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Oil Overfill - when arguing fails

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Larry_R, Jun 8, 2007.

  1. Larry_R

    Larry_R Wryter

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    Say you get your oil changed at a dealer, and he fights you tooth and nail about draining out the half-quart too much that he added. You finally give up and drive away? Welll, maybe not, with a nifty device I found at Lowe's.
    It's called "LiquiVac," and basically it is a 3-quart plastic cylinder with a vacuum pump on top. From this goes a clear plastic tube, which you simply stick down the oil dipstick tube and pull on the vacuum plunger a few times.
    Voila! Up comes the extra oil, which can either be stored in the device or drained to another container.
    Pretty easy to use - about $30 - and if you're as nutzy as I am about oil overfill, it might just save your sanity, as well as your engine!
     
  2. desertbriez

    desertbriez New Member

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    ok.... so this REALLY confuses me....

    i understand walmart of jiffy lube over-filling... but the DEALERSHIP? this is NOT a new car... it's been out a few years now..... what's their excuse for messing up??????????????????????
     
  3. Tyrin

    Tyrin New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jun 8 2007, 12:47 PM) [snapback]458146[/snapback]</div>
    check out the other oil overfill threads. Apparently, it's common practice for dealerships, yes dealerships, to overfill the Prius. The "official" Toyota specs on how much to put in are wrong (at least according to the dipstick), and haven't been updated. Therefore the problem.
     
  4. Larry_R

    Larry_R Wryter

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    Well, I have two friends with Prius cars - my wife and I have yet to get ours from Germain Toyota in Naples, they don't seem able to return phone calls - anyway, BOTH of these people say that their respective dealers regularly overfill by about a quarter inch. Too much oil - and one of them complains until they drain it, the other just says so what and keeps on driving. Sigh.
    Yep - dealers aren't much different than Wal-Mart in this respect. Depends on where you go - and who you know!
     
  5. desertbriez

    desertbriez New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tyrin @ Jun 8 2007, 10:52 AM) [snapback]458150[/snapback]</div>

    lol.... i know! i've seen the thread on the short time i've been on the forums.... it's ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you're supposed to TRUST the dealership..... ya right!
     
  6. Larry_R

    Larry_R Wryter

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    Sure must hurt, having your tongue in your cheek when you write "trust your dealer!" DOUBLE GRIN

    But actually, I did have one dealer whom I trusted - and turned out that all work done on my car was good, fair and well-explained. When/if we ever get our new Prius, I shall take it back to that dealer - not the dealer I'm buying from.
    The name? In Ft. Myers, Florida - Ft. Myers Toyota. Good guyz - at least for me!
     
  7. desertbriez

    desertbriez New Member

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    i had a dealership service department i trusted a while back when i had a grand am... even though they were a good 1.5 hours away.... we'd take our car back there because the service department personnel were great!

    as far as the prius.... i'm not thrilled with the local (i say local... it's still an hour drive) dealership.... i didn't like the service department there when we had/have to take hubby's tacoma in there.... (and the same people owned the honda dealership and i disliked them for honda service, too) so i won't be thrilled having to take the prius in for warranty work.... as far as oil changes... i think hubby has a new job! lol! in the past i've pretty much used walmart just because it's easy and cheap..... but with the prius and her idosyncracies (spelling?).... hubby can do it!
     
  8. Swanny1172

    Swanny1172 New Member

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    Just remember that the "service tech" at the dealership that is changing your oil was probably washing cars or sweeping the parking lot last week. They don't use their best and brightest to do oil changes.
     
  9. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jun 8 2007, 01:09 PM) [snapback]458159[/snapback]</div>
    The odds are you WON'T need warranty work on the Prius. :D In almost a year only 1 problem with mine which is a much better record than my Intrigue. :)
     
  10. pinball

    pinball New Member

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    Most dealerships pump the oil in from a drum - the rest is guesswork and a heavy trigger finger....
    do not know why they don't use measuring container - how hard can it be ?
     
  11. dhoward

    dhoward Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pinball @ Jun 9 2007, 02:39 PM) [snapback]458763[/snapback]</div>

    How many people have actually had engine problems because of over-fill. Most Prius drivers probably never see this forum and assume that any dealer/service center puts the required amount of oil in the car. I have never owned a car that I even considered that as a possible problem. If this is such a major problem with dealers wouldn't it have escalated up to Toyota by now and the dealers made to tow the line?
     
  12. rfred

    rfred New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dhoward @ Jun 9 2007, 04:06 PM) [snapback]458818[/snapback]</div>
    The issue I have with the overfill problem is that the Toyota mindset seems to be "four-cylinder car; four quarts of oil." Most people probably never check their own oil level; they let the dealer do the oil change and assume that the service is done correctly. Whether a quarter inch overfill on the dipstick translates to actual engine damage is a moot point - consumers should expect service to be done in a professional manner by dealer service departments and that includes providing the correct amount of engine oil.

    In my case, the problem was solved by providing my own oil - three quarts of Mobil 1.
     
  13. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    The first three oil changes I had done at my dealership and they routinely overfilled the oil. When I took my FJ Cruiser in for its fist complimentary oil change a couple of weeks ago, it was *dramatically* overfilled.

    Either the Toyota specs are WAY off, or the bulk lube dispenser at the dealership is badly out of calibration.

    Too much can be just as bad as too little. I have yet to read an owner manual or shop manual that doesn't consider anything past the Full mark as "over filled"
     
  14. okiebutnotfrommuskogee

    okiebutnotfrommuskogee Senior Member

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    This thread reminds me of when I took our new 05 Avalon in for its first oil change. You can watch the oil changers through large windows from the waiting area. The engine was new that year and holds 6 quarts without filter and 6.4 with filter.

    The person doing the job put in what I presume was the amount for the old engine. I don't know how much that was, but it was less than the 6 quarts required for the new one. He pulled the dipstick to check the level and just stood there looking at it. Then he walked to the other end of the bay and showed it to a couple of other guys.. They looked at it a while then he went back, got the filler nozzle and put in some more oil.

    After that, I made some labels, one that said 6 quarts without filter and one that said 6.4 quarts with filter and put them on the engine cover by the oil filler cap.
     
  15. okiebutnotfrommuskogee

    okiebutnotfrommuskogee Senior Member

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    This thread reminds me of when I took our new 05 Avalon in for its first oil change. You can watch the oil changers through large windows from the waiting area. The engine was new that year and holds 6 quarts without filter and 6.4 with filter.

    The person doing the job put in what I presume was the amount for the old engine. I don't know how much that was, but it was less than the 6 quarts required for the new one. He pulled the dipstick to check the level and just stood there looking at it. Then he walked to the other end of the bay and showed it to a couple of other guys.. They looked at it a while then he went back, got the filler nozzle and put in some more oil.

    After that, I made some labels, one that said 6 quarts without filter and one that said 6.4 quarts with filter and put them on the engine cover by the oil filler cap.
     
  16. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    <_< My solution to "Oil Overfill".....

    I take exactly 3½ quarts of Mobil-1 5W30 oil to my dealer's service department with instructions to 'use my oil, your filter.' Results in a dipstick reading of about ¼" or less below the "Full" mark. My chosen servicing dealer (*NOT* the Dealer where I bought either my 2004 or my 2007 Prius) is very good to follow my specific 'by the numbers' service requests.

    It's just now time for oil change #1 on my '07 and I will follow the same procedure.
     
  17. Larry_R

    Larry_R Wryter

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jun 8 2007, 02:09 PM) [snapback]458159[/snapback]</div>
    Idyosyncrzees - uh - Idiocyncrinsies - uh - Idiosynra. . . .oh, the heck with it! We know what you mean! I can't spell the durned word, eethur! (grin)
     
  18. dmckinstry

    dmckinstry New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wryter @ Jun 11 2007, 11:36 AM) [snapback]459641[/snapback]</div>
    Let's see now. How many tries do we have to make with the spell checker before someone gets it right.
    Peculiarities. Ah yes. That's how it's spelled. Well, at least close enough.

    Dave M.
     
  19. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dhoward @ Jun 9 2007, 01:06 PM) [snapback]458818[/snapback]</div>
    Toyota has released a technical service bulletin which addresses the issue:
     

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  20. Tyrin

    Tyrin New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Jun 12 2007, 08:26 AM) [snapback]460063[/snapback]</div>
    Hi Tochatihu,

    We've been through this before, I think, but that TSB doesn't really address the issue, because it states 3.9 quarts, which according to everyone who has done their own changes, results in an overfill.