Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:03:31 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: In Missoula, overfilled oil
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reply-type=original
good thinkin' ..
re
It would be pretty easy (with a cool engine!!) to just loosen off the oil
filter a little bit and let it run down the sides of the filter for one
second, then tighten it right back up again and check the level.
except that probably wouldn't be quite enough oil out. .
or as you say, repeat.,
I was thinking more like remvoe OF, empty it, put it back on.
that's worth maybe 1/3 of a qt.
also ..
another moral of the story is don't have work done just before a trip.
try to have at least a week of local use after anyone works on it ..
'just in case' ..
in case something like this happens.
if there is any thinking like 'it must be ok it was just worked on' ..
that's backwards ..
any time anything is touched, you really don't know for sure it was
successful until some time goes by.
there are a million ways to screw up the simplest things.
heck..read about a guy who lost an entire rebuilt diesel vanagon engine just
by taking it to a jiffy lube while on a trip ..
they lost the drain plug,
and DV's don't use ordinary drain plugs ( and ...they're so not-hip to
DV's...they didn't even realize you don't even remove a DV oil pan drain
plug to drain the oil...you just loosen it ) ..
so they put in a wrong drain plug ..
miles down the road ..
you know the rest of the story. Cost the guy a whole engine.
here's one to watch out for ..
the ole 'double oil filter gasket' thing.
whenever you remove an oil fitler..
look right at it to make sure the rubber gasket is on it.
then look at the engine to make sure there is no rubber gasket there.
then install new oil fitler.
if the rubber gasket come loose from the oil fitler and stays on the engine
..
then a new OF with rubber gasket is installed..
with two rubber gaskets it seals well enough to get out of the shop and down
the road ..
before loosing the oil.
this has happened even to Dealerships .
talk about bad work..
I checked out a expenisve Eurovan ( like $ 21,500 or so ) for a customer.
the seller and I decide to look under the hood, and to see if there's an
auto trans dipstick ( there isn't ) .and we decide to check the oil.
and it had just been serviced at our local VW dealer ..
the dealer techs put the engine cover back on the engine so you couldn't
access the dipstick...
taking your car to get it serviced is a very risky thing to do with it.
Suppossed to be the other way around ....but it's not unfortuntely.
I know a sweet guy .....nice eager tech ..
my nickname for him is Crossthread, and I wouldn't let him change oil on my
car..
and he is an officially ASE certified car tech.
the point being the certification doesn't really mean a thing when it comes
to basic competence and responsibility.
oh well, humans make mistakes . Sadly.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jake de Villiers" <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: In Missoula, overfilled oil
> If its too high you need to get the level down pronto Mike.
>
> If the morons put a full 5 quarts in there the crank will be frothing the
> oil to a non-pumpable foam...
>
> Where is it on the dipstick?
>
> It would be pretty easy (with a cool engine!!) to just loosen off the oil
> filter a little bit and let it run down the sides of the filter for one
> second, then tighten it right back up again and check the level.
>
> Repeat as necessary until its down to the full mark...
>
> Good luck, Jake
>
> On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 10:47 AM, Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" <
> camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> My trust in Steve's Place in Bend, Ore., just went down a whole bunch.
>> Last night, when I was unhooking the Westralia from the van, I noticed
>> the safety chain was oily. The dipstick revealed that the chimps had
>> overfilled the oil when they changed it last week.
>>
>> I've heard here that overfilling is a Bad Thing (1.9l).
>>
>> I'm tempted to just leave it as is so when I return I can take it back
>> to them and demonstrate the problem, get them to take some out, and
>> clean the mess up.
>>
>> Should I? Could I?
>>
>> The van has done a great job pulling me up and down some amazing grades,
>> with no hot temps and no oil warning light.
>>
>> If the most sensible thing is to get the excess out, my options are:
>>
>> 1. Buy the requisite tools and clamber under the van to do it. Recalling
>> that I don't enjoy getting under the thing and don't have the tools, I'd
>> need: (A) a pep talk, (B) a list of required tools and supplies, and (C)
>> a brief description of procedure. This is a 1.9l engine.
>>
>> I used to change the oil in my 71 bus every 3,000 miles, and there were
>> crushable washers, a gasket, and two sizes of wrenches needed. And I
>> don't know how I would have just dumped a small amount of oil unless I
>> just let the downpour soak my hand when I reached back up to plug the
>> leak. Hints?
>>
>> or,
>>
>> 2. Find a good shop here in Missoula. Anyone have a strong
>> recommendation for some non-chimps in Missoula?
>>
>> The cabin doesn't have Internet, I'll check the list every so often the
>> next few days when I get into town.
>>
>> Thanks, all.
>>
>> Oh -- the lesson here is if you want something done right, you gotta do
>> it yourself. Unless you're as unskilled as I am, in which case it's a
>> coin-toss.
>>
>> --
>> Rocky J Squirrel
>> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>> 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
>> Bend, OR
>> KG6RCR
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
>
> 1984 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX 'The Grey Van'
> 1986 Westy Weekender/2.5 SOHC Suby 'Dixie'
>
> Crescent Beach, BC
>
> www.thebassspa.com
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
