Oil overfill question

Hi all. I have a 2003 TDI wagon, manual, with a few mods. I can’t remember exactly the mods I have reached out to the PO for the mods list but not sure. If he has time to get back to me I’ll post what he send here. Pretty sure I have larger turbo, bigger injectors.

I am a bit worried. I had an old Groupon and had a shop change my oil about 5k mi ago. Didn’t think to change it, as they had oil in 505.00 spec and seemed to know what the car needed. Like an idiot I didn’t check the level when I left, or for the last month and a half since the change.

Recently my car has started to lose pep over about 2k rpm. Searches made it sound like it is either in limp or the MAF is failing. Decided to do an oil change today and noticed that the dipstick was reading at least an inch over the bend.

So, i feel like an idiot and it won’t happen again. My question is, what should I look for in terms of damage that might be done or continuing to happen? There isn’t much tailpipe smoke and none of it is blue. In fact there is a good deal less smoke than there was before the power started waning.

Thoughts?
Thank you.

Was the overfill the one the shop did or the one you did?

The shop did it. It’s now back in range.

It's possible that no damage was done and the reduced power is due to something else.
Do you have access to VCDS?

Yeah, you have to be quite overfull until it becomes an issue... but hey, you saved money using groupon so...

I don’t have a VCDS, no. PO suggested I take the car to a forum-trusted mechanic and have them look. Possibly the oil was frothed bc the overfill and the turbo is fried? If that was the case would that show up on VCDS?

machinebaby said:

I don’t have a VCDS, no. PO suggested I take the car to a forum-trusted mechanic and have them look. Possibly the oil was frothed bc the overfill and the turbo is fried? If that was the case would that show up on VCDS?

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Is the turbo making any noises it didn't before? Leaking?
Pull off the turbo inlet hose and check it for excessive travel or rough rotation.

machinebaby said:

Hi all. I have a 2003 TDI wagon, manual, with a few mods. I can’t remember exactly the mods I have reached out to the PO for the mods list but not sure. If he has time to get back to me I’ll post what he send here. Pretty sure I have larger turbo, bigger injectors.

I am a bit worried. I had an old Groupon and had a shop change my oil about 5k mi ago. Didn’t think to change it, as they had oil in 505.00 spec and seemed to know what the car needed. Like an idiot I didn’t check the level when I left, or for the last month and a half since the change.

Recently my car has started to lose pep over about 2k rpm. Searches made it sound like it is either in limp or the MAF is failing. Decided to do an oil change today and noticed that the dipstick was reading at least an inch over the bend.

So, i feel like an idiot and it won’t happen again. My question is, what should I look for in terms of damage that might be done or continuing to happen? There isn’t much tailpipe smoke and none of it is blue. In fact there is a good deal less smoke than there was before the power started waning.

Thoughts?
Thank you.

Click to expand...

Damage from overfilling, if it's high enough level, can be from the crank spinning through it and whipping up the oil so that it isn't as solid as it should be. This could cause air to enter at the oil pump and cause lubrication issues, especially at higher RPMs.

aside from frothy oil causing wear, and higher than normal CCV causing excess oil to enter the turbo workings into the intake, eh, id just fix the oil level, do a leak down test on all the cylinders and compression test hot and cold. Maybe pull the oil pan and take apart the oil filter to look for metal.
filter the oil with a coffee filter after mixing it with gasoline to thin.
other than that, id just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Not much else you can do other than tearing down the engine and measuring things! NO THANKS lol

Thanks all!!!
Dropped the car at EF1 Motorsports on Thursday. They have been going through it, though so far I’m not sure what that means, and so far haven’t found anything yet. I’ll keep you posted when I know more. Fingers crossed I didn’t really mess anything up.

flee said:

Is the turbo making any noises it didn't before? Leaking?
Pull off the turbo inlet hose and check it for excessive travel or rough rotation.

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I didn’t do this but I’ll make sure that EF1 does. I got their name from the ‘trusted mechanics by state’ list.

Mongler98 said:

aside from frothy oil causing wear, and higher than normal CCV causing excess oil to enter the turbo workings into the intake, eh, id just fix the oil level, do a leak down test on all the cylinders and compression test hot and cold. Maybe pull the oil pan and take apart the oil filter to look for metal.
filter the oil with a coffee filter after mixing it with gasoline to thin.
other than that, id just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Not much else you can do other than tearing down the engine and measuring things! NO THANKS lol

Click to expand...

Changed the filter and tossed it in the dumpster. I could dive in for it, this pulling it apart and looking for metal is important? I can get on that tomorrow AM.

jokila said:

Damage from overfilling, if it's high enough level, can be from the crank spinning through it and whipping up the oil so that it isn't as solid as it should be. This could cause air to enter at the oil pump and cause lubrication issues, especially at higher RPMs.

Click to expand...

Thanks, this def sounds like my nightmare scenario here.

YES, its the easiest way to find out if wear was done.
Use a pair of metal snips (sheet metal shears) and snip the top ring off and do this over a clean container, (DO NOT USE A HACK SAW, this will put metal flakes in the filter that will give you a false diagnosis, so no grinder or saws.)
drain it all into the container and thin with some gasoline or mineral spirits to see whats at the bottom of the container, hopefully no glitter!
Pull the filter pleats apart and look for the same. again, soaking the filter in gasoline or mineral spirits makes it REALLY easy to see the metal, especially in a diesel black oil.
you dont want to find ANYTHING.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTdOamzjcaE

My opinion, overfilling by a quart to a quart and half isn't going to be an issue.

Notice the frothing device in these pics (oil pump cog & chain). They are always immersed in the oil.

Also, oil is constantly being "slung" out from the sides of the rods on the crankshaft and main bearings, as well as the spray from the piston oilers/coolers.




In the pic below, the engine is hanging on a 50 degree angle. OE position in the MK4 is 22 degrees. Anyway, you can see the outline of the oil pump sprocket and it's relationship to the bottom of the oil pan to the right.



Below, that's the dip stick fully engaged. The black plastic thingy in the background "collects" a good majority of the oil being slung out by the bearings and drain-back from the head...., it diverts the oil at or near the oil pump pick-up tube.



Below, the engine is hanging on a 50 degree angle, that is why the oil pick-up tube looks to be tilted.



Below, you can see how the diversion plastic thingy sits in the oil pan and its relationship to where it would be up against the engine block.





Lastly, with the modified oil pan on the ALH in my Vanagon, I run almost 6 quarts........ been doing it for over 82k miles.

How full was it? I overfill to the top of the bend on the dipstick. It’s al little over 5 qts. Never any issue.

It’s common for lube techs to overfill if they remove the filter cartridge after re-installing the drain plug.

Get an oil extractor and change it yourself. It takes like 10 minutes...

Never mind, I reread it and see you said an inch over the bend. That’s gotta be over 6 qts. Yikes! Good luck with it. Hopefully everythings OK.

Thank you so much for these photos and all the replies.