Dealer overfilled oil? Take a look at this picture
#16
Moderator
The spacers widen the wheel track resulting in a lowered center of gravity with reduced body roll and better handling. Combined with the wider wheels and wider tires the car drives much better than the stock set up. See these old threads for a more detailed discussion (or argument) about this modification. I consider it the best $225 I spent on it considering there are no aftrermarket antisway bars of stiffer antisway bar bushing available.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...l-spacers.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...for-rx350.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...y-spacers.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...n-f-sport.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...l-spacers.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...for-rx350.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...y-spacers.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...n-f-sport.html
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lexuspleus (09-23-19)
#17
At least 7 out of 10 times I went to the dealership for oil change I came back with over filled engine oil.
They always use a cheap excuse which is: This is what the filling pump decided to do it's not done manually.
9 out of 10 they offered me a next free service to stop talking about it.
This happened with different dealers and different makes. It's the sloppiness of the technician. They won't wait till the oil is fully drained then they blame it on the pumping machine.
In my humble opinion, loosen the filter cartridge and drain a little bit then check again. I doubt your engine has any problems.
Cheers
They always use a cheap excuse which is: This is what the filling pump decided to do it's not done manually.
9 out of 10 they offered me a next free service to stop talking about it.
This happened with different dealers and different makes. It's the sloppiness of the technician. They won't wait till the oil is fully drained then they blame it on the pumping machine.
In my humble opinion, loosen the filter cartridge and drain a little bit then check again. I doubt your engine has any problems.
Cheers
The following users liked this post:
lexuspleus (09-23-19)
The following users liked this post:
lexuspleus (09-23-19)
#19
Oil level is dynamic and always sloshing around as you drive and going over bumps. A little less or a little more won't hurt. But still, you want it as correct as possible. This is why do your own work.
You can gather a general idea of how much oil you have or don't have by checking it at any time or at any temp. Hot or cold doesn't matter. Grossly under or overfilled oil will still show on the dipstick regardless of the temp. If you have no oil, you'll know right away no matter the temp. So fighting over "when" to check your oil is pointless, particularly when you're just trying to get an idea. If you're splitting hairs over a millimeter of extra oil then sure, temp may matter. But that's not the goal here.
It is true some manufacturers calibrate their dipsticks to read correctly at certain times. For example, BMW says to read the dipstick 5 minutes after shut down on one particular model. But it doesn't mean you can't read the oil when you want. Yes stuff expands when hot, but not to the point of doubling the level. So there's little value to mentioning that here for this scenario. Moot.
If the dipstick shown in post #1 is accurate as posted, the dipstick didn't gather oil from the side of the guide tube, then looks like an overfill. Ask the place that serviced your car to check it and fill it to the correct spot.
You can gather a general idea of how much oil you have or don't have by checking it at any time or at any temp. Hot or cold doesn't matter. Grossly under or overfilled oil will still show on the dipstick regardless of the temp. If you have no oil, you'll know right away no matter the temp. So fighting over "when" to check your oil is pointless, particularly when you're just trying to get an idea. If you're splitting hairs over a millimeter of extra oil then sure, temp may matter. But that's not the goal here.
It is true some manufacturers calibrate their dipsticks to read correctly at certain times. For example, BMW says to read the dipstick 5 minutes after shut down on one particular model. But it doesn't mean you can't read the oil when you want. Yes stuff expands when hot, but not to the point of doubling the level. So there's little value to mentioning that here for this scenario. Moot.
If the dipstick shown in post #1 is accurate as posted, the dipstick didn't gather oil from the side of the guide tube, then looks like an overfill. Ask the place that serviced your car to check it and fill it to the correct spot.
#20
Pole Position
So true...................
Oil level is dynamic and always sloshing around as you drive and going over bumps. A little less or a little more won't hurt. But still, you want it as correct as possible. This is why do your own work.
You can gather a general idea of how much oil you have or don't have by checking it at any time or at any temp. Hot or cold doesn't matter. Grossly under or overfilled oil will still show on the dipstick regardless of the temp. If you have no oil, you'll know right away no matter the temp. So fighting over "when" to check your oil is pointless, particularly when you're just trying to get an idea. If you're splitting hairs over a millimeter of extra oil then sure, temp may matter. But that's not the goal here.
It is true some manufacturers calibrate their dipsticks to read correctly at certain times. For example, BMW says to read the dipstick 5 minutes after shut down on one particular model. But it doesn't mean you can't read the oil when you want. Yes stuff expands when hot, but not to the point of doubling the level. So there's little value to mentioning that here for this scenario. Moot.
If the dipstick shown in post #1 is accurate as posted, the dipstick didn't gather oil from the side of the guide tube, then looks like an overfill. Ask the place that serviced your car to check it and fill it to the correct spot.
You can gather a general idea of how much oil you have or don't have by checking it at any time or at any temp. Hot or cold doesn't matter. Grossly under or overfilled oil will still show on the dipstick regardless of the temp. If you have no oil, you'll know right away no matter the temp. So fighting over "when" to check your oil is pointless, particularly when you're just trying to get an idea. If you're splitting hairs over a millimeter of extra oil then sure, temp may matter. But that's not the goal here.
It is true some manufacturers calibrate their dipsticks to read correctly at certain times. For example, BMW says to read the dipstick 5 minutes after shut down on one particular model. But it doesn't mean you can't read the oil when you want. Yes stuff expands when hot, but not to the point of doubling the level. So there's little value to mentioning that here for this scenario. Moot.
If the dipstick shown in post #1 is accurate as posted, the dipstick didn't gather oil from the side of the guide tube, then looks like an overfill. Ask the place that serviced your car to check it and fill it to the correct spot.
#21
Instructor
Oil level is dynamic and always sloshing around as you drive and going over bumps. A little less or a little more won't hurt. But still, you want it as correct as possible. This is why do your own work.
You can gather a general idea of how much oil you have or don't have by checking it at any time or at any temp. Hot or cold doesn't matter. Grossly under or overfilled oil will still show on the dipstick regardless of the temp. If you have no oil, you'll know right away no matter the temp. So fighting over "when" to check your oil is pointless, particularly when you're just trying to get an idea. If you're splitting hairs over a millimeter of extra oil then sure, temp may matter. But that's not the goal here.
It is true some manufacturers calibrate their dipsticks to read correctly at certain times. For example, BMW says to read the dipstick 5 minutes after shut down on one particular model. But it doesn't mean you can't read the oil when you want. Yes stuff expands when hot, but not to the point of doubling the level. So there's little value to mentioning that here for this scenario. Moot.
If the dipstick shown in post #1 is accurate as posted, the dipstick didn't gather oil from the side of the guide tube, then looks like an overfill. Ask the place that serviced your car to check it and fill it to the correct spot.
You can gather a general idea of how much oil you have or don't have by checking it at any time or at any temp. Hot or cold doesn't matter. Grossly under or overfilled oil will still show on the dipstick regardless of the temp. If you have no oil, you'll know right away no matter the temp. So fighting over "when" to check your oil is pointless, particularly when you're just trying to get an idea. If you're splitting hairs over a millimeter of extra oil then sure, temp may matter. But that's not the goal here.
It is true some manufacturers calibrate their dipsticks to read correctly at certain times. For example, BMW says to read the dipstick 5 minutes after shut down on one particular model. But it doesn't mean you can't read the oil when you want. Yes stuff expands when hot, but not to the point of doubling the level. So there's little value to mentioning that here for this scenario. Moot.
If the dipstick shown in post #1 is accurate as posted, the dipstick didn't gather oil from the side of the guide tube, then looks like an overfill. Ask the place that serviced your car to check it and fill it to the correct spot.
#22
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2019
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For this reason, I was always told to check both sides of the dipstick and go by the lowest reading. Usually, because of the way a thin, long piece of metal wants to flex, one side or the other will want to drag along the pipe and that side is going to be wrong.
You are right. In case of this particular engine, however, the dip stick is super narrow and the oil sticks to the side of the dip stick quite a lot. And, this throws off the reading. There is no magic in waiting a long time read the oil level. it's just that the darn thing sticks too much to the wall of the dip stick tube making accurate assessment difficult.
#23
Driver School Candidate
My 2 cents
I've noticed that oil seems to take longer in our engines to drain back to the pan than most other engines, but certainly not overnight (maybe 10 minutes on a warm motor). My opinion is that shops drain oil, add oil, start the car, check for leaks, shut it down, and top off the oil shortly after engine shutdown without waiting for the oil to return to the pan, where it can be measured by the dipstick, and wind up being about a half quart over because they added oil to reach the full mark before the the oil had a chance to drain back. This is how I received my car (bought used) with a fresh oil change. Doing the oil myself, I noticed that I was a bit low on the dipstick (between 1/2 a quart and a 1/4 quart low) immediately after starting/shutting down, but was almost perfect 10 minutes later.
If you need to drain oil after filling, one or both of these products may be helpful:
That being said, oil level is not that critical, just don't be grossly under or over filled. As other posters have mentioned, you need to overfill to the point that the crank is coming into contact with the oil and aerating it before you run into serious issues; this would likely take at least a few quarts on an engine the size of ours, but don't blame me if you test that theory and I wind up being wrong!
P.s. Some vehicles, e.g. Subarus, actually have a hot-full mark, in the form of a notch, on the dipstick to take into account thermal expansion. As you can see in the below image, there is not much difference between full-cold and full-hot (actually looks like more of a difference in the manual picture than on my actual dipstick). If you're near the full-cold mark, even when hot, you will be about halfway between the full-cold and quart low marks when cold, which, in my opinion, is just fine.
If you need to drain oil after filling, one or both of these products may be helpful:
That being said, oil level is not that critical, just don't be grossly under or over filled. As other posters have mentioned, you need to overfill to the point that the crank is coming into contact with the oil and aerating it before you run into serious issues; this would likely take at least a few quarts on an engine the size of ours, but don't blame me if you test that theory and I wind up being wrong!
P.s. Some vehicles, e.g. Subarus, actually have a hot-full mark, in the form of a notch, on the dipstick to take into account thermal expansion. As you can see in the below image, there is not much difference between full-cold and full-hot (actually looks like more of a difference in the manual picture than on my actual dipstick). If you're near the full-cold mark, even when hot, you will be about halfway between the full-cold and quart low marks when cold, which, in my opinion, is just fine.
Last edited by currancchs; 09-26-19 at 06:18 AM. Reason: Added example hot/cold oil dipstick marks
#24
I have one of those air pressure activated suction container (mine is a cheaper Harbor Freight one), sure works! I use it to suck transmission oil (don't ask me how I overfilled it). I also use to to suck power steering fluid (drain and fill) - used to use a Turkey Baster to such out old fluid...
#25
Instructor
I have one of those air pressure activated suction container (mine is a cheaper Harbor Freight one), sure works! I use it to suck transmission oil (don't ask me how I overfilled it). I also use to to suck power steering fluid (drain and fill) - used to use a Turkey Baster to such out old fluid...
#26
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (2)
Contrary to what was said several times, over filling AND pulling lots of high RPMs is seldom the cause of failures. Fact is oil under pressure can be pumped into the oil passages, heads, chains, cylinders far quicker than gravity returns it. Thus Sustained high rpm, especially doing donuts and crap like that pins the oil to replaces without drains and the engine starves of oil even if overful. So there is that.
#27
Driver
Thread Starter
Well, I wanted to get the oil changed by myself this time around but because of time crunch and parts dept. being closed, I decided to take it in to another dealer for the oil change.
This time when I check the oil level, it's just a hair above the upper mark, which is better.
Thanks all for the replies.
This time when I check the oil level, it's just a hair above the upper mark, which is better.
Thanks all for the replies.
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