaks at both cam feed lines next to the fan housing. Getting to them to tighten the fittings was a pain but I got it fixed. It's killing me to keep the revs under 4500 for 500 miles. I was able to locate a stock Euro chip locally for the break-in. As soon as the break-in is complete I'm taking the car to Autothority's dyno (only two miles down the road from me) for a dialed in chip.
Your brother Sam is a good guy, and a Navy man as well. We shared a few sea stories. I'll post pics of the rebuild soon.

Noah,
Any gliches so far?

[Rick Lee]

Ted, I bought that sucker tool at Fairfax Auto Parts for just such an occasion. I overfill my 993 every time I change the oil, as you can only check the oil when it's really hot. I use the sucker, actually a giant syringe-like tool. You should pick one up or grab mine. It much easier than trying to drain a "little" oil on a Carrera.

Richard,
I just stuck some clear tubing in the oil tank and syphened (sp?) about a quart out. Kinda tasted funny though.

[Rick Lee]

Oh, I don't mind a mouthful of Mobil 1. It's just that my car has to be very hot to check the oil level and hot oil does not feel good. On 993's the oil level gauges actually do work, so I just use the sucker until the level gauge needle gets to 3 o'clock. But then the sucker is almost too hot to hold.

[JRISER]

Ted:

Looking forward to it.

[Wil Ferch]

Fumoto drain valves are ideal to remove a "smidge" of oil and not cover yourself like an Exxon Valdez oil spill....
---Wil

[Tedjr]

Help me out here guy's, i'm a newbe!!

I just bought a 83' 911 carrera. It has not run in about 2 years. Has less than 50K on the engine. When we were servicing it prior to starting, the oil tank was dry so we added 1 qt of oil "just in case" When we fired it up, it started to fill the oil tank. As we were letting it idle and checking for leaks etc. it began to smoke through the exhaust progressively worse until the garage was totally engulfed in smoke. I then drove the car out of necessity about 1 mile to another location with it smoking unbeliveably. At the destination I turned it off for about 20 minutes. When I restarted it the smoking problem virtually disappeared. I then drove it around in the parking lot some and verified the smoking had quit.

What happened here? Is there a check valve that allowed the oil in the tank to seep into the crankcase? What should the level normally be in the tank without the engine running? Did I screw up my car?

Please educate me!!

[Rondinone]

Originally posted by Tedjr
Help me out here guy's, i'm a newbe!!

I just bought a 83' 911 carrera. It has not run in about 2 years. Has less than 50K on the engine. When we were servicing it prior to starting, the oil tank was dry so we added 1 qt of oil "just in case" When we fired it up, it started to fill the oil tank. As we were letting it idle and checking for leaks etc. it began to smoke through the exhaust progressively worse until the garage was totally engulfed in smoke. I then drove the car out of necessity about 1 mile to another location with it smoking unbeliveably. At the destination I turned it off for about 20 minutes. When I restarted it the smoking problem virtually disappeared. I then drove it around in the parking lot some and verified the smoking had quit.

What happened here? Is there a check valve that allowed the oil in the tank to seep into the crankcase? What should the level normally be in the tank without the engine running? Did I screw up my car?

Please educate me!!

There is no check valve. As the car sits, the oil will seep through the oil pump into the crankcase. It's normal. What you probably should have done was drain all the oil out of the entire car, and add back what was necessary. Typically the drainage rate is so slow that there is no reason to be concerned. The smoking was probably oil that had seeped past the cold rings and into the combustion chamber. There is no standard for oil tank level when the car is cold. It should only be checked hot and idling.

I'm not trying to worry you here, but the oil system in you car goes from tank to high pressure pump to engine to sump to scavenge pump to tank. So if all your oil is in the crankcase when you start it, then first it has to be scavenged up to the tank, then back down to the high pressure pump where it is distributed. I'm not sure if one quart is enough to build oil pressure. You may have run dry for a few seconds. Be on the lookout for rod knock, at least for a few hundred miles.

[Tedjr]

Thanks for telling me how the system works. What happens when you add excess oil to the tank? is there any way for that excess oil to get into the combustion chambers or exhaust system?

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Tedjr
Thanks for telling me how the system works. What happens when you add excess oil to the tank? is there any way for that excess oil to get into the combustion chambers or exhaust system?

Change the oil. Read the how to's on this site. With the proper amount of oil in the system, you will do no damage. Any car that sat for 2 years needs an oil change right now. You probably did no damage, but don't take any more chances.

You do know you check the oil while the engine is running and hot, don't you? Need I say on level ground?

Oh, to answer your ?, some oil can get sucked into the intake if overfilled and cause smoking as you experienced.

[Tedjr]

How does it get into the intake?

[}{arlequin]

ughh... what a pain.... after never having done that (overfilling) i was too eager yesterday and *right after* i washed the car added a quart or 2 too much.... the gauge was pegged 4 minutes into my drive home, but since i had no hose to syphon, just kept on truckin', and smoking, for the 30 minute drive home.... parked it, and started putting down newspapers underneath the thing (puddle was there by the time i came back w/ the paper)... the entire engine is sooo messy....

at least it's fresh, clean oil, but i'll be damned if i didn't create more work for myself, right after a car wash too....

just had to vent, thanks.

[Rick Lee]

Dave, when I first learned the hard way about the 993 temp and level gauge, I had to remove some oil. I bought one of those $7 sucker things from Fairfax Auto Parts. It removes oil very easily and with no mess. Only problem is that you don't realize how fast that thing gets hot as you fill it with oil.

[}{arlequin]

yeah, I know the contraption... along w/ extra simple green which I'll need to purchase to clean my apt. building's floor...
....I may pick it up as well

I'm just dreading the cleanup, haven't dared open the airbox yet