Now I don't profess to know everything about cars but I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread to find out how much is to much OIL... After the unfortunate decision last night to take the engine out of the zed I dropped the oil overnight and to my my dismay a splash under 6 litres of oil filled the bucket..... Now the 89 TT is around 3.4-3.7 ltrs with the oil filter but 6 litres - come on... The questions is - What damage can that amount of oil do to an engine... Current symptom of a rebuilt engine (less the 5k ago) are 1. Leaking oil seals in the turbo 2. oil leaking from the head gasket (yet to be confirmed until the engine comes out) 3. Clagged up and sticky oil in the intake breathers. What else could have happened?? Thoughts.
I think with that amount of oil your pressure would have been off the charts, way more than required. I am in no way an expert, but seems thats one issue you would have experienced. Did you have an accurate oil pressure gauge (aftermarket)?
Pretty sure that an overfilled sump will cause or at least exaggerate smoking from the exhaust. So that might be the answer to one of the issues. As for the oil in your piping, I'd start by checking the PCV system. Not saying this will definitely be the cause, but it needs looking at. Some of your PCV hoses look to have been replaced with generic tubing, he might not have put the restrictors and arrestors back inside them. So an overfilled sump might have yurped oil out via the PCV system? Dunno, hopefully someone more knowledgable will comment on this.
Thanks Mick - By the way thanks for all your help to date. mmmm I'm glad easter is here (i was going to have a holiday)...
Also, if the oil level in the sump is too high the turbos will not be able to drain and oil can be pushed past the seals = smoke
If this is the case and I am sure it is - will the seals be stuffed and in need of replacing? (trying to put some scenarios together before the engine comes out so that I can put a plan of attack together early).
you had that much oil, i'd be checking your rear main seal as well... that much oil would have definitely pushed past your seals?
Overfill won't impact oil pressure, thats purely a product of the pump and the lines. Draining EVERY drop of oil from the system, including from oil filter, oil cooler, oil lines will amount to close to 6 litres. I wouldn't worry about it. If it was 6L from the sump only, then, well thats a tad too much lol.
I agree with AndyMac, too much oil can't affect the oil pressure. I'd be tempted to try re-filling with new oil to the correct level, new oil filter and see how it goes. Run the engine for a minute or two, checking the oil pressure and exhaust for smoke and looking for leaks. Stop and re-check the level to make sure it's still OK. Drive it around the block and check again. If you still have lots of smoke then you do have other issues but I wouldn't take out the engine unless you definitely know of other problem existing. Too much oil usually ends up find a way out somewhere, often from the dipstick or past seals but those seals may still be okay once the level is correct.
so there is 1.5 or so litres of oil remaining in the system every time a tt has the oil changed? that surprises me, i would have though only a few 100 ml would be left in the sump etc ....learn something new huh!
Normally I could squeeze in about 4.25 litres every oil change, assume that is factory specs + the capacity of the filter.
On a TT the oil lines and oil cooller + filter would easily be over a litre of oil, no doubt. The cooler and lines are always full
looks like I'll be holding well over 8 litres was hoping not use more than 2 x4litre bottles for an oil change
It can definitely affect oil pressure but not in your typical way. What can happen is the crank can be sloshing around in the overfilled sump/block and create excessive windage and basically the pressure can fluctuate badly as the pickup sucks up air pockets etc
Its not possible for oil quantity not to affect oil pressure. It can be overfilled a little which results in higher oil pressure. If its overfilled a reasonable amount and it contacts the crank then it foams the oil. Likely result in a low oil pressure as it wont go through the pump.
How? The oil lines are pressurised purely by the pump, I fail to see how the volume of oil in the sump can have anything to do with an increased oil pressure, assuming all return lines are free. I appreciate that aerated oil from windage can cause lower or erratic oil pressure, but other than that.
