Thompson Sales Advice: Dangers of Putting Too Much Oil in Your Car

Many of us are worried about driving our cars without enough oil. Your car can’t do much without the lubrication oil provides. Driving a car with a bone-dry oil pan is a great way to completely ruin the engine. But, did you know that putting too much oil in your car can also ruin your vehicle? In today’s Thompson Sales Basics, we break down what exactly happens when you overpour your oil.

Whipped Into a Froth

The crankshaft sits above the oil reservoir and moves up and down to create suction to pull oil up into the motor. It makes this repetitive motion at a very fast pace. At Thompson Sales, we’ve seen a reservoir overfilled to the point that the crankshaft actually sits on the oil too many times to count. This becomes a problem when the crankshaft moves up and down because it starts to whip the oil into a froth. The top layer of oil then becomes too thick to make its way into the engine. 

Overheating Everything

It’s important to regularly change your oil at a reputable place, like Thompson Sales, to make sure you have the right amount of oil. When you have too little oil, the car will overheat. This happens because the oil never has enough time to cool off before being sucked back into the motor. This causes the oil to break down inside the engine and add friction. 

When the oil is whipped into a froth from overfilling, very little oil gets into the motor. This oil then gets overheated and starts to break down much like the oil in an underfilled reservoir. With very little oil filtering through the engine, everything starts to overheat. This will stop your engine in its tracks. If you don’t drain some of the oil, you can do lasting damage to your vehicle.

How to Drain the Oil

If you only need to drain a minimal amount of oil, there’s no sense in draining your entire reservoir. Instead, buy a hand pump from a local auto shop. Take out the dipstick and use the hand pump to drain as much oil from the pipe as you need. Our Thompson Sales mechanics suggest this as the best course of action. You don’t have to raise the car or worry about putting oil back into the vehicle. 

Get the Car You Need from Thompson Sales

Thompson Sales is a Cadillac, Buick, and GMC dealer in Springfield, Missouri. We have pre-owned vehicles as well as the latest models. If you need a new car, don’t forget to check out our inventory, or feel free to give us a call at (417) 763-6811.