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OK to drive with this much overfilled engine?

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by primuspaul, Mar 23, 2018.

  1. primuspaul

    primuspaul Member

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    2002 Prius.

    Got my oil changed and I guess they overfilled it again. Already drove like this for a week! Could this cause problems?
    [​IMG]
     

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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    possibly. you can get a cheap syphon at a autocrats store, quick and easy.
     
  3. primuspaul

    primuspaul Member

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    I will. You think I did damage already?
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    nah, it takes a long time to accumulate the oil into the throttle body, etc.
     
  5. primuspaul

    primuspaul Member

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    I think I've driven 65 miles since the oil change. Hopefully that's not enough time to damage it.
     
  6. Brian in Tucson

    Brian in Tucson Active Member

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    Are you near the shop where you got it serviced. I think I'd go back an ask them to make this right. I think you are probably okay, the one time I saw an engine grenade was because of overfilling, The guy forgot (!) to drain the oil out of a chrysler 383 and just put in an extra 5 qt. It was a combine engine and lasted about 10 minutes.

    I wouldn't drive your car much, but its probably okay to take it back. The guys that did the oil change were too lazy to check the dipstick. Your engine should survive.
     
  7. Brian in Tucson

    Brian in Tucson Active Member

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    AGAIN? You might want to (in the future) check the oil level when you pick the car up. Sounds like sh it happens and you need to verify that they did their due diligence.
     
  8. primuspaul

    primuspaul Member

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    I ended up rigging a siphon to get the oil out of the dipstick. When I checked it immediately after doing it, the oil was just right, exactly at the "max" line. Later on I drove it and a few hours later checked it and it was a few mm over. I assume a few mm over (much less that what I had, what you can see in the image) is OK?

    Are the specs publicized for this model more than what should be put in? Has any Prius ever failed because of such an issue?
     
  9. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Yes, but it seems the databases of shops can be inaccurate, in one case I read, they had 5 qts spec'ed in their database.

    No a couple of mm won't hurt you.

    Yes, there have been cases of expensive remedial work on the dime of the 3rd party shop that overfilled. (But don't tell Sam Spade!).