Excessive motor oil

Hi,

I live in the US and drive a Honda Civic 2005. I have been going to the
local auto shop that specializes in Japanese cars for car maintainence.
These folks do a good job for the most part except for oil change. The
Civic manual says that it will take 3.4 quarts of oil but these
mechanics use the last quart completely. The dip stick shows the oil is
filled far above the upper level mark. Will this cause any damage to
the car?

Any information or pointers appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

NJ

"Neil Jones" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I live in the US and drive a Honda Civic 2005. I have been going to the
> local auto shop that specializes in Japanese cars for car maintainence.
> These folks do a good job for the most part except for oil change. The
> Civic manual says that it will take 3.4 quarts of oil but these
> mechanics use the last quart completely. The dip stick shows the oil is
> filled far above the upper level mark. Will this cause any damage to
> the car?

YES - go to your HONDA dealer!

"Neil Jones" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I live in the US and drive a Honda Civic 2005. I have been going to the
> local auto shop that specializes in Japanese cars for car maintainence.
> These folks do a good job for the most part except for oil change. The
> Civic manual says that it will take 3.4 quarts of oil but these
> mechanics use the last quart completely. The dip stick shows the oil is
> filled far above the upper level mark. Will this cause any damage to
> the car?
>
> Any information or pointers appreciated.
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> NJ

Too much oil can certainly be harmful. Talk to the boss at the shop.
He needs to mend his ways or counsel his employees.

"krp" > wrote in message
...

> YES - go to your HONDA dealer!

There is no need to go to a Honda dealership to get an oil change. You can
if you want,
but going to a dealership doesnt guarantee you quality.

"HLS" > wrote in message
...
>
> "krp" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> YES - go to your HONDA dealer!
>
> There is no need to go to a Honda dealership to get an oil change. You
> can if you want,
> but going to a dealership doesnt guarantee you quality.


Perhaps not, but it seems that where he has been going has NO IDEA how
much oil the vehicle needs. Better safe than sorry.

"krp" > wrote in message
...
>
> "HLS" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "krp" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> YES - go to your HONDA dealer!
>>
>> There is no need to go to a Honda dealership to get an oil change. You
>> can if you want,
>> but going to a dealership doesnt guarantee you quality.
>
>
> Perhaps not, but it seems that where he has been going has NO IDEA how
> much oil the vehicle needs. Better safe than sorry.
>

We agree that this needs to be looked into. He should bring his concerns to
the shop
owner, not just stomp off angry. That independent shop owner should be very
keen on
getting things straight and keeping them straight.

The same sort of cockup could have happened at a dealership. It is really
hard to find
a good mechanic these days and hard to keep them. Too many dopeheads, too
many
that dont know what they are doing, and too many that really dont care.

"HLS" > wrote in message
...
>>>
>>>> YES - go to your HONDA dealer!
>>>
>>> There is no need to go to a Honda dealership to get an oil change. You
>>> can if you want, but going to a dealership doesnt guarantee you
>>> quality.
>>
>>
>> Perhaps not, but it seems that where he has been going has NO IDEA how
>> much oil the vehicle needs. Better safe than sorry.
>>
>
> We agree that this needs to be looked into. He should bring his concerns
> to the shop
> owner, not just stomp off angry. That independent shop owner should be
> very keen on getting things straight and keeping them straight.

> The same sort of cockup could have happened at a dealership. It is really
> hard to find a good mechanic these days and hard to keep them. Too many
> dopeheads, too many that dont know what they are doing, and too many that
> really dont care.


BULL****! Oil change places are institutional RIP OFF parlors.
Jiffy-Lube was one of the WORST at selling people **** they didn't need. I
had my fill of them when I took a BRAND NEW GMC Jimmy in for an oil and
filter change. They came back to me with a LONG laundry list of what it
needed. Over $1,000 worth. Trans filter, trans fluid change, differential
change, brake fluid flush, air filter. and it went on. The car only had 750
miles on it. They were SURE the transmission was "SHOT!" Frankly stuffing
in an extra quart of oil is small potatoes for these rip-off factories.
Maybe it was an innocent mistake. Frankly if the jackass doesn't KNOW how
much oil a car takes - I wouldn't let him with 500 feet of MY car. Dealers
OVERCHARGE for everything. But usually they fix it right. There are always
exceptions. I had to get an adjustment on the valves on a new Pontiac Grand
Prix (72) and they left a wrench inside. When they went to start it, so much
for the engine. Pontiac sent a new crate motor for it.
I wanted a new car, but since I had already put 20,000 miles on it, Pontiac
said "THAT'S A NO!" Car was fine after that. The dealers are expensive but
generally honest.

Most COMPANY owned tire stores are good too. Many mom and pop repair
salons are great if you establish a relationship with them. But the oil
change chains? As they say in new York ...
Ferrrrrrrrrrgettttttttttttttt bout it!

"krp" > wrote in message
...
>
> "HLS" > wrote in message
> ...
>>>>
>>>>> YES - go to your HONDA dealer!
>>>>
>>>> There is no need to go to a Honda dealership to get an oil change. You
>>>> can if you want, but going to a dealership doesnt guarantee you
>>>> quality.
>>>
>>>
>>> Perhaps not, but it seems that where he has been going has NO IDEA
>>> how much oil the vehicle needs. Better safe than sorry.
>>>
>>
>> We agree that this needs to be looked into. He should bring his concerns
>> to the shop
>> owner, not just stomp off angry. That independent shop owner should be
>> very keen on getting things straight and keeping them straight.
>
>> The same sort of cockup could have happened at a dealership. It is
>> really hard to find a good mechanic these days and hard to keep them.
>> Too many dopeheads, too many that dont know what they are doing, and too
>> many that really dont care.
>
>
> BULL****! Oil change places are institutional RIP OFF parlors.
> Jiffy-Lube was one of the WORST at selling people **** they didn't need. I
> had my fill of them when I took a BRAND NEW GMC Jimmy in for an oil and
> filter change. They came back to me with a LONG laundry list of what it
> needed. Over $1,000 worth. Trans filter, trans fluid change, differential
> change, brake fluid flush, air filter. and it went on. The car only had
> 750 miles on it. They were SURE the transmission was "SHOT!" Frankly
> stuffing in an extra quart of oil is small potatoes for these rip-off
> factories. Maybe it was an innocent mistake. Frankly if the jackass
> doesn't KNOW how much oil a car takes - I wouldn't let him with 500 feet
> of MY car. Dealers OVERCHARGE for everything. But usually they fix it
> right. There are always exceptions. I had to get an adjustment on the
> valves on a new Pontiac Grand Prix (72) and they left a wrench inside.
> When they went to start it, so much for the engine. Pontiac sent a new
> crate motor for it.
> I wanted a new car, but since I had already put 20,000 miles on it,
> Pontiac said "THAT'S A NO!" Car was fine after that. The dealers are
> expensive but generally honest.
>
> Most COMPANY owned tire stores are good too. Many mom and pop repair
> salons are great if you establish a relationship with them. But the oil
> change chains? As they say in new York ...
> Ferrrrrrrrrrgettttttttttttttt bout it!

Nobody said anything about the Jiffy Lube franchises, krp.
Something must have touched a nerve for you to explode like this.

On Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:52:16 -0400, Neil Jones > wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I live in the US and drive a Honda Civic 2005. I have been going to the
>local auto shop that specializes in Japanese cars for car maintainence.
> These folks do a good job for the most part except for oil change. The
>Civic manual says that it will take 3.4 quarts of oil but these
>mechanics use the last quart completely. The dip stick shows the oil is
>filled far above the upper level mark. Will this cause any damage to
>the car?
>
>Any information or pointers appreciated.
>
>Thank you in advance.
>
>NJ

If all it's got is the extra 0.6 of a quart I don't think you have
anything at all to worry about. If the crankcase "size" is 6" x 12"
and it has that extra 0.6 quart it means it's about a half inch higher
then "normal". I've had v-8 cars filled with an extra 1.5 quarts that
didn't seem to have any problem with it.

"HLS" > wrote in message
...


> Nobody said anything about the Jiffy Lube franchises, krp.
> Something must have touched a nerve for you to explode like this.

No he didn't mention "Jiffy Lube" I did. He mentioned a "little shop
that specializes in Japanese cars." Over filling the oil may not be the
biggest sin in the world, but if they get even an OIL CHANGE WRONG - what
would they do with a brake job?