gp1 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Hi took m/h to caravan shop and they had the cooker working even before i could get in the door. The cooker lid was not back far enough. Where we put a multi plug extension must have prevented it from going back far enough. My fault for trying to set up the electric before the gas. So i felt stupid. Mind you the label for the gas isolation switch (?) Was round the wrong way so probably the people who put that sticker on are just as stupid. Anyway the isolation lever follows the direction of the pipe i now know. Anyway when had my oil changed i had a look at the reading but couldnt work it out. So the caravan shop man said it was overfull. Took it back to garage and they said it was aswell. By about 3 millimeters maybe? On the dipstick? Is this harmfull to the engine? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Three mil won't do any harm. I'm sure someone will be along with a definitive answer, but it seems checking your oil is not as simple as once it was. I read recently (possibly on this very forum) that there are two different techniques. If you have a yellow dipstick, follow the age old practice of checking when the engine is cold. If you have a red dispstick, check it hot, five minutes after switching off the engine. Mine is red and when cold reads about 1/4 inch over what it shows when using the correct technique. Why can nothing stay simple? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasnt Me Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Fill to 75% cold then check when hot, as it will expand when hot. 2-3mm over, if it's a Fiat it will either burn it off or leak it, in a few weeks or so. :-D Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1 Posted July 25, 2018 Author Share Posted July 25, 2018 Yes it was hot when tested. And its yellow. Thanks for replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 aandy - 2018-07-25 4:48 PM Three mil won't do any harm. I'm sure someone will be along with a definitive answer, but it seems checking your oil is not as simple as once it was. I read recently (possibly on this very forum) that there are two different techniques. If you have a yellow dipstick, follow the age old practice of checking when the engine is cold. If you have a red dispstick, check it hot, five minutes after switching off the engine. Mine is red and when cold reads about 1/4 inch over what it shows when using the correct technique. Why can nothing stay simple? I have owned a vehicle for well over 50 years, and do most of my own maintenance. From a safety perspective, I would normally drain down oil when it is warm, not at engine operating temperature! It follows that on refilling I would be checking the oil on a virtually cold engine. I found Andy's post intriguing and have checked the manuals and dipstick colours on our vehicles. My findings are 1, 2006 Fiat Ducato 2.8 JTD - Yellow dipstick, check level with engine at operating temp, 10 minutes after stopping engine. 2. 2011 Saab 9-3 1.9 TTID - Yellow dipstick, "switch off engine and wait 5 min". 3. 2013 Skoda Fabia 1,2 TSI (petrol) - Brown dipstick. Engine at operating temperature, "Switch off engine. Wait a few minutes, until oil flows back into the oil sump....." Basically all similar, irrespective of dipstick colour. My thanks to Andy for posting this information. As regards gp1,s oil level, I agree with Andy, not a problem unless the level increases on its own. That could indicate that fuel, or perhaps coolant getting into the oil. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1 Posted July 25, 2018 Author Share Posted July 25, 2018 Thanks alan thats good. So ive got tyres with slightly too much air in them and an engine with slightly too much oil in it. But everything ok. Ive got an older skoda fabia aswell. And the same fiat as you (2004). I wanted a saab but got confused about them - my skodas got 86 k on it but only worth a couple hundred. Do you think its worth getting the cambelt done? Oh and if i got a trailer would the van pull it? Only hunch answers nessesary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 aandy - 2018-07-25 4:48 PM Why can nothing stay simple? Because too many people used to fix things themselves - Many manufacturers / dealers now try to ensure that everything has to be done by them. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 I'd drain the over fill oil myself as it's over the max mark by 3 mm it's at least 6 mm over filled as I always run mine below the full mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 An over-fill of 3mm will do absolutely nothing, where is it going to go? Your sump is a large basin with oil in it. The oil level will have been calculated to be below the bottom of the rotating crank rods to prevent them dipping in and splashing the oil about in the contained sump, If it does, no big deal. I vaguely remember engines that had a spike on the bottom of the crank rod which dipped into the oil to splash it on to the cylinder wall, however on reflection, that may have been a steam engine, but the same applies. Anyway, a 3mm overfill is no big deal and just forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1 Posted July 25, 2018 Author Share Posted July 25, 2018 Hey great thanks very much. This place is great for technical stuff. Good luck with the steam trains. This sump thing and piston rods sounds pretty amazing. Amazing invention i suppose and how its been refined and improved apon over the years. Brilliant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 The following summarises advice from Ducato Owner Handbooks about checking the engine-oil level. "ENGINE OIL Check the oil level a few minutes (about 5) after the engine has stopped, with the vehicle parked on level ground. The oil level should be between the MIN and MAX marks on the dipstick. The range between the MIN and MAX marks corresponds to about 1 litre of oil. If the oil level is near or under the MIN line, add oil through the filler to reach the MAX line. The oil level should never exceed the MAX line.” Assuming that the amount of engine-oil in the motor were correct, checking the level immediately after the motor is stopped will suggest that the level is too low. This is simply because there will be a good deal of oil in the upper sections of the motor and this oil needs to find its way (via gravity) into the vehicle’s sump. Hence the advice to wait several minutes before carrying out the level-check. The vehicle should be level when the check is carried out - if not level, the ‘reading’ on the dip-stick will be affected. It would be easy for a 3mm ‘overfill’ (or 'underfill’) dip-stick reading to be produced if a Ducato were not level. Not all garage technicians will be meticulous about oil-filling exactly to the dip-stick’s maximum mark, but it’s a helluva lot safer to fill to 3mm above a dip-stick’s Maximum mark than to fill to 3mm below the Minimum mark. Personally, I wouldn’t worry enough about a 3mm overfill to make me drain down to the the dip-stick’s Maximum marking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 witzend - 2018-07-25 9:02 PM I'd drain the over fill oil myself as it's over the max mark by 3 mm it's at least 6 mm over filled as I always run mine below the full mark Is there some trick to doing this in a controlled manner? Whenever I remove a drain plug, I have a gusher. Perhaps one of those dipstick hole pumps? Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 sshortcircuit - 2018-07-25 10:27 PM ........I vaguely remember engines that had a spike on the bottom of the crank rod which dipped into the oil to splash it on to the cylinder wall, however on reflection, that may have been a steam engine, but the same applies......... It's called "splash lubrication", and is still used on some internal small combustion engines. The spike is called a "dipper" for obvious reasons. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Alanb - 2018-07-26 11:05 AM witzend - 2018-07-25 9:02 PM I'd drain the over fill oil myself as it's over the max mark by 3 mm it's at least 6 mm over filled as I always run mine below the full mark Is there some trick to doing this in a controlled manner? Whenever I remove a drain plug, I have a gusher. Perhaps one of those dipstick hole pumps? Alan For that small quantity I'd get a length of windscreen washer tubing or similar (possibly aquarium air tube?) and a largish medical syringe. Even if you only sucked up enough to fill the tubing in one go it should not take long to reduce the level by 3 mm. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Oil-change ‘pumps’ (manual or electric) are marketed at various prices (examples here) https://tinyurl.com/ybs5nnru However - as the following thread shows - shoving a suction-tube into a motor can carry potential risks https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=220&t=1009163 My Skoda car’s oil was changed last Monday. I checked it later with the engine cold and the car parked very slightly nose-down and the dip-stick reading exceeded the 3mm ‘overfill’ mentioned by gp1. With the car parked 100% level, the car’s motor hot and the check made, say, 5 minutes after the motor was stopped, I estimate that the oil-level would be right on the dip-stick’s MAX mark. Given Fiat’s advice that "The range between the MIN and MAX marks corresponds to about 1 litre of oil”, even if the oil-level check is performed correctly and a reading 3mm over the MAX is obtained, the quantity of excess oil will (in my view) be insufficient to bother extracting. In gp1’s case it would seem that the garage that carried out the oil change has agreed that too much oil was put in. So if gp1 is really concerned about this the logical thing to do would be to insist that the garage address the overfilling by removing the excess oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1 Posted July 27, 2018 Author Share Posted July 27, 2018 Yes i might do that it seems finicky but i would be happier. I will give them a ring and see what they say. Thankyou very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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