Corolla facelift oil level issues after service?

[sportse]

I had the first service on my 2023 1.8 facelift done a month ago, but since then haven't been able to get a decent oil level reading from the dipstick.

 

I took the car back to the dealer for it to be looked at, only to be told the oil was fine and between the two dots on the dipstick.

Yet, whenever I check the level is above maximum and the dipstick itself has oil along it.

Perhaps there is an engine fault causing the oil level to rise after the car has been parked for a day or two? Or some other issue?

I have never had a problem checking the oil level in my Corolla before the service, nor in any of the other Toyotas I’ve owned so far – Yaris hybrid, Auris hybrid, Camry and IS. The oil is being checked on my driveway in the same level parking spot.

Despite wiping the dipstick and checking many times the oil level still shows above maximum in my Corolla since the service.

 

With many of the 23 facelifts being under a year old, maybe it's an issue that hasn't come up much yet - but as I do 25k miles a year I've already had my first service.

 

[fourbanks]

Most dealers, like my Lexus dealer, go above the line a little. Yours is too much from cold, so I would get back to the dealer to recheck and advise.

 

[Eddiefh]

I find leaving car over night and pulling dipstick straight out on a morning without wiping and checking, I find this on my car is the only way off doing it without it spreading up the stick . 

[TonyHSD]

It might be ok but imo it has been overfilled as usual by Toyota. 
All dealers seems to do that. 
Don’t  know why but they all do. It’s either because of the way they work, don’t wait long enough oil to dripping out and then add a fixed amount of oil which puts the total oil quantity a bit more. Or is perhaps they don’t want to have complaints by owners that the car uses oil or less oil been filled up. 
Here is what I read from your picture and I marked your oil level. 
Try as suggested, first thing in the morning, just pull out and read without wiping it, see the level, take a picture and share. I do the same and keep oil level on cold dead on the max mark or slight below. 

[sportse]

Thanks, I suspected it had been overfilled. Maybe the new oil they use (0W16?) isn't the same as the previous oil. I've contacted the dealer again to see what they say.

So far I've never had a Toyota really use oil - maybe only a small amount in the last couple of thousand miles before a service when the oil turns darker.

With every one of the Toyotas I've bought so far, I also bought a bottle of top up oil... and never had to use any of them.

[tfc]

The oil capacity is 4.1 litres  so maybe they use either a 5 litre can or 5 x 1 litre bottles and use it all, can't see it doing any harm as when the engine is running all the oil galleries will be full of oil and the oil level will drop slightly. 

[sportse]

I’d heard overfilling oil can blow out the engine seals due to over pressure, but it might be better for modern engines. 
 

on the diesels I’ve owned previously it was to be avoided as it could cause running issues. 

[Roker]

In the old 1.8 engine,  1ZZ FE Toyota  increased the oil level 1 cm to help cooling , they provided a new dipstick. This never caused a problem in 100k mile  in my Avensis

[TonyHSD]

Yeah, always better to have more oil and be around the max mark rather than having less and be around the minimum. 
Cooling is very important function of the engine oil.  You need to have well over a litre or more to eventually run into trouble from extra oil. 

[Red_Corolla]

The concern with overfilling is that  more oil than normal can find it's way into the breather system. On a petrol engine, there's no great harm unless the system becomes blocked and the crankcase is then over-pressurised (I'm guessing that's where the above reference to blown seals comes from). On a diesel, worst case is that the engine begins to consume the oil as a fuel supply. A diesel engine with an unregulated supply of fuel can run out of control, because there's no ignition system to turn off and therefore no way of stopping it.

All that being said, there is usually  a generous safety margin designed in, so 1cm above the maximum is very unlikely to cause any harm.

[Cyker]

TBH the risk is more the oil getting emulsified because it's so high the crankshaft is hitting it and whipping it up into an oily mousse - You can actually overfill by a surprisingly large amount before it starts to cause irreparable damage to the engine, although it can be fun with a diesel too because of the runaway you mention...!

(Had that with a friend's car where the turbo blew a seal or something and started dumping oil into the intake and it kept running after he shut it off - Had to put it into 5th gear and gently engage the clutch while he was holding down the foot brake and I was holding the handbrake to try and force the engine to stall...! Thank smeg it wasn't an automatic - No idea what we could have done in that situation!!)

[forkingabout]

Remember the oil level on a Toyota hybrid should be checked with the engine hot.

[sportse]

Here's the level first thing this morning with no wipe of the dipstick

 

 

[sportse]

7 hours ago, forkingabout said:

Remember the oil level on a Toyota hybrid should be checked with the engine hot.

Before the service, and with every other Toyota hybrid I've owned, they were always at the top dot on the dipstick when cold.

[taxidriver50005]

Yes overfilled... Reality is you won't have an issue.. It's probably 2-300cc more than it needs. 

Short story.. I drained a friends oil when they thought they overfilled there vw polo... I drained 2 full gallons out to get it to the right level... Once all the excess oil had been burnt out of exhaust the car ran fine and had no other issues. 

[RabButler]

17 hours ago, Cyker said:

TBH the risk is more the oil getting emulsified because it's so high the crankshaft is hitting it and whipping it up into an oily mousse - You can actually overfill by a surprisingly large amount before it starts to cause irreparable damage to the engine, although it can be fun with a diesel too because of the runaway you mention...!

(Had that with a friend's car where the turbo blew a seal or something and started dumping oil into the intake and it kept running after he shut it off - Had to put it into 5th gear and gently engage the clutch while he was holding down the foot brake and I was holding the handbrake to try and force the engine to stall...! Thank smeg it wasn't an automatic - No idea what we could have done in that situation!!)

You stop a runaway diesel by blocking off the air intake. Do not use your hand to do this!

[forkingabout]

18 minutes ago, RabButler said:

You stop a runaway diesel by blocking off the air intake. Do not use your hand to do this!

A CO2 fire extinguisher discharged in to the air intake works well. 

[Trewithy]

On 8/12/2024 at 6:37 AM, forkingabout said:

Remember the oil level on a Toyota hybrid should be checked with the engine hot.

Correct.  The oil should be checked 5 minutes after switching off a hot engine.

[sportse]

51 minutes ago, Trewithy said:

Correct.  The oil should be checked 5 minutes after switching off a hot engine.

I've also been doing this - there is no change in level between a hot and cold engine unfortunately.

Perhaps they are referring to below zero temperatures where the oil will be very thick. In all my other cars it's been the same thing.

There wasn't any issue before the first service and the oil change. I got the same reading hot or cold.

[sportse]

Here's a good one, the dealership are saying that if the oil level was wrong there would be a check engine/warning light and codes would be stored!

[ThomasL]

If you're worried just remove some using an oil extractor in the dip stick tube ...and don't go back to that garage

[TonyHSD]

Yes, just get a large syringe off Amazon with 6mm ID and suck out some oil on cold engine, while car been parked on level ground.
You have probably added extra 300-400ml , maybe little bit more. 
There was a case in rav4, a member had half litre more. He was joking after 10 changes he will have a free oil service engine oil collected 🫢😅

Acehome Disposable Syringe 150ml Large Syringe Set for Experiments, Industrial Use (Pack of 3) https://amzn.eu/d/d3YdPKu

[yossarian247]

Seems to be par for the course at some Toyota main dealers for some reason, our Avensis, C-HR and Corolla have always been overfilled like that at virtually every service! TBH I just stopped worrying about it and it has never appeared to cause any damage to any of them.

[sportse]

Thanks for all the replies.

It's sad to hear that some dealers are overfilling the oil.

At the least, I would have thought this would have a small effect on mpg/etc so they would want to get it right.

Also the dealers are doing themselves out of some extra profit - overfilling cars is using oil they don't have to.

[Cyker]

2 hours ago, sportse said:

Here's a good one, the dealership are saying that if the oil level was wrong there would be a check engine/warning light and codes would be stored!

Hmm, I didn't know Toyota had started putting in oil-level sensors...  

 

TBH I think yours is fine; It might be a tiny bit over the top dot but not anywhere near enough to cause a problem.