I made the mistake of going to Jiffy Lube a week ago to get an oil change. A week and 800 miles later I checked the oil to find they had overfilled it. I went to a neighborhood garage today, put the car on a lift and drained all of the oil. I poured it all into about 7 quart bottles to measure the volume. A quart over capacity. We filled it back properly with new oil.

My question is: what should I look for with regard to damage, if any? What should I do from here? I haven't noticed any thing different, but I would hate to have a related problem down the road from this. I'll do my own oil changes no matter how busy I am from now on... I would greatly appreciate any advice.

 

The oil can reach a certain level where the rotating crankshaft will start whipping air into the oil, creating froth. Froth doesn't lubricate very well and it doesn't flow very good through the oil galleys. It can reach a point to where it is as bad as the engine not having any oil in it at all. So what is that magical level? I doubt hardly any one knows except from experience. Most engines can take an extra quart with no adverse affect. If you noticed nothing unusual from driving the car 800 miles with the extra quart (overheating, poor oil pressure, froth on the dipstick), I doubt your engine experienced any damage.

Excess oil pressure from too much oil in the engine? I suppose it is possible, but doubtful. Engine oil pumps have a spring-loaded pressure relief valve that maintain a constant pressure so long as the oil remains fluid and the level is above the pickup sump in the pan.

 

Thanks, sorry if this is a repeat on this forum. I've brought this up in a couple of forums. I appreciate the response.

 

Not a problem. It's smart to ask the question on different forums. Someone else far smarter than me may give you a better answer.

 

Don't sell yourself short- your answer was helpful!