Hi,

So I've been pretty neglecting. Had the FFRR serviced end April and only just checked engine oil level tonight (thanks to me being off the ball and partly to the complicated way to check as no dipstick) where it first showed level as OK then as overfill and to check manual immediately. Reading manual says to contact assistance as overfill could lead to serious engine damage.

Its been over a month since the service and I've used the car for one long trip and lots of small to medium trips. Haven't noticed anything wrong but understand there could be issues caused. I'm calling the garage tomorrow to let them know and to check the car and drain excess oil but I have some questions:

1. What can an overfill of engine oil lead to? I can't tell how much extra has been put as electronic dipstick.
2. What can I ask garage to check to see if any damage has been done?
3. How do they know how much oil to drain due to electronic dipstick?

I appreciate many will say a good garage will know what to do but I'm in Africa and good garages dont exist ....! MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

Everyone here does this, even the specialist Subaru guys did it to my legacy and I had white smoke out the exhaust.

I read up on it at the time and basically what can happen is:

- The crank beats the oil in a froth and it loses lubricity so your bearings die
- Excess oil gets into the piston bores and can damage the rings
- Gets into the combustion system and burns, some gets into the exhaust and can damage the cat
- You could also end up with a runaway engine

There's no decent mechanic for the newer range rovers. The head mechanic at BHP was also head mechanic at the Tz LR dealership but that's also where my Subaru was overfilled. If I had to choose I'd say either go there or Ndovu. Schumacher almost killed my car, would never recommend.

I do my own oil changes now.

Chex - thanks for the info. Which garage is BHP?

Service was actually done at N*** so will obviously be taking it back there but shame such a small oversight could lead to such big problems. I'm stuck between letting them rectify or taking it to RMA and getting them to sort even though it will have costs!

I'd love to have the ability to service the car but just know I'll probably make it worse.

Touch wood have not noticed any change in performance - am hoping it is more that the overfill is by 0.5l or something small. I hope they have a way of telling how much extra oil is in there somehow MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

BHP is on Ole Odume Rd but seem to focus more on Subaru/rallying so I'm not sure if they even do LR. (070) 500-0385

Ndovu would probably deal with it if you call and complain - the owner is super anal.

Quote:

Reading manual says to contact assistance as overfill could lead to serious engine damage

If it's really over filled then the oil system can over pressurise and blow seals. The engine can also burn it and burning lots of it can damaged the lambda sensors and cats.

Basically you can just check the car over for oil leaks and do an emissions check. If that checks out ok then any damage is likely insignificant.

To drain it the best way is with an oil syphon via the dipstck tube, some cars have a dipstick tube with a cap on the end for just this purpose (why the hell they don't just put a dipstick in it i don't know!) they can just suck out say 1/2 a litre then see where the level is and just take a little at a time until its right.

The other option is just to drain all the oil and refill with the correct amount of new oil, no real need to change the filter if it's recent though.

Quote:

there is the risk the motor will run on the oil fumes and you won’t be able to turn it off.

I've seen it happen on a turbo diesel - not a jot the driver can do about it and it leaves a REALLY impressive smoke screen

I'm sure you can google it on youtube

Zirconblue, ive had it happen to me twice sir... Both in TDi’s one FF one French and on each occasion the turbo let go and it drank the sump dry within seconds! Finished the Peugeot 1.9 TD engine (so had to be replaced) hydrolocked the 3.6 TDV8 FF which damaged an injector and snapped the starter motor! But the engine survived

Some how i knew as soon as i posted that someone would be on here saying "I'm always doing it!"

I (2012 TDV8) had the same concern, as the screen was showing the oil level above the maximum. As recommended in the handbook I called the dealer for advice and was told (1) the oil level has to be checked cold, not warm after settling for 5 minutes as would have been the case traditionally; and (2) the oil level test is very sensitive to the angle at which the car is standing so for example in my garage which has a slightly uneven floor I get different readings depending on where it is. Testing cold the level showed about a quarter below the maximum or about the maximum, depending on where it was in the garage. I was also told that if it really was overfilled the car would not be running right, so if yours is running well it might just be a case of testing it cold and on a level surface.
Whether it is a good design to make the oil level test only possible when cold and on a completely level surface is of course another question.... Only Range Rovers since 1988

I did see a youtube vid of an X5 (edit found below)killing itself when it became a turbine. I guess in a manual you could try to stall it, less possible in an auto!

As said, hell of a smokescreen!

^ thats a proper de-coke!!!! ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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@Stan