My mom phoned my dad from london yesterday saying that her 1999/2000 vw passat 1.8turbo had broken down. It gradually got slower and slower on the mototway and when in traffic it cut out completley. She called the breakdown service and the mechanic said that she there was too much oil in the engine. She admitted to adding oil before the journey,but only a cup full. having got it back home my dad suggested taking it straight to volkswagon as she needs the car asap.They said that a lot of damage has been done (camshafts sheared or something like that) they estimated a £3k to £4k cost!

I have just found out off my dad that the car is down the vw garage being stripped for inspection and i told my mom to get it out of there asap as the vw dealer will charge a fortune for stripping the engine.

i just think its weird that the engine can be wrecked with a bit too much oil. can anyone shed some light on this?



thanks guys,any info would be really welcome.

 

having too much oil will do as much damage to bearings as having too little. If there's too much, the crank has to work harder to splash through the oil, thus heating it up more and heating up the sleeve bearings more as well.

hope that helps

 

Adding a "cup" should not have done that kinda damage.
Unless your definition of "cup" is different than what most Americans call a "cup"!

Adding too much oil in a piston engine raises the oil level to the point that the crankshaft and con rods starts to slosh in the high oil level.
In extreme cases, the bottoms of the pistons start to slap the surface of the oil, and this will blow piston rings and cause a LOT of damage.

Adding a liter of oil over normal should not cause the above.
It typically takes closer to 2 liters or more of overfill to cause damage like that...

BTW, this is in the wrong section - it should be moved to "General Automotive".


-Ted

 

With Mechanics as with Doctors...

GET A SECOND OPINION!

 

did she check the dipstick before or after she added oil?

 

a high oil level gets aireated by the crank and the bearings are starved for oil.

 

True too much oil will damage an engine, but shear a cam? Come on!?!

 

and lots and lots of oil foaming.....
doubt thats what happened......

 

can the powertrain warranty cover it? I hope she didn't tell the dealer that she added oil to the car...they can use that against warranting the problem