2005 prius engine oil overfill

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by John Skyline, Mar 23, 2026 at 12:39 AM.

  1. John Skyline

    John Skyline Junior Member

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    Hi all, i have a 2005 gen 2 prius which recently did a engine oil change. I saw the mechanic poured the entire 4 litres bottle of totachi 5w-30 engine oil and I felt something was wrong. When i arrived home, i checked the dip stick reading and it was around 2cm above full mark. I've searched for existing thread but some said there were severe problems and had to change the ICE, and some said no issues. Car is driven in a southeast asia country, can someone advise what i should do now? Really worried because it's my daily workhorse. Car is originally from the US, have been driven for 8 years in southeast asia with no major engine problems/change. Thanks in advance.
     
    #1 John Skyline, Mar 23, 2026 at 12:39 AM
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Just use your jackrabbit pump and stick it down the dipstick tube and pump out till true full . Done . If the car is using oil it should go down well quick.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Mar 23, 2026 at 8:39 AM
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    How many miles on the car? If its high miles and burns a quart every couple thousand miles or less no need to worry about it as it will take care of itself. But if it doesn't use Tom's method, or take it back and ask mechanic to fix it.
     
    #3 PriusCamper, Mar 23, 2026 at 12:00 PM
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    I wouldn’t worry about 2cm
     
    #4 bisco, Mar 23, 2026 at 1:27 PM
  5. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Two cm (not mm, right?) above the top mark is fairly high.

    It is 4 cm between the two dots on the stick and that corresponds to a change 1.5 or 1.6 qt, with 3.9 qt (3.7 liters) total in the system at the top dot. If everything was linear above the dots (not a safe assumption) that extra 2 cm would be ~.8 qt (.75 l) high. That is even more than expected from the observed overfill from the bottle, suggesting that the car wasn't drained fully or it was not read correctly.

    Did the mechanic not change the oil filter? The extra .4 l (or so) remaining in there might explain why it is roughly twice as far past the top dot as expected. Doing a rushed change (not waiting for the oil to stop dripping out) would also raise the final level.

    Was the level checked after the car had sat overnight on level ground or was it immediately after being driven? Oil splashes up the tube when the car is in motion, and brand new oil is difficult to read accurately. I suggest the OP read it again after the car has cooled off overnight.

    If that was my car and it was really 2 cm too high I would get some of that oil out.
     
    #5 pasadena_commut, Mar 23, 2026 at 2:16 PM
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