Trying to save money can actually lead to big losses—overfilling the engine oil can have serious consequences!
发布时间：2022年03月14日 14:55
I remember that when I was in the countryside, whenever I saw our farmer brothers adding oil to diesel engines, sometimes after reaching the standard level, there’d still be quite a bit of oil left over. To save money, they’d just pour all the leftover oil straight into the diesel engine. Once, even when a farmer brother was having his engine serviced at the repair shop and some oil was left over, he strongly insisted that the mechanic add all the remaining oil to the diesel engine—no matter how much the mechanic tried to explain otherwise, it was no use. So, could having too much oil in the engine lead to any serious consequences?
1. Excessive engine oil can reduce the engine’s output power. During operation, the crankshaft journals and big ends of the connecting rods move rapidly. When there’s too much oil, these components will cause intense agitation. The agitation of the crankshaft journals and connecting rods against the oil consumes a certain amount of energy, which invisibly leads to a reduction in the engine’s output power and also increases fuel consumption. In today’s environment of high fuel prices, this is really not worth it. Moreover, because excessive oil reduces the engine’s output power, the vehicle may exhibit symptoms such as heaviness, stuffiness, and increased noise levels.
2. Excessive engine oil can cause blue smoke to emanate from the exhaust pipe. When there’s too much oil, the rapidly moving crankshaft journals and connecting rod big ends will inevitably cause oil to splash. A large amount of splashed oil can leak into the combustion chamber and burn there, resulting in blue smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe—this is commonly referred to as “oil burning.” Moreover, “oil burning” is also one of the indicators used to determine whether fuel consumption is excessively high.
3. Excessive engine oil can lead to malfunctions such as piston ring seizure and fuel injector clogging. A large amount of oil may leak into the combustion chamber and burn there. Once burned, the oil tends to form carbon deposits around the piston rings, on the top of the pistons near the valve seats, and at the fuel injectors, which in turn can cause piston ring seizure, fuel injector blockage, and increased wear between the pistons and cylinder walls. Moreover, excessive carbon buildup can also trigger engine knocking.
4. Excessive engine oil can easily lead to crankcase explosion. When the oil level is too high, the oil-air mixture generated by the movement of the connecting rod big end is prone to ignition upon encountering high temperatures, which can trigger a crankcase explosion—a consequence that can be extremely serious.
5. Excessive oil can easily lead to oil leaks. When there’s too much oil, the pressure in the lubrication system increases, making the oil seals more prone to damage and thus causing oil leaks. This is particularly true for leaks at the front and rear ends of the crankshaft, which not only increase oil consumption but also make it easier to pollute the environment and complicate maintenance efforts.
6. Excessive engine oil can increase wear and reduce lubrication performance. As mentioned earlier, the crankshaft will agitate any excess oil. During this agitation, not only does the oil tend to splash around, but it also generates air bubbles. Oil containing air bubbles, when introduced into the lubrication system, can lead to increased wear between the cylinder and the piston.
7. Excessive oil can easily lead to oil degradation and impair performance. Under the agitation of the crankshaft, the temperature of excess oil rises rapidly, which in turn accelerates oil degradation and causes a decline in oil performance.
How can we easily address the issue of excess engine oil? Next, let’s talk about what to do if you’ve accidentally overfilled the engine with oil. If you’ve added too much oil yourself—perhaps by mistake—or if you noticed the excess oil only after completing maintenance and servicing, what should you do in either of these situations? I’m sure many of you would answer: “Just drain some out myself!” However, this approach can actually lead to new problems: draining too much oil might leave you with insufficient oil levels. Moreover, draining oil through the oil drain plug can easily cause contamination, and refilling it afterward could introduce yet another set of issues. So, here’s a relatively simple method for dealing with this situation. All you need is an old syringe, a disposable infusion set, and an empty plastic water bottle. Use the syringe to carefully draw out the excess oil and transfer it into the water bottle. As for the remaining oil, you can repurpose it for other uses.
In summary: As we all know, insufficient engine oil can lead to cylinder scoring and bearing seizure. But actually, having too much engine oil isn't any better either—excess oil can also cause very serious problems. Henceforth, when performing maintenance and repairs on machinery, we must pay close attention to this issue and absolutely avoid seeking cheap deals that could end up costing us dearly.
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