UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

today my engine craped oil all over itself, and i mean all over. id just taken the car for a run and thought i might aswell check the oil as i hadnt for a few months! i opened up the cap on the rocker and had a loads of smoke comin out of it! so i thought sh*t, i need some oil. so i proceeded to fill her up. i was filling for ages as i couldn't see any oil filling it up.
so, i took her round the block for a spin to see how it ran. i pulled back onto the drive and went to take a look at the cap to see if there was any smoke this time. there wasn't..........but my engine and the underside of the bonnet were absolutely plastered in oil from what i think is the oil breather pipe (?) which was lose at the time due to a longer replacment being needed.

so, ive pretty much guess i over filled it, but how bad is the damage? HELP

mk3dave wrote:today my engine craped oil all over itself, and i mean all over. id just taken the car for a run and thought i might aswell check the oil as i hadnt for a few months! i opened up the cap on the rocker and had a loads of smoke comin out of it! so i thought sh*t, i need some oil. so i proceeded to fill her up. i was filling for ages as i couldn't see any oil filling it up.
so, i took her round the block for a spin to see how it ran. i pulled back onto the drive and went to take a look at the cap to see if there was any smoke this time. there wasn't..........but my engine and the underside of the bonnet were absolutely plastered in oil from what i think is the oil breather pipe (?) which was lose at the time due to a longer replacment being needed.

so, ive pretty much guess i over filled it, but how bad is the damage? HELP

Is this a wind up?

no y?

mk3dave wrote:no y?

OK - I'll do me best - just gonna do it in the next post so I can cut and paste in quotes

mk3dave wrote:today my engine craped oil all over itself, and i mean all over.

Well as long as there is still plenty in it you might be OK

mk3dave wrote:id just taken the car for a run and thought i might aswell check the oil as i hadnt for a few months! i opened up the cap on the rocker and had a loads of smoke comin out of it!

Smoke or vapor - older engines tend to breath heavy - so you will notice a bit of "fumes" coming out of the rocker cover filer cap if you run the engine with it off.

mk3dave wrote:so i thought sh*t, i need some oil. so i proceeded to fill her up. i was filling for ages as i couldn't see any oil filling it up.

How many litres did you put in 1, 2, 3 , 4 or more!!!!

More is not good when the engine already has enough inside it

They put a handy little device on most engines called a dip stick little handle at the end of a long tube that has a long strip of steel attached to it with two marks at the lower end.

Nearest the handle is Full level mark

Nearest the end of the stick is Low level mark

Did you check that first?

mk3dave wrote:so, i took her round the block for a spin to see how it ran. i pulled back onto the drive and went to take a look at the cap to see if there was any smoke this time. there wasn't..........but my engine and the underside of the bonnet were absolutely plastered in oil from what i think is the oil breather pipe (?) which was lose at the time due to a longer replacment being needed.

Well that loose pipe probably saved the engine from terminal damage as it was able to vent the excess pressure built up in the crankcase and spew the oil out rather than end up hydraulicing the engine.....

Shouldn't really run and engine without a breather pipe or some sort of filtration on it and the other end blanked off - engines don't like it

mk3dave wrote:so, ive pretty much guess i over filled it, but how bad is the damage? HELP

Check the level - I reckon you'll get away with it provided you haven't put 5 litres in when you topped it up...

If it's high - I'd suggest you drain some more oil out - if you need advice on this then please ask

thanx mate.
i did check the dip stick and it seemed a bit low but i must have put about 1.5-2 litres in and i coulnt see any oil fillin up. i spose when i noticed how much id put in 'd been a bit of a pleb.

so now, do i just drain out all the oil and repcalce the pipe n fill it up again n everything will be dandy or not?

mk3dave wrote:thanx mate.
i did check the dip stick and it seemed a bit low but i must have put about 1.5-2 litres in and i coulnt see any oil fillin up. i spose when i noticed how much id put in 'd been a bit of a pleb.

so now, do i just drain out all the oil and repcalce the pipe n fill it up again n everything will be dandy or not?

have you checked the dipstick since?

no i didnt have chance to as i had to run to work, and now its too dark!

mk3dave wrote:thanx mate.
i did check the dip stick and it seemed a bit low but i must have put about 1.5-2 litres in and i coulnt see any oil fillin up.

You won't - if you could see engine oil in the rocker cover then the pistons when they tried to move up and down would have to displace it - it's very hard to compress a liquid and it would either break the engine or blow every oil seal it could in order to relieve the pressure

1.5 - 2.0 litres is a fair bit if the level was a bit low but looks like no lasting damage will be done

mk3dave wrote:i spose when i noticed how much id put in 'd been a bit of a pleb.

Check the level frequently when adding oil and allow time for the oil to get from the top where th filler cap is to the bottom where it sits

mk3dave wrote:so now, do i just drain out all the oil and repcalce the pipe n fill it up again n everything will be dandy or not?

Depends on the level now if it's around (ie bloody close) the top mark on the dipstick then leave it

If it too low - well se above

If it's still way above the limit then taking some out would be a wise move

thanx alot bstardchild!

whenever my cars wrecked (which is a lot) i can always count on someone on here to help me out. thanx again mate.

dave.

If we're going back to basics here - always check the oil level on flat ground either before starting the engine, or five minutes after the engine has been brought to rest.

bstardchild wrote:if you could see engine oil in the rocker cover then the pistons when they tried to move up and down would have to displace it - it's very hard to compress a liquid and it would either break the engine or blow every oil seal it could in order to relieve the pressure

I don't quite understand this comment. Surely the rocker cover is where you put the oil in?? Oil in the cylinders would be a different matter!!

Don't check the engine oil straight after its been running, because the oil hasnt settled in the sump. Give it a good few minutes before checking on the dipstick. Add small amounts at a time if it's low, for example if it's on min add 1/4 litre and check it once it's settled.

Steve_O wrote:

bstardchild wrote:if you could see engine oil in the rocker cover then the pistons when they tried to move up and down would have to displace it - it's very hard to compress a liquid and it would either break the engine or blow every oil seal it could in order to relieve the pressure

I don't quite understand this comment. Surely the rocker cover is where you put the oil in?? Oil in the cylinders would be a different matter!!

Yep you put the oil in via the rocker cover and it doesn't fill up the cylinders....

But you don't need oil in the cylinders to hydraulic an engine you can hydraulic it by filling an engine to the brim - the pistons have to move up and down and to allow easy travel the void underneath them is air - fill the void with oil and they have to displace it - compressing a liquid rather than a gas

What can also happen is the displacement can force oil out of the rocker cover breather and into the inlet manifold where it is then introduced to the cylinders and that can then cause hydraulicing Bending the rods as easy as shim steel

Have I explained it badly again?

Steve_O wrote:If we're going back to basics here - always check the oil level on flat ground either before starting the engine, or five minutes after the engine has been brought to rest.

Good tip

bstardchild wrote:

Steve_O wrote:

bstardchild wrote:if you could see engine oil in the rocker cover then the pistons when they tried to move up and down would have to displace it - it's very hard to compress a liquid and it would either break the engine or blow every oil seal it could in order to relieve the pressure

I don't quite understand this comment. Surely the rocker cover is where you put the oil in?? Oil in the cylinders would be a different matter!!

Yep you put the oil in via the rocker cover and it doesn't fill up the cylinders....

But you don't need oil in the cylinders to hydraulic an engine you can hydraulic it by filling an engine to the brim - the pistons have to move up and down and to allow easy travel the void underneath them is air - fill the void with oil and they have to displace it - compressing a liquid rather than a gas

What can also happen is the displacement can force oil out of the rocker cover breather and into the inlet manifold where it is then introduced to the cylinders and that can then cause hydraulicing Bending the rods as easy as shim steel

Have I explained it badly again?

Ok, I get what you mean now.

There should be traces of oil looking into the rocker cover - but not bloody great pools of the stuff!!

I knew you knew what you were on about - I just wasn't quite following!!