Another Case of Dealership Overfilling Oil

I brought mine in to Hartford Toyota for the 10,000 mile service on Thursday. I told the service guy that the previous time (5000 mile service) they had overfilled the oil by about 1/2" on the dipstick, and to please keep an eye on it. He said he thought that was odd because he said the fill levels are specified by Toyota (he said they had a chart on the wall in the service area). I didn't go into details with him, but I got the distinct impression from what he said that the technician sets the amount on an automated dispenser that pumps the specified amount of oil. I told him that maybe there's an error there, because I know it's common from talking about this with other Prius owners that other dealerships are overfilling the oil on the Prius too.

Well, sure enough. I checked the dipstick today - 1/2" over the fill amount, again. I called and left a message with the service advisor reminding him of our conversation and the fact that we are once again 1/2" over on the dipstick. When I talk to him on Monday I'll ask him what the specified amount on their chart is.

Does anybody know if 1/2" over on the dipstick really matters? I've read on other posts here that some folks have had the check engine light come on, corresponding to some code P3191, that supposedly means you got oil somewhere you weren't supposed to after having it overfilled. But that's never happened to me. I'm wondering if I should really be worrying about this or not.

Oh, yeah... If we were driving EV's, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

I've got 3k miles on my 07 so I haven't changed the oil just yet. After reading these posts though there's no chance I'm taking it to a dealer or any other shop. Sounds like it's just not worth the aggravation. By the time you go to the dealer, check it yourself and have to double back to argue with them to remove a quart... I'm annoyed just typing it let alone doing it

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danatt @ Mar 24 2007, 05:06 PM) [snapback]411654[/snapback]</div>

Any amount of oil over the fill mark matters. I can't understand why Toyota has so completely dropped the ball when it comes to doing one of the simplest maintenance procedures on one of their flagship vehicles. And what is really scary is the thousands of Prius owners who simply don't know about this issue and are driving their cars with too much oil. I have been to two dealers in the KC area and their service departments are totally clueless about the issue. The first one even volunteered to put 10W30 in the car because, "That's what all Toyota engines require."

I will be taking 3 quarts of Mobil 1 to the dealer when I have oil changed. And they will make notes and warn me that the car will not have enough oil in it. I will then drive seven miles to my home and put the other half quart in.

And if they're so clueless about the oil I don't even want to think what they may do if something really goes wrong.

And by the way, you might want to check the air pressure in your tires - they love to have it at the recommended pressure; I think it's somewhere in the area of 33 pounds per square inch. If you want to have the best gas mileage that will make a big hit!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rfred @ Mar 24 2007, 07:14 PM) [snapback]411712[/snapback]</div>

Those using Toyota shops for engine oil changing might wish to leave a copy of technical service bulletin EG050R-04 in their cars for the service visit. See if you can print it from this link:

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QGQGRqwLGYwpl...s/EG050R-04.gif

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Mar 25 2007, 06:11 AM) [snapback]411841[/snapback]</div>

Nope, got a 404, Document not found.

 

unfortunately i dont think this is unique to toyota -
bring in an old F100 pick-em-up to a ford dealer, you'd just as likely
have over or under filled on oil also.

e.g., most of the shops are too quick and careless on simple maintenance like this.

 

From what I can see online, this overfill problem is the NORM, both at oil changes and from the factory, and has been for over two years. I just got my 2007 a week ago, checked the oil today, 1/4 inch over the full line sure enough.

Has anyone actually tried to ask Toyota HQ about this? A friend of mine suggested it could be that the dipsticks are stamped wrong, not too much oil...How would we know for sure?

 

[attachmentid=7096]<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Mar 25 2007, 01:36 PM) [snapback]412003[/snapback]</div>

perhaps I can attach the gif

 

Thanks! I assume that would also be applicable to the 2007, right?

If I'm reading that correctly, it should take 3.9 quarts. What does "(3.7, 3.3)" refer to?

 

Litres and imperial quarts, as it says to the left.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danatt @ Mar 24 2007, 07:06 PM) [snapback]411654[/snapback]</div>

Last week I brought the car back to the dealership, and showed the oil level on the dipstick to the service advisor. He was clearly uncomfortable when faced with the conflict between what the dipstick said and the Toyota issued instructions for oil capacity. He was inclined to believe the instructions over the dipstick. - Although it sounds absurd, it makes sense, right? - These guys are trained to follow procedure. He gladly complied when I dropped the debate, and said "why don't you just put the car up and remove the half quart or so of oil to bring the level back in the range on the dipstick". They were good about getting the car up quick and correcting the situation. When I got the car back and checked the level it was pretty much line on line with the max level - maybe a millimeter over.

While I was waiting in the service office for the car I asked the service advisor if they had a process for feeding back potential issues on procedures to corporate Toyota. - Essentially the equivilant of "corrective and preventative action" processes in places where I've worked. He said that any time a car is brought back in to the shop for a complaint on service it generates a "RO" in the system that corporate sees.

I have to believe that corporate Toyota must know about this issue. But until they correct the 3.9 qt. documentation that all the service centers have, this issue won't go away.

 

I've checked after each oil change. The first two times I let them use their oil. I had two coupons for free oil changes anyway.

The third time I bought only 3 qts of Mobil synthetic. I told them to use my oil and not to put in any of theirs to "top off", that I would do that at home. I made sure it was on the work order. And I checked the car when I got it back.

So far they've been very good at following my instructions to the letter.

I also specify 42/40 for the tires when they rotate.

And I specify I do NOT want them washing my car.

I guess I'm lucky to have a service department that puts customer satisfaction over there routine operating habits.

It's Kearny Mesa Toyota in San Diego, CA for anyone interested.

 

[And by the way, you might want to check the air pressure in your tires - they love to have it at the recommended pressure; I think it's somewhere in the area of 33 pounds per square inch. If you want to have the best gas mileage that will make a big hit!
[/quote]

The best inflation for optimum mileage is 42 front and 40 rear. Give it a try

 

Oil doesn't expand appreciably when warm; they're pulling your chain.
Maybe the whole thing should be detailed to the "customer experience"
line, not that that does a whole lot of good either... but service
writers who hand you that kind of bullpuckey should be condemned to
a lifetime of rusty brake jobs, not facing the public.
.
_H*

 

Man, oh, man,

That service lady sounds like a real wench!

"20 year tech"!

Pshaw!

 

Howdy patrickindallas

I have been having Prius serviced for >2½ years at Toyota of Richardson on North Central Expy in Dallas. My method of avoiding oil overfill or tire pressure "underfill" is to provide a "by the numbers" list of exactly what I want done and 3½ qts. of Mobil-1 5W30 oil. I have dealt with Mickey Hagar {Asst. Svc. Mgr.} who has a long-time reputation of knowing the unique Prius needs. Mickey was at Sports City Toyota up until a little less than 2 years back. I have heard that without specific instructions some other Prius owners HAVE had oil overfill at that shop.

That shop gets my recommendation.

 

If it wasn't clear from my earlier post, I should add that even though I had the overfill issue, the service advisor at Hartford Toyota (his name is Joe) was real good about doing what I wanted in a very timely manner when I brought it back.

I think they're in a rough spot. It looks to me like they take following their procedures very seriously (which is the right thing to do). But if the procedure is wrong, that's a problem.

And we're all working under the assumption that the dipstick is correct. It seems like it should be, but do we know that for sure? In all the posts I read on this, I don't recall seeing any objective evidence that the dipstick actually is correct. (Someone please point it out if it is there.) I mean, if you think about it (too hard), it might go something like this... the engineers at Toyota design an engine for the Prius that is probably based on some earlier engine. They know the amount of oil that's supposed to go in there. They put it on a spec document. Somewhere in the process the dipstick for that engine gets designed, perhaps also based on a previous design.

All we know is that the dipstick and spec document contradict one another. Playing devils's advocate... how do we know that the spec document might not be correct? and that the error might not be with the dipstick?

I hope that someone can enlighten me by coming to the defense of the dipstick here, because my inclination is to believe the dipstick. But when I think about it, I don't have anything to back-up that inclination.

 

Dan, that's an interesting point. Without any documentation, or actually cutting the engine in half and look where the dip stick marks are, there's no way to tell if the dipstick is correct.

During this month's LIPOG meeting, we'll meet up with a Toyota Service Rep. This question will certain be asked. Are you coming this time? See http://priuschat.com/Meet-at-Huntington-To...4th-t30878.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ScottY @ Apr 3 2007, 10:05 AM) [snapback]417002[/snapback]</div>

I've been wondering the same thing. Since this has been going on over many years of models, if it was something as simple as a wrong-sized dipstick, you'd think Toyota would've fixed it by now.

Please post what you hear from the service rep, Scott!