Is it safe to drive with too much engine oil?
Putting too much oil in an engine creates uncertainty about whether it can be driven safely or needs to be drained immediately. This leaves drivers anxious about whether they can make it to work or a shop without damaging their vehicle.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Draining some oil out
- 2Checking the dipstick multiple times on flat ground
- 3Leaving the oil level as is if only slightly overfilled
- 4siphoning or draining out excess oil
- 5driving to a professional service shop for a complete oil change
- 6Swapping out the oil filter
- 7Nursing the vehicle home and monitoring behavior
- 8leaving the car to sit overnight to let the oil settle before checking
- 9learning to perform oil changes oneself
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I may have placed too much oil, i managed to remove about 1/3 of a gallon out of it. This is what it is reading after that am i safe to drive?”source ↗
“Got my car back from the mechanic yesterday and noticed it was a little high.”source ↗
“Let it sit overnight to make sure it settled & it still looked a good bit over the max when I checked in the morning.”source ↗
“Today I put in another qt and it is above the full dot and I want to know is it fine to leave it like this or should I drain some out?”source ↗
“gotcha, it was sitting already for about an hour when i checked it and this is what i got. would i be able to drive it safety though? i plan on getting a complete oil change tomorrow at valvoline or wtv it’s called but i just needa make sure i can get to work first and then head to the shop lol”source ↗
“i filled it with a big 5qt jug and i put the whole thing in there thinking it was needed since when i checked it before the dipstick was completely dry. then some common sense came to me and thought maybe it was too much. did my research and yeah it was definitely a lot more than needed”source ↗
“Today I added a little too much oil, and after getting off the highway, oil pressure dropped immediately to 18-20 PSI, prompting me to pullover and check, then drain the excess oil and start it back up.”source ↗
“Seems to still idle kinda low, but it was anywhere between 25-30 PSI every stop light on the way home, and seemed like there was some lag on the oil pressure when I accelerated, and it didn't climb quite as fast, but would still hit 60 PSI around the time I shifted to 2nd gear”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2Manual transmission still making noise after fluid top off
- 4Why does my car still leak oil after replacing the seal?
- 2How to fix a coolant leak and sludge in an old car