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Oil Dip Stick And Oil Change


JohnYossarian
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Hello everyone,

Recently I had my Toyota Avensis D4-D 2.0 TX-3 2003 reg serviced at a Toyota garage.

They changed the oil and the rest but upon checking the dip stick I noticed that the oil level is well above the upper mark. I am a bit confused as Toyota should now best to what limit they should fill it up to, but at the same time the manual says clearly "the oil level should never exceed the upper mark". I gather that the extra oil, due to expansion upon heating, should put the sealings under extra pressure thus leading to oil leakage etc.

Can anyone with similar experience advise me on how to handle this? My intention is to call Toyota on Monday first thing in the morning and discuss it with them. My guess was that they might have assumed that the car was burning oil this was why they put some extra. My car (touching wood at this point:) so far has behaved well in this department and I did not have to add extra oil since my last change last October (I put Mobil fully synthetic one).

Any comments/suggestions will be welcome!

Cheers,

Jordan

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I would take it straight back and get them to extract some oil out. You risk blowing oil seals in the engine which would be big spendy.

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I would take it straight back and get them to extract some oil out. You risk blowing oil seals in the engine which would be big spendy.

Thanks Vince!

My thoughts exactly! Tomorrow morning first thing I am taking the car to Toyota. I hope a week driving would not have blown the seals yet?

Cheers.

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Engine holds including oil filter 6.5 litres of oil this should put it on the maximum mark. Diesel engine due to the way it works can potentially run on (governed to a set rpm) past its governed speed if over filled to excessive amount. That's why you sign disclaimer for your annual car test or by-annual test depending on country, to confirm cambelt is fit for high revs (over filled or under filled with oil should abort test) without load on engine for emission test.

Be nice at reception, but insist service manager comes out & checks oil level before car goes into workshop. Who knows you may get more than a free cup of coffee & a chance to watch SKY NEWS repeating same story over & over again while you wait.

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To Black Knight,

In regards to original posting forum user does not give that detail.

30mm in old money over an inch, i would say thats pretty high.

May be he will repost how much over maximum mark level is?

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To Black Knight,

In regards to original posting forum user does not give that detail.

30mm in old money over an inch, i would say thats pretty high.

May be he will repost how much over maximum mark level is?

Sorry Beagh1958,

I have been busy for the last several hours. Thank you for your comment. Mine was about 10 mm above the mark.

Are you saying that this should be Ok or should I still call Toyota?

Cheers,

Jordan

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To Black Knight,

In regards to original posting forum user does not give that detail.

30mm in old money over an inch, i would say thats pretty high.

May be he will repost how much over maximum mark level is?

Sorry Beagh1958,

I have been busy for the last several hours. Thank you for your comment. Mine was about 10 mm above the mark.

Are you saying that this should be Ok or should I still call Toyota?

Cheers,

Jordan

It's fine at that level.

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To Avensis Luna 03. Let any of your friends with diesel engine know if going for NCT & your engine is over filled even by 10mm that emission test can be aborted. And in many cases will be (reason given above due to diesel engine design ie:run-on) aborted. No one is going to risk being sacked over 10mm of oil. It happened to my Passat 1.9 TDI, had to have re-test. To other postings i certainly would not drive diesel car 30mm over maximum, but this is away from the point. Toyota mechanic overfilled engine, a mistake it should really be on the maximum, simple really.

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To Avensis Luna 03. Let any of your friends with diesel engine know if going for NCT & your engine is over filled even by 10mm that emission test can be aborted. And in many cases will be (reason given above due to diesel engine design ie:run-on) aborted. No one is going to risk being sacked over 10mm of oil. It happened to my Passat 1.9 TDI, had to have re-test. To other postings i certainly would not drive diesel car 30mm over maximum, but this is away from the point. Toyota mechanic overfilled engine, a mistake it should really be on the maximum, simple really.

Hi Beagh1958,

My thoughts exactly. Today I took the car to Mr. Toyota. They had a look and when I was given the keys back I was told that everything was on the mark. I went out and checked it myself, again it was 10 mm above the upper mark. Then I called the guy to come with me and check it in front of me. What I was told at this point is that they always slightly (can this be called slightly?) overfill. I looked at the invoice it says 5.9 litres oil and this is exactly what is recommended in the manual. The guy also told me that whenever the oil goes slightly below the top mark it should be topped up again. I have always had the understanding that as long as the oil is between the marks it is safe to drive.

I was told that the current state should be OK and that I should not worry.

I am wondering whether they do this by default simply to negate some cars which burn oil. I am having my MOT wit the same guys so when I go for my next test in April next year should the emission gets out of limit I will raise this question.

Cheers,

Jordan

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Well they've shot themselves in the foot by saying they always overfill - openly admitting their failure to stick to their own specifications.

If 'the shoe was on the other foot', how would you stand with a warranty claim on a failed engine seal if you told them that you regularly over filled the oil.

If they've charged you for 5.9 litres, then that is what they should have put in, add this to any oil which inevitably stays in the engine on a drain down and there's the reason why it's above maximum.

Personally, I wouldn't drive it as it stands - i'd wait until the engine is stone cold then siphon out until it's at maximum.

This is the reason I do this myself.

p.s. all this may be codswallop if you've got the incorrect dipstick fitted (too long). Any chance this could have happened?

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Well they've shot themselves in the foot by saying they always overfill - openly admitting their failure to stick to their own specifications.

If 'the shoe was on the other foot', how would you stand with a warranty claim on a failed engine seal if you told them that you regularly over filled the oil.

If they've charged you for 5.9 litres, then that is what they should have put in, add this to any oil which inevitably stays in the engine on a drain down and there's the reason why it's above maximum.

Personally, I wouldn't drive it as it stands - i'd wait until the engine is stone cold then siphon out until it's at maximum.

This is the reason I do this myself.

p.s. all this may be codswallop if you've got the incorrect dipstick fitted (too long). Any chance this could have happened?

How can I siphon it? I have never done it before. On a different subject, had more oil been left behind it means that the oil change is not up to the mark. Is it not the main reason for oil change is to remove the old stuff that contains lots of rubish?

The guy told me that the dip stick bends when fully put down, although I did not experienced this when I had my oil changed at QucikFit last year. It was exactly at the mark.

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Lets get this straight you drive a 2 litre D4D Avensis, as i said above your car including the oil filter holds exactly 6.5 litres of oil. The best time to drain engine oil is when the engine is hot (on any car) the oil pours out quickly under hot condition also safely under workshop conditions.. All i can think is that 5.9 litres does not take into account 0.6 litres of oil held in oil filter. If you really want to lower level just to be on the safe side do it from cold at home.

The guy who told you the dipstick bends when placed in dipstick tube is talking complete crap, oil should be between minimum & maximum, ideally on the maximum mark. And it should be most certainly on the maximum mark after a Toyota Dealership Service a few mm over will not harm your engine.

If your really still un happy with service you have received at garage bring it back & insist they drop oil level to correct mark. After all do you have all the tools to carry out job ie: jack, axle stand, ratchet & socket not to mention having to bring old oil to local council yard?

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To Avensis Luna 03. Let any of your friends with diesel engine know if going for NCT & your engine is over filled even by 10mm that emission test can be aborted. And in many cases will be (reason given above due to diesel engine design ie:run-on) aborted. No one is going to risk being sacked over 10mm of oil. It happened to my Passat 1.9 TDI, had to have re-test. To other postings i certainly would not drive diesel car 30mm over maximum, but this is away from the point. Toyota mechanic overfilled engine, a mistake it should really be on the maximum, simple really.

Bottom line is..... 10mm over the max will not do any damage to your engine, though it is shoddy work on the part of the dealer mechanic. In fact could nearly be accounted for by the ground the car is standing on. 30mm over would be a whole different matter. All mechanics will overfill to accout for the filling of the filter when the car is started and the toyota policy as has been stated, has been to overfill by a little to accommodate any oil burning.

NCT's in the county next door to mine must be harder to pass than here, Beagh. I've certainly not heard of any such disqualifications locally.

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To Avensis Luna 03. Let any of your friends with diesel engine know if going for NCT & your engine is over filled even by 10mm that emission test can be aborted. And in many cases will be (reason given above due to diesel engine design ie:run-on) aborted. No one is going to risk being sacked over 10mm of oil. It happened to my Passat 1.9 TDI, had to have re-test. To other postings i certainly would not drive diesel car 30mm over maximum, but this is away from the point. Toyota mechanic overfilled engine, a mistake it should really be on the maximum, simple really.

Bottom line is..... 10mm over the max will not do any damage to your engine, though it is shoddy work on the part of the dealer mechanic. In fact could nearly be accounted for by the ground the car is standing on. 30mm over would be a whole different matter. All mechanics will overfill to accout for the filling of the filter when the car is started and the toyota policy as has been stated, has been to overfill by a little to accommodate any oil burning.

NCT's in the county next door to mine must be harder to pass than here, Beagh. I've certainly not heard of any such disqualifications locally.

Avensis Luna 03 I am considering to drive as it is, especially if you say that 10 mm should be OK. A friend of mine has all the gear Beagh mentions so I can take some oil out during the weekend. I used to have a Ford Mondeo and each time I took it to the garage for oil change they would do the same, overfill slightly above the top mark. It seems that this is something normal for the garages.

Cheers.

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To Avensis Luna 03. Let any of your friends with diesel engine know if going for NCT & your engine is over filled even by 10mm that emission test can be aborted. And in many cases will be (reason given above due to diesel engine design ie:run-on) aborted. No one is going to risk being sacked over 10mm of oil. It happened to my Passat 1.9 TDI, had to have re-test. To other postings i certainly would not drive diesel car 30mm over maximum, but this is away from the point. Toyota mechanic overfilled engine, a mistake it should really be on the maximum, simple really.

Bottom line is..... 10mm over the max will not do any damage to your engine, though it is shoddy work on the part of the dealer mechanic. In fact could nearly be accounted for by the ground the car is standing on. 30mm over would be a whole different matter. All mechanics will overfill to accout for the filling of the filter when the car is started and the toyota policy as has been stated, has been to overfill by a little to accommodate any oil burning.

NCT's in the county next door to mine must be harder to pass than here, Beagh. I've certainly not heard of any such disqualifications locally.

Avensis Luna 03 I am considering to drive as it is, especially if you say that 10 mm should be OK. A friend of mine has all the gear Beagh mentions so I can take some oil out during the weekend. I used to have a Ford Mondeo and each time I took it to the garage for oil change they would do the same, overfill slightly above the top mark. It seems that this is something normal for the garages.

Cheers.

I don't see any problem driving it at all. And while I don't want to be disagreeing with my neighbour Beagh, I wouldn't bother about taking out any of the oil. But that's my opinion!!

You also have the insurance that it was overfilled by the garage, was brought to their attention by you and an admittance that they always overfill if anything did go wrong.

Given that they always do this in their own words, I would think that if it was causing problems, the practive of overfilling would have long since stopped!

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