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A little overfill is fine since it gives an added buffer for leaks & burning, especially in an older car. But 1.25 qts extra is way too much. Time to find a new shop, or better yet, DIY.
Most shops do not pour quart bottles of oil into an engine, they have a bulk system that pumps the new oil from a big tank to the car. Either these systems are not that accurate, or the knuckleheads don't know how to use it.
I used to be involved with buses, and the bulk oil tank could be 100 yards away from a service bay. And the tech had no control over it, the parts guy would send the oil to the bay. I imagine that the entire oil allotment could be in the lines. And yes, the buses were usually overfilled with oil so some extent.
I make it a point to check my fluid levels before I leave the shop property. It is not unusual for shops to cut corners and hurry a job. Found my oil filler cap missing a few years back. It was still in the shop. Sad you cannot trust people to do their job but that is the way things seem to be all too often.
before anyone panics about an extra quart of oil, its no big deal. more than that however does become an issue.
its an old racers trick to add an extra quart of oil, especially in ford small blocks, to prevent oil pressure issues during high g cornering, as well as preventing the oil pan from becoming dry at the end of a long straight.
that said however running extra oil in the pan on a street engine is a waste of money.
The shops go by how much oil the engine holds. Unfortunately, it doesn't take into account leftover oil that's still in the engine. You can never fully drain all the oil out of the engine because there are compartments inside the engine that still holds oil. This leftover oil can be as much as a quart or more.
I normally tell my shop to fill in about half a quart to a quart less than what their computer says to put in.
what "compartments" do you think there are where more than a quart of oil is leftover?
Quote:
Originally Posted by antinimby
Oh another thing...
Make sure you check your oil level when the engine is cool, preferably overnight. Best time to check is in the morning before you start the car.
Warm oil expands and not all of it will have settled so it will give you a false reading.
Same with tire pressure.
NO, and it should be in most owners manuals that you check it a couple minutes after you shut off the engine. When it is all warmed up, but after the engine has been shut off for a few minutes to allow the oil to drain into the pan. The expansion is the exact reason you check it when its warmed up.
I've had several cars where the dipstick was incorrect. When filling the crankcase after an oil change per the service manual, the dipstick showed under or over filled. For some reason this seems to be more common on Ford vehicles I've owned.
Extra smoothness??? Don't understand that statement, but if an extra quart made any of my engines run extra smooth, its going in there. It was probably fine.
Imagine that your car needs 5.7 quarts of oil for a proper fill.
I always do the job myself and measure that exact amount.
But the quickie lube joint guy who is in a hurry will likely just dump in 6 quarts.
For way too many reasons to list here, I still do my own oil changes.
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