# Automotive Dopers: What's up with SLK and motor oil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183 "2007-11-12T22:02:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/1 "2007-11-12T22:02:47Z")
OK, yeah, that’s more of a psycho-logical question, but here’s the story: Last week, I had a graphic, and hopefully enduring, lesson on why you don’t overtighten oil filters. After I changed the oil, I started up to let the new oil (proper weight this time) circulate. I heard a fountaining noise, got out to check, and motor oil is cascading down out of the block. I shut her down pretty damn quick. Seems I had squashed and torqued out the gasket, so there was an area with no seal between the filter and the block. Fortunately, we had a brand new bag of kitty litter. I redid the oil change, being careful about the filter. **Lizard Queen** used the car for a week while I was away. Now, I start the car, I noticed an unusual blue cloud with the first exhaust, and after running 10 min and shutting down, the oil level on the dipstick is quite a bit over the top hole. That’s after wiping it down and reinserting it. I’m thinking not all the oil from the first change drained out. So when I put the new new 3.5 quarts in, I over filled it. How bad is this? Should I drain some oil? 2000 Chevy Metro, 4 cyl 1300cc displacement. Tanks. (And air support) ETA-The banner ad is for scarey mentally ill people… ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/2 "2007-11-12T22:18:09Z")
Yes, you need to get the excess oil out. Paradoxically, a quart too much oil can be worse than a quart not enough. Too much oil leads to frothing and foaming - both from the oil, and from you, when the mechanic says the engine’s hosed because that frothy oil couldn’t be picked up by the oil pump, so the bearings siezed up from lack of oil. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/3 "2007-11-12T22:21:52Z")
I’d drain some if I were you. The crankshaft is supposed to sling some oil up onto the cylinder walls, but it’s not supposed to be submerged in it. It puts a lot of drag on the engine, for one thing. Imagine yourself running in knee-deep water. It also creates a froth, which really complicates lubrication. I think I remember the oil filter procedurel as one-third turn past finger tight, with a little oil smeared on the gasket. On preview, I see that gotpasswords already mentioned frothing more eloquently than I did. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/4 "2007-11-12T22:24:17Z")
This could be a serious issue. I believe you could have messed up some seals. If you’re overfilled, I’d drain it all out and refill. Engines are expensive. Conventional oil is what, $2.25 per quart, tops? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/5 "2007-11-12T22:30:39Z")
I always grease the face edge of the filter gasket with fresh oil, and make sure to wipe off the mating surface on the block to ensure that some blob of crud won’t interfere with a smooth and proper seal for the new filter. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/6 "2007-11-13T03:43:45Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Slant] This could be a serious issue. I believe you could have messed up some seals. [/QUOTE] Oh, I know I messed up the seal. The seal between the engine and the oil filter. That’s why the oil was cascading out. I rectified that by putting on a new one. My question was ‘does this sound like too much oil, and what will that do to the engine?’ Well, I hope driving that week didn’t hurt it too badly. I ran around today without really noticing any difference. Of course, I haven’t driven the car in a while, and got used to a car with much more engine. Thanks to **danceswithcats** , (I know to put oil on the gasket), **AskNott** , and **gotpasswords**. I’ll rectify this very soon, but not infantry. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/7 "2007-11-13T04:05:41Z")
I wasn’t talking about the gasket on the filter; I was referred to some of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/8 "2007-11-13T05:09:24Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Slant] I wasn’t talking about the gasket on the filter; I was referred to some of the others. [/QUOTE] Ahhhh. Well, I peered at the engine while it was running today, and If a blew a head gasket or something on that order, I think it would give me some clues. It’s not dripping oil, no shooting steam or exhaust out of the block or heads. Only other symptom is the A/C blows cold for just a bit, then blows warm air. I believe I have one serpentine belt, it’s behind a metal shield, but what I saw looked fine. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/9 "2007-11-13T15:19:04Z")
A half quart high, I wouldn’t worry about. A quart high, questionable. Any more than that, remove the excess oil. Tighten oil filters 2/3 to 1 turn after the point where the gasket makes contact. Specific instructions should be on the filter. Excess oil does not harm seals. The seals are designed to work in oil, how is oil going to hurt them? Excess oil can overwhelm valve stem seals - they’re designed to control minimal amounts of oil - but it won’t ruin them. This is almost certainly the cause for the blue smoke mentioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/10 "2007-11-13T16:55:45Z")
After you get the oil level straightened out, at least a couple more bits of cleanup await you. The oil on the outside of the engine from the filter leak will smell old-car-like for weeks, when the engine is hot. Wipe off what you can. Some of the frothy oil may have come up into the Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. If so, you might need a new one. It plugs into your air filter housing, so check to see if there’s oil there. If so, wipe it out. If the air filter paper got oily, get a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automotive-dopers-whats-up-with-slk-and-motor-oil/426183/11 "2007-11-14T03:49:12Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] After you get the oil level straightened out, at least a couple more bits of cleanup await you. The oil on the outside of the engine from the filter leak will smell old-car-like for weeks, when the engine is hot. Wipe off what you can. Some of the frothy oil may have come up into the Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. If so, you might need a new one. It plugs into your air filter housing, so check to see if there’s oil there. If so, wipe it out. If the air filter paper got oily, get a new one. [/QUOTE] Well, the oil on the block, etc. burned off during the week Lizard Queen drove it. I rectified the level, didn’t notice that it was all that much more than a normal change, maybe some. It would have been very messy to actually measure it, so I declined. I’ll check those other items this friday, after a review of the Hayes manual.