harkgar

I put too much oil in the engine and a red warning light came on telling me to remove some oil. The 2006 CDi has one catalytic converter and no other filter.

Is this really necessary? I can see how insufficient oil can damage an engine but not the reverse.

lkchris

If the crankshaft whips the oil into a froth, you won't have proper oil film protection of various bearings.

TMAllison

Just empty some into a clean container and then check it again and slowly add some back (if needed) until its happy again.

iolithblue

the manufacturer is interested for two reasons, hence the CEL.

too much oil increases the emissions, as the oil makes its way to the exhuast,(unlikely you care)

and WAY too much oil can cause real damage thru hydralic locks, or foaming as stated = dead engine (likely you care)

Diesel Benz

Note that the oil gets to the exhaust through the engine, from the breather to the air intake, turbo (if the car has one), cylinder and then exhaust pipe.

A diesel may start running on the oil mist, making it run faster, pumping more oil through the breather... you can guess the rest.

harkgar

If there is excess oil in the engine some will stay at the bottom end with gravity even when the oil near the top gets whipped into cream.

I had a 1986 Porsche 911 Targa and I put way too much oil into the engine when it was new, before I read the owner's manual to learn that the dipstick only reads accurately with the engine idling (dry sump). I had to take the car out at night to burn off the oil - quite a sight - the rear end of the car was like that of a rocket blasting off there was so much oily smoke blowing off.

Nothing happened to the engine or the catalytic converter. I wonder why.

lkchris

"Dry sump" means the oil is stored in a separate tank and not in an oil pan beneath the crankshaft. Surely you were supposed to add oil to the tank and not to the "engine." Seems like overfilling the tank would cause the oil to just overflow. Yes, there is a drip pan beneath the crankshaft, but it's very shallow and the oil system is designed to maintain the level there at a safe level. If you somehow got too much oil in the drip pan, you were just lucky there was no damage.

451/443=EW

Simply you will put too much pressure in the inside of the engine, You'll blow the seals and hydrolics inside. How much is a new diesal engine will be your next question. If you dont know how to remove it tow it you a local dealer and have them take it out. Dont drive it, you dont know what damge you may have done even on a short trip.

240D 3.0T

A red warning light came on telling you to remove some oil, obviously thats what you should do!

Untertürkheim

+1

lkchris

If the oil is frothed, there will be no pressure.

lkchris

BTW, overfilling is one of the reasons Mercedes (and BMW) eliminated dipsticks. Seems too many dipsticks were looking at them.

harkgar

On the contrary it is a more fail-safe method of testing. MB obviously agreed and brought back the dipstick from MY 2007. Even if the computer fails you can still check the oil level accurately.

The removal of the oil and transmission dipsticks were done for the same reason as the plastic cladding on top of all newer MB cars, that is to discourage the servicing by non-dealership garages.

harkgar

In one of the oil company advertisements in the 1980s promoting synthetic oils it claimed that even with a dry engine coated with the good stuff the engine refused to seize.

Does it mean that excess oil is not a problem with synthetic oils?

240D 3.0T

Dude, its a simple solution.

Drain, the, excess, oil.

Too much oil is ALWAYS bad. If it wasn't a problem, Mercedes wouldn't have felt the need to include a BIG RED WARNING LIGHT for it.

TMAllison

If you believe the advertisement it means that no oil (ie: a coating only) is OK. It didnt address overfilling.

myMBisFIN

so what is the first step in solving this issue if one fills the car with too much oil?

kajtek1

Buy one of those

myMBisFIN

What is this???

rapidoxidation

What do personal enhancement products have to do with removing oil?????





(it's a vacuum pump)

nelbur

You just need to put a pan under the drain plug and open the drain plug just long enough to remove the necessary amount. It will likely take a few tries, and you might need to ad some back if you remove too much. If you loosen the plug with a wrench you should then be able to turn it out by hand. Keep a firm grip on the plug because you want to reinstall it after a second or two of draining. Your hand will be well oiled.

Glyn M Ruck

The main problems are
1) Aeration ~ air is not much of a lubricant.
2) Forcing oil past rings & damage to emissions gear. In the worst case hydrolocking an engine & bending a con rod.
3) Overwhelming the captive breather circuit.
4) Placing undue pressure on seals that could result in leaks.

Benz has a safe level range for a reason.