What actually happens when you overfill your motor oil? (w/ transparent oil pan)

The level of anxiety i go through when overfilling my engine just a little over the max level, thinking it's gonna explode any moment, this guy is a hero

For those who are looking for a problem and not seeing it, the problem is the foaming. As the oil level rises, the oil foams more violently, and this introduces air pockets to bearing surfaces inside the engine. On top of that, aerating the oil pump lowers functional oil pressure by introducing compressible air into otherwise non-compressible fluid, and makes it harder for the pump to maintain a prime while operating.

A clear oil pan and a cutaway in the block? Brilliant! I've never seen this in a functioning engine. Thank you. I was so concerned once when I added oil past the upper level limit on the dip stick that I siphoned the excess out. Now I realize that I need not have worried.

I was in Atlanta 25 years ago at the Lenox Mall and a lady parked next to us couldn't get her car started. I offered to have a look and raised the hood to check around. It sounded weird when cranking. I removed the oil fill cap and oil started to run out from the engine. The lady said her son had filled it to the top like he does with his push lawn mower. Can't imagine how many quarts (or gallons) the son put in the engine. I hadn't thought about this in a long time until now watching your video. Thanks for creating this visual example. Cheers!

Needed an oil pressure gauge to show pressure drop

Back in the 80’s when me and my mates started driving I dropped round my mates house, he had the bonnet of his Vauxhall Chevette open and was staring into the engine bay. By his feet were 3 5 litre Duckhams oil tins, he had already poured 10 litres of oil and was starting on the 3rd tin!!! Seems he was waiting until it reached ‘the top’ and then he’d know it was full!!! He wasn’t the brightest of my mates! I drained it out for him and introduced him to the dipstick!

I just witnessed execution of the most thorough engine flush ever performed!

Finally, something on YouTube that was worth wasting time over !! Thanks mate, excellent presentation 👍 now I know.

I laughed when he kept saying “more oil”, after what I thought was beyond the fill capacity. He’s a mad scientist. Love his videos 😊

decades of conversations with professional mechanics, smart backyard mechanics, and me, who regularly works on my cars and friends' cars, and i've never been given a straight or consistent answer. i've always enjoyed this channel, but that was fucking fantastic. cheers, from me in Alaska to you in Siberia!

This is the best mechanic channel on YouTube. To understand why things should be done in the correct way. Thanks and congrats.

These guys gave us the proper visual answer that we have in our minds. Next video suggestion, how little oil can an engine have before breaking

This man answering the hard questions in life 🍻

2 things happen. 1. power is reduced due to the crank hitting the oil and picking it up. This is the reason race engines use dry sump systems or windage trays and scrapers. 2. The foaming action of the oil is increased not allowing air to dissipate out of the oil causing cavitation around the oil pump pick up tube, thus reducing oil pressure because of air in the system which reduces the film of oil on the bearings and causing extern wear. Garage 54 is what hot-rodding in the US use to be! Great and fun channel.

A buddy of mine had a Trailblazer with a 5.3 V8 engine. Those engines are notorious for the O-ring going bad at the top of the pick-up tube. It happens to be at the front of the engine, so during acceleration or on an incline, oil pressure would drop, since oil moves backward in those situations. We put a scanner on there that told us the realtime oil pressure in psi, then we jacked the front of the car up until pressure started to drop. We added an additional quart of oil to get the pressure back to normal, then we jacked it up some more until it dropped again. We added a second extra quart, then jacked it up again, and this time it was high enough that we didn't think the car would ever get on an incline that steep. We added the third extra quart to get the pressure back to normal. After that, we simply added the 3 additional quarts at every oil change. That was a long term test of about 70k miles for a total of 230k on the vehicle when he finally sold it. As long as that O-ring was submerged, it couldn't draw any air and the pressure stayed normal. That was only 3 quarts over full, and it was a bigger engine so I never expected any adverse effects. We could have dropped the front axle, pulled the pan and replaced that O-ring, but to add 3 quarts and get the exact same result just made sense. Apologies to all the OCD mechanics out there scoffing at the "rigged" fix, lol.

I just feel this has to be said... so nice to see a russian letting go of the ego and deciding to appeal to a global (incl. western) audience especially with such a quality content and furthermore top of the class english dubbing. Keep it up! We need more of this. This is how the world should be.

Thanks guys. I just added an extra 5 quarts just to be safe.

This guy answers all the questions I've had for the last 25 years as an automotive machinist and engine/drivetrain rebuilder.

I read many years ago if you take the normal oil level and lower your oil level down by one quart. Your engine pick up an oil pressure and horsepower. I didn't do this because of the horsepower because it would be a very minimal gain. I did this test to raise oil pressure at 700 RPMs a low idle. It worked it raised the oil pressure when I dropped the oil level by one quart. And I noticed once before with the normal oil level. I went a little bit higher in oil level a quart and it lowered the oil pressure even more at an idle. And what I did for safety when I lowered my oil level by one quart. I installed a cheap low oil pressure Summit Racing low oil pressure shut off safety switch. I want to start it up after it's been sitting I have to hit the override button. The engine builds oil pressure then I hit the override button and the engine will fire up. Too bad this test didn't have an oil pressure gauge and it would have showed how low the oil pressure was the higher he raised the oil level. The higher the oil level is too with any engine the more bubbles it makes. All bubbles don't make solid oil pressure it drops oil pressure. And when I build an engine right before it's ready to fire up. I feel the engine full of oil all the way to the top of the valve cover. When you do this it totally oils everything and the engine will not turn over it's literally hydrolocked. It's the same process I do when I'm storing a complete engine and I also feel the cylinders up by spinning the engine over and filling the spark plug holes with oil too. I use a funnel and a clear vinyl hose. This is the only way to store an engine so you don't have any rust. Metal can't trust when it's fully submerged in oil. If it's an old engine and needs to be rebuilt or knocking use preferably use diesel oil. And if it's a nice engine of course use new oil. On the street or the strip yanking the car around. The low oil pressure switch has never shut off the engine. I also have a fail-proof water temperature switch also set at 190 degrees the engine will shut off and it did once. It saved me a lot of time and money my shutting off early and not blowing head gaskets are cracking heads from getting too hot. Having the safeties on any engine is worth its weight in gold. Sure I'm like most guys and the business I can fix anything but I don't want to it's too much time and money. I'd rather build something or fix something and it lasts forever. If we only have these sensors on all vehicles we would save so much time money and resources. I've tried to sell it to people over the years but they're just too tight. They don't think the biggest problem out there overheating will happen to them. They would rather save back then a few hundred dollars. Then back then a 1,000 - 1,500 to repair it. Not including a lot of time and money to fix. But today's cost is several thousands of dollars and a lot more time. And most people can't even have it fixed because they can't do without their car that long so they have to buy another car or catch rides. If they don't have a backup car. They don't put the safeties on everyday cars because they want you to buy more. They put the safeties on commercial vehicles.

My neighbor did this to her car. She was wondering why it was smoking.