GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So when I changed the oil tonight, I accidentally put in the full 5quarts rather than the 4.8quarts that the GT requires. When I check the dipstick, the oil is maybe a cm over the top mark. I know it's probably hard on the engine to have excess oil, so I was wondering if I should somehow try and drain the .2quarts, or just live with it?

I think the 1zz is 3.8 or 3.9quarts and I put in 4. IMO .2 quarts should be fine, I bet more than 1 person puts in 5quarts straight up.

I have heard somewhere that the issue with too much oil is that if it is high enough to reach the crank, then it can get all frothed up causing bad things. I'd hope that tolerances were such that 1 cm too high would be no problem, but if you are worried about it, drain off a bit, maybe the only benefit would be a little peace of mind, but that might be worth it.

Overfilling your oil is bad.It's just like not having enough.I would do as Joat said and drain a little for piece of mind.

yeah, so like what you guys said, I simply could not relax over the idea of ruining my engine, so i decided to just try and drain .2quarts of it. It wasn't very easy, but I did manage to get rid of just the right amount of oil.......now I can relax lolJoatmon, do you really think the engine would have the oil level that close to the crank? like Northvibe said, I'm sure people accidentally do this pretty often. but just thinking about that happening to the engine is kind of scary.

Joatmon is correct. Too much oil only hurts if it gets to crankshaft level and starts getting all churned up. I've never been into a Vibe engine, but I find it hard to believe that little bit of oil will get to the crank.

Also depends on how much you let drain out in the beginning. I let mine drip for awhile to get most of it out and it takes pretty much 4 quarts. 1ZZ AWD

Quote, originally posted by tcam »I decided to just try and drain .2quarts of it. It wasn't very easy, but I did manage to get rid of just the right amount of oil...I would be curious how you managed to get just a little oil out. When I overfilled mine, once I got to the point where oil would slowly trinkle out from the plug, the plug fully came out and of course all of the oil!That was one reason why I got the Fram drain plug ... it can meter out the oil.

I can tell you this much, my dealer ALWAYS did that with my GT and while it never seemed to cause any problems I always made them correct it. It just never hurts to be overly careful, I guess.

Quote, originally posted by tcam »Joatmon, do you really think the engine would have the oil level that close to the crank? like Northvibe said, I'm sure people accidentally do this pretty often. but just thinking about that happening to the engine is kind of scary.no, I would hope that an extra centimeter of oil depth would not be a problem, but I don't have any pics or diagrams that show a cutaway view of the 2ZZ motor indicating the standard oil fill levels, I have no idea how far down into the pan the crank swings, if at all, or how high the oil would have to be to actually be an issue. However, if you mail me your 2ZZ engine, I will run some tests and let you know I don't think it would have been a problem, but I probably would have dropped the level down to be within the mark like you did, just to not have to worry or wonder.

I would have just taken off the oil filter and dumped what was in there and put it back that should put you right at the correct level... hope you didn't take out the drain plug.

afte my oil changes with 4qt, im never at or past the top fill line so mines always good

My Vibe usually had that extra 0.2 qt in it... I did that when I changed oil in it (it's much easier to just dump 4 quarts in the thing and call it done!) The dealer always had that same idea too, they put what looked to be 4 quarts in it too. They did that whether I supplied my own oil or if they used theirs.

Quote, originally posted by Baltovibe »I would be curious how you managed to get just a little oil out. When I overfilled mine, once I got to the point where oil would slowly trinkle out from the plug, the plug fully came out and of course all of the oil!Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »I would have just taken off the oil filter and dumped what was in there and put it back that should put you right at the correct level... hope you didn't take out the drain plug.yup, just removed the filter for a couple seconds with a rag around my hand and let it drain slowly.

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »My Vibe usually had that extra 0.2 qt in it... I did that when I changed oil in it (it's much easier to just dump 4 quarts in the thing and call it done!) The dealer always had that same idea too, they put what looked to be 4 quarts in it too. They did that whether I supplied my own oil or if they used theirs. hmmm...and the history with your vibe was how good?

lol! Yes, so please strike my testimony from the record. Methinks I'm really screwed now, the Vibe's replacement had 5 quarts of oil put in by the dealer a couple times... Wouldn't be such a bad thing if car didn't have that whole 3.5 quart capacity thing recommended by the manufacturer. Knock on wood (covered with foamy oil) I'm good though, so far. hehehe

eh, i doubt it's a big whoop. i put all 4 in my AWD every single time. i had almost 90k trouble free miles.

Really, I'd say the best placed concern (of something most likely to happen) would be too much oil actually reaching a point where it would foul/plug the PCV valve...then you'd have really crappy mileage and frequent stalls. Given that you have a GT, it would be easy to assume that it was a clutch problem and not a PCV problem and you may fork over several hundred dollars to replace the wrong part...

Quote, originally posted by engineertwin2 »Really, I'd say the best placed concern (of something most likely to happen) would be too much oil actually reaching a point where it would foul/plug the PCV valve...then you'd have really crappy mileage and frequent stalls. Given that you have a GT, it would be easy to assume that it was a clutch problem and not a PCV problem and you may fork over several hundred dollars to replace the wrong part...that would really suck......feeling rreally relieved that I evened out that oil. lol

wouldn't you have to add an extra gallon or two too much to get the oil level up to the PCV valve?

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »wouldn't you have to add an extra gallon or two too much to get the oil level up to the PCV valve?I was confused about that too, cuz I know the pcv valve connects up at the head......just figured somehow the oil in the valvetrain could overflow or something like that.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »wouldn't you have to add an extra gallon or two too much to get the oil level up to the PCV valve?Yes, you are correct that to get the oil level up to the PCV valve, you'd have to add an extra gallon or two. A couple years ago (when I was back in college) I went to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International Congress in Detroit and sat through 2 very good lectures on the issue of "overfilling" the oil pan. Typically, an extra quarter of a quart won't cause too many problems, and as such it was not too much of a concern during training of GM Techs...However, these two presentations discussed the probabilities of foaming and premature PCV valve failure due to oil deposition. Unfortunately, I don't recall the details as to how it was possible, but I will try to dig out the paper when I get a chance. I just remember seeing the numbers that approximately 2800 people driving GM vehicles had clutch replacement performed when the source of the problem was actually the PCV valve. The other presentation indicated about 560 engine related issues associated with "foamy" oil.I'll see what I can dig up...