We have a 98, 24 valve and I just changed the oil. The truck has used 15W40 'Royal Purple' synthetic since it was new, so that's what I've continued with. I usually get the 1 gallon containers, but this time all I could get was the 5 gallon pail. In attempting to balance myself, (half on the front bumper and half in the engine compartment), in order to pour from this stupid thing, my foot slipped partially off the bumper, and in so doing, I got a little more oil in the engine than I would have liked. The dipstick now reads about a quarter of an inch over the 'full' mark.

My question is; will this hurt anything? I didn't really think too much of it until I noticed a stronger than normal smell coming from the blow-by tube at a hot idle. I know the synthetic oil can smell a little 'different' than the dino oil, but the increased smellage factor got me to wondering if I was damaging something.

Thanks!

chaikwa.

 

It's probably OK. Where you get in trouble is when the crank is actually sloshing the oil as it rotates, causing power loss. I have heard of this causing balance problems, but never know of an actual failure because of it. Mine has the level just a little higher than the full line now, kind of for the same reason as you, except I didn't slip, I just overfilled it.
I have not noticed any difference in how the engine runs, or even any smell. I run Amsoil, which may be the difference there.

You can always drain a little out. This would probably be easier for me as I have a GenosGarage valve in place of the oil plug, but it hasn't worried me enough to crawl under there and mess with it.

Chris

 

Reminds me of a funny story,

One winter a few years ago, my truck was due for an oil change. We happened to be in the grips of a wicked cold snap up here in the northeast, so I decided to break down and bring it into one of those Quick lube stations.
I sat in the waiting room and drank my free coffee while their crack staff of lube mechanics made busy on my truck. After my truck was in the bay for about 15 min. I happened to be looking out the waiting room window at the tech on the top side checking my dip stick level.
He checked it once, than twice, than three times, than four,five,six,seven......he had to have pulled that stick 30 times! I'm thinking what is this moron doing! A few minutes later my hood was down, I payed my bill and drove home. Once there I decided to check the oil level, it was about a 1/4" over the full mark.
So I guess that knitwit was trying to extract the extra oil one dip at a time, makes me laugh every time I think of that story.

 

I always use 12 quarts in these engines for an even 3 gallons, never a problem.
If it's overfill and the crank is whipping up the oil in the pan it will be frothy on the dipstick right after shutdown.

Putting in too much is better than adding 3 gallons before you notice that the drain plug is out.

 

I wouldn't worry about 1/4" over at all. Won't cause a problem.

In fact I usually fill mine that full because I haven't gotten around to fixing my powersteering pump seal that's leaking.

 

Thanks for the replies!

I didn't think it would be a problem, but it's always nice to confirm it.

chaikwa.