For RX-8: what happens if you pour in too much oil?
 

I couldn't seem to find an answer to this question anywhere on the site... or maybe I just suck at searching >.>
Anyways I've been wondering, what will happen if you pour in too much oil, like 0.5qt - 1qt more? Any input is appreciated =)

Do you mean in an RX8 or just .5 in any motor? I don't see it causing much but you can easily drain it out until you got it right. my son added 2 qts. over in his 99 Isuzu Rodeo and that caused the motor to sputter real bad like it was about to lock up, so drain it down to normal and you should be fine.

ya I heard for piston engines overfilling causes problems in the engine and gaskets, but don't know what the consequences are for rotaries... :eyetwitch

Overfilling of a piston engine causes foaming/frothing of the oil. Overfilling on a rotary engine probably wouldn't harm anything. Nothing moves in the oil pan, the bottom of the engine is sealed off.

Good point Sleep1, I wasn,t sure about the effects in the rotories....

Half a quart won't hurt anything.

At some point of overfill, however, the Renesis will start sucking oil into the intake through the breather. When that happens, you'll get an oil soaked air filter and likely an oil contaminated mass air sensor. There have been quite a few posts on that problem.

Ken

Can you point me to those posts? I think mines overfilled but not sure how to drain!?

Thanks

You are not sure how to drain oil? Either make a mess with intermittant removals of the drain plug, or suction it out through the dipstick tube. There are a variety of transfer pumps made for that purpose. Google it or check amazon.com .

THe suction method sounds like a winner! Thanks

Clean the MAF sensor (easier) or it may hurt your gas mileage.

Depends on how much you overfill it by and how long you leave it like that.
On a rotary it can be as bad or worse than a piston if left long enough or with too much.
It can clog up the MAS and if left long enough it can clog and cause the SSV (Secondary Shutter Valve) to stick as well as cause apex seals to stick.

.5 a qt will probably not hurt much for a short time 1 qt you are pushing it.

Thanks guys, i'll look into how to clean the MAF sensor.

Anyone know how a .5 qt translates to litres?! I've not heard the expression before (probably because im english) thanks

edt: i have brought a pump extractor so i shalt use the car until it arrives. Ta

A liter is slightly more than a quart. For the engine oil purposes, you can assume a liter is a quart.

English? Half a quart is a pint. :)

FWIW, my 8 has been overfilled up to the top of the flat on the dipstick with no harm.

Ken

over-filling can cause one big problem... a mess that is a pain in the a** to clean. thats about it.

Half a quart is a US pint (16 fl oz), not to be confused with an Imperial pint (20 fl oz, or 543ml).

a buddy of mine did it and he put 2 qts extra in. It sounded like the motor was drowning, like it was all in the chambers. it spit it out the intake and out the exhaust like an old beat up truck would with blow by. Its not pretty. He had it drained quickly, but likely did damage to his cat, had to replace his k&N and had to clean his MAF.

just always replace oil with quart containers, or be careful on the last quart, the dipstick is not linear i think. overfilling it by .5 quart can save you the trouble of topping off every other fillup.

half is fine...more than half a quart i'd take some out just so you don't coat your MAF...it's a PITA to clean....trust me i've had to do it and not because of overfilling...

u dont want to do that, I know i did to mine and i started seeing oil spots each time i parked, I actually dumped 5qt when it should be only 4 1/2 qt, as for the effects and possible damages of some engine parts I have no clue since I drained 1qt in between 2 days top after that stupid mistake

in the rx8 all it does is end up in your airbox clogging the MAF sensor.

yeah ASERAS is right ... that too happens...

would an oil catch can prevent any overfill from reaching the MAF? I emptied an entire 5 qt jug without even thinking to check how far I filled it to. After the oil settles it reads at the to of the flat part of the dipstick (less than a centimeter over the full line).

Like I said back in '10, mine has been filled to the top of the flat a number of times with no harm.

I've got an '06. It's my understanding that '06s were less prone to sucking excess oil into the intake than most other years. Something about the breather being configured slightly differently. There may be info on that in the various catch can threads.

Five quarts sounds like a lot. Unless you tipped the car to get oil out of the coolers, I think it usually takes about four to fill it.

Ken

Did the spots come from the oil pan?