How much is too much engine oil?

[Bereno]

I recently checked my oil and just noticed that it indicates is a little high. My simple question is are these engines ok with a little over the max or do I need to crack the drain plug and let a little out? The image below is the oil after running the engine and then letting it sit for a few min. Thanks in advance!

 

[tominboise]

When the rig sits overnight, how much oil shows on the dipstick?

Where would any extra oil have come from? Did you put the oil in originally? How long ago was that? What quantity was put in?

 

[04UZJ100]

I would not be ok with that. Remove the filter, drain the canister housing, and it should bring you in the ballpark.

 

[Formulaonehd]

judging by the look it was recently put in and just overfilled a bit. If thats from an overnight sit, then i would drain about 500mls/17oz or so but nothing to be too concerned with

 

[04UZJ100]

@Taco2Cruiser whats your opinion on overfilled engine oil?

 

[scottm]

Long ago, my late wife found her dream 100 series at the local dealership, for less than most we had seen. There was a slight vibration to the engine, which got much worse when accelerating. After the dealer spent thousands trying to figure out what it was, with the help of a Master mechanic from Toyota headquarters, they gave up and gave it to me without fixing it. I figured out they had double filled the oil, the crank was slapping the oil.

I had them change the oil. Years later I pulled the intake to service the starter, found no oil residue in the intake or vacuum lines. My son is driving it now, 200k later.

I think you'll be all right with a pint or so extra. When your crank starts slapping the oil, that is definitely too much oil.

 

[TeCKis300]

The dipstick has a max oil fill mark that needs no interpretation. It shouldn't be filled beyond that mark.

At best, it could just create minor symptoms including efficiency losses due to crank windage in oil. At worst, increased forces and pressures on seals and bearings at higher engine speeds. There's been cases of leaky rear main seals due to overfilling of the engine oil. That's not worth chancing as it's an annoying fix that requires a lot of labor for a 10 dollar part.

 

[bloc]

I’d drain the filter housing, maybe twice or three times if necessary. The filter drain tool that comes free with each filter would make this easy and clean if used correctly.

 

[04UZJ100]

FWIW I overfilled one of my 200s by accident by nearly the same amount. I drained the filter housing with the drain tool and was able to drop the level below the max fill line. I don’t think the 6-8oz of extra oil had a material impact on anything.

 

[RT Cruiser]

Drive it another 2-3k miles and it’ll be good.

 

[AnyMal]

Thats a good bit over what id be comfortable with.
@Bereno The manual has all you need to correctly read the dipstick and fill the oil.
If you have a hand pump with a very small tubing you could easily get some of that out without too much trouble.
Also make sure you are on level ground although i don't know how specifically this platform will react to that.


Like Teckis said, at minimum efficiency loss, at worse you are foaming the oil and destroying things.

 

[04UZJ100]

Drive it another 2-3k miles and it’ll be good.

Why?

 

[Bereno]

When the rig sits overnight, how much oil shows on the dipstick?

Where would any extra oil have come from? Did you put the oil in originally? How long ago was that? What quantity was put in?

Amount is the same when sitting overnight. We recently changed the oil (hence why the oil is clean) and I think my stepfather just overfilled it a bit. When I checked the level after he did, this is what I found. He seemed to think it was OK, but I was more on the fence.

The dipstick has a max oil fill mark that needs no interpretation. It shouldn't be filled beyond that mark.

At best, it could just create minor symptoms including efficiency losses due to crank windage in oil. At worst, increased forces and pressures on seals and bearings at higher engine speeds. There's been cases of leaky rear main seals due to overfilling of the engine oil. That's not worth chancing as it's an annoying fix that requires a lot of labor for a 10 dollar part.

Thanks for the heads up. I agree there is little room for interpretation - that's the easy part lol. Also, I am familiar with oil aeration and failing gaskets due to the crankshaft slapping and churning the oil which is why I posted to begin with. It appears that my questions is a little more specific: I am asking how much tolerance does the 3UR-FE engine in particular have with over filled engine oil? I know that many engines have a large buffer capacity before any adverse events, but I also know that many do not. Either way, if I am understanding the posts here there is not much information on this engine in particular with regard to how much oil is too much, which is fair.

I am more than happy to pull a little bit of oil out, I am just curious if others have some specific knowledge on engine oil overfill.

Thats a good bit over what id be comfortable with.
@Bereno The manual has all you need to correctly read the dipstick and fill the oil.
If you have a hand pump with a very small tubing you could easily get some of that out without too much trouble.
Also make sure you are on level ground although i don't know how specifically this platform will react to that.


Like Teckis said, at minimum efficiency loss, at worse you are foaming the oil and destroying things.

Lol, I may not know all that much about Toyota engines/vehicles yet, but I promise that I know how to read the dipstick.

Why?

x2

 

[AnyMal]

Amount is the same when sitting overnight. We recently changed the oil (hence why the oil is clean) and I think my stepfather just overfilled it a bit. When I checked the level after he did, this is what I found. He seemed to think it was OK, but I was more on the fence.



Thanks for the heads up. I agree there is little room for interpretation - that's the easy part lol. Also, I am familiar with oil aeration and failing gaskets due to the crankshaft slapping and churning the oil which is why I posted to begin with. It appears that my questions is a little more specific: I am asking how much tolerance does the 3UR-FE engine in particular have with over filled engine oil? I know that many engines have a large buffer capacity before any adverse events, but I also know that many do not. Either way, if I am understanding the posts here there is not much information on this engine in particular with regard to how much oil is too much, which is fair.

I am more than happy to pull a little bit of oil out, I am just curious if others have some specific knowledge on engine oil overfill.



Lol, I may not know all that much about Toyota engines/vehicles yet, but I promise that I know how to read the dipstick.


x2

LOL sorry, i mean the manual goes into a bit of detail into where the oil level should range not that you don't know how to read it.
Im sure you are even more savvy than I am!

Its more than a little high though, so beyond where i think any allowable tolerance would apply.
But just to add some nuance to the conversation, there are several types of dipsticks out there from what i have read on the forum.
I wonder how much variance there is due to that while we know they are the exact same engines.
Mine is like below:

 

[Bereno]

LOL sorry, i mean the manual goes into a bit of detail into where the oil level should range not that you don't know how to read it.
Im sure you are even more savvy than I am!

Its more than a little high though, so beyond where i think any allowable tolerance would apply.
But just to add some nuance to the conversation, there are several types of dipsticks out there from what i have read on the forum.
I wonder how much variance there is due to that while we know they are the exact same engines.
Mine is like below:

LMAO! No worries and good to know!

I totally agree - it is a little more than high, I just don't have a good reference point to base this on haha

That's really interesting (bolded) - I didn't know there are different types of dipstick for this engine. Like you said, I wonder how much variation there is...

 

[AnyMal]

LMAO! No worries and good to know!

I totally agree - it is a little more than high, I just don't have a good reference point to base this on haha

That's really interesting (bolded) - I didn't know there are different types of dipstick for this engine. Like you said, I wonder how much variation there is...

Well, you made me have to check. Drove it a few hours ago and its not even at full op temp anymore.
Dealer serviced 1000 miles ago. What is going on at these dealerships.
bruh...

 

[scottm]

From experience, you will notice if the crank is slapping oil, if you are paying attention at all. And if it is, you can daily drive it like that for weeks without oil foaming, modern oil doesn't foam easily.

 

[Bereno]

Well, you made me have to check. Drove it a few hours ago and its not even at full op temp anymore.
Dealer serviced 1000 miles ago. What is going on at these dealerships.
bruh...

I literally just laughed out loud when I saw your picture! At least I am not alone in this

 

[Bereno]

From experience, you will notice if the crank is slapping oil, if you are paying attention at all. And if it is, you can daily drive it like that for weeks without oil foaming, modern oil doesn't foam easily.

I didn't know that modern oils are resistant to foaming and aeration. Thanks for the tips!

 

[RT Cruiser]

Why?

There’s a good possibility the engine will “use” or “burn” enough oil to bring the level down. Toyota and Honda engines are the most durable, resilient, longest-lasting engines made. I’ve owned many of them. Whether the oil was under or over filled by a small amount it has never caused any damage.

What will damage your engine is pushing it hard before it’s come to the normal operating temp (same goes for the tranny).