overfilled oil..... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

IVIuzzy · #1 09-08-2011, 07:21 PM

recently, i was trying to sell my 73 220d. a prospective buyer took the car to a mechanic friend of his, and he said the oil was low, so he had to add 4 quarts(seems very low to me).i know the oil wasnt low i work at a local shop and it was dead on perfect so i told them bring the car back to me.
on their way back(after this guy had filled it) i got a phone call that the car was smoking tremendously and they shut it off, and it didnt shut off.

i drove up the mile, the car was still running at full rpm and i couldnt shut it off, so i pulled off the fuel line and choked the engine.(needless to mention the amounts of smoke) i got the engine off. im not sure if the lack of air or the lack of fuel caused the shut off. upon checking the oil, it was about 4-5 inches above the full line!!

i sent a tow truck to go pick it up. but i am worried to find out what happened. any ideas on what to do?

im going to drain the crankcase obvioulsly and fill to correct level,
try to spin the crank by hand, and hope it starts?

jt20 · #2 09-08-2011, 07:29 PM

See if the vacuum pump exhaust line has oil in it.

What a mess. Good luck, it should be fine if it didn't over-rev too long and glaze the cylinder walls with burnt oil.

LandYaghtLover · #3 09-08-2011, 07:32 PM

Looks like those folks should be giving you some cash and buy that car. One takes it to someone, usually a shop, for an INSPECTION. NOT to have work done. Adding oil WAS work performed. The shop or prospectives are clearly at fault.

IVIuzzy · #4 09-08-2011, 07:36 PM

thanks for the replies so far. i dont care whose at fault as long as my car can get fixed right now. i need to know how hard to beat someone.

bd1308 · #5 09-09-2011, 01:45 AM

Hmm....seemed to me that the oil dipstick was pretty hard to mis-read. Its like 1/2 inch wide and has clear indentions on it where the low and high levels are.

Stretch · #6 09-09-2011, 02:30 AM

Even though you have prior knowledge of the car - in this case I'd try and erase all of this and start from scratch - pretend that you are seeing the car for the first time and that it has been stored in a barn for 20 years...

...what I'm saying is approach the problem with fresh critical eyes rather than thinking "I know that bit is alright"...

layback40 · #7 09-09-2011, 08:58 AM

There is one born every minute !! Their mech needs his butt kicked.
Probably you should have gone with them.

pimpernell · #8 09-09-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IVIuzzy

recently, i was trying to sell my 73 220d. a prospective buyer took the car to a mechanic friend of his, and he said the oil was low, so he had to add 4 quarts(seems very low to me).i know the oil wasn't low i work at a local shop and it was dead on perfect so i told them bring the car back to me.
on their way back(after this guy had filled it) i got a phone call that the car was smoking tremendously and they shut it off, and it didn't shut off.

i drove up the mile, the car was still running at full rpm and i couldn't shut it off, so i pulled off the fuel line and choked the engine.(needless to mention the amounts of smoke) i got the engine off. I'm not sure if the lack of air or the lack of fuel caused the shut off. upon checking the oil, it was about 4-5 inches above the full line!!

i sent a tow truck to go pick it up. but i am worried to find out what happened. any ideas on what to do?"

Just a guess, but I think with that much oil added above the full mark, that the engine was actually burning engine oil that was being pushed past the piston rings into the combustion chamber and by cutting off the air supply, you were able to stop the engine. As far as any damage, that is left to be seen. I would agree with one of the other posters regarding who is responsible. When you go to have a car checked out, it is exactly that. The mechanic looks it over and evaluates what needs to be done and gives his opinion. He does not have permission to make any repairs or alterations to the vehicle without the written consent of the owner. If he was concerned about the oil level, he should have contacted you, so that you could have made the decision as to whether or not oil should have been added. Good luck!!

ngarover · #9 09-09-2011, 10:36 AM

[QUOTE=pimpernell;2787698]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IVIuzzy

recently, i was trying to sell my 73 220d. a prospective buyer took the car to a mechanic friend of his, and he said the oil was low, so he had to add 4 quarts(seems very low to me).i know the oil wasnt low i work at a local shop and it was dead on perfect so i told them bring the car back to me.
on their way back(after this guy had filled it) i got a phone call that the car was smoking tremendously and they shut it off, and it didnt shut off.

i drove up the mile, the car was still running at full rpm and i couldnt shut it off, so i pulled off the fuel line and choked the engine.(needless to mention the amounts of smoke) i got the engine off. im not sure if the lack of air or the lack of fuel caused the shut off. upon checking the oil, it was about 4-5 inches above the full line!!

i sent a tow truck to go pick it up. but i am worried to find out what happened. any ideas on what to do?"

Just a guess, but I think with that much oil added above the full mark, that the engine was actually burning engine oil that was being pushed past the piston rings into the combustion chamber and by cutting off the air supply, you were able to stop the engine. As far as any damage, that is left to be seen. I would agree with one of the other posters regarding who is responsible. When you go to have a car checked out, it is exactly that. The mechanic looks it over and evaluates what needs to be done and gives his opinion. He does not have permission to make any repairs or alterations to the vehicle without the written consent of the owner. If he was concerned about the oil level, he should have contacted you, so that you could have made the decision as to whether or not oil should have been added. Good luck!!

X2.

Absolutely NO work, including adding of any fluids, should have been done by perspective buyer or the "shop" he took it to. He owns the car now, make sure you get paid for it. Pretty much a slam dunk in any small claims court.

tangofox007 · #10 09-09-2011, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pimpernell

He does not have permission to make any repairs or alterations to the vehicle without the written consent of the owner.

Do you suppose that the typical shop has a legal department that does a title examination for every car that comes in the door? For all we know, the person(s) in legal possession of the car may have given the shop all the "permission" that was necessary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ngarover

Absolutely NO work, including adding of any fluids, should have been done by perspective buyer or the "shop" he took it to.

Without knowing what the prospective buyer arranged, it's impossible to say what the shop should or should not have done.

IVIuzzy · #11 09-09-2011, 11:36 AM

Today, i put it on the lift first thing. I drained the oil, changed filter, refilled with proper oil. checked vaccum exaust, air filter, antifreeze and it was all good. so i started it, it smoked a little then went away for good after about 5 minutes.

i called the prospective and told them i fixed it. they then said they had a bill for 4 quarts of oil for me from the other shop. obviously i wont pay that. but after looking at the bill, they put 5-30 in it as well.

im assuming my engine was burning the oil, and couldnt shut off because the level was so high, and the oil kept burning. its all good now, and i have to decide weather or not to sell my 220d(w115) or 240d(w123).

kerry · #12 09-09-2011, 12:23 PM

Unbelievable. I would not be letting them off the hook that easily. With that much extra oil, the crankshaft was probably spinning in it, turning that oil to foam. Foamy oil is not a good lubricant. To make a quick judgment that all is good now simply by draining the excess oil out is premature. I'd be expecting the person who took it to the shop to be purchasing the vehicle for the full asking price given what happened.

boneheaddoctor · #13 09-09-2011, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Unbelievable. I would not be letting them off the hook that easily. With that much extra oil, the crankshaft was probably spinning in it, turning that oil to foam. Foamy oil is not a good lubricant. To make a quick judgment that all is good now simply by draining the excess oil out is premature. I'd be expecting the person who took it to the shop to be purchasing the vehicle for the full asking price given what happened.

X2

Marvelicious · #14 09-09-2011, 12:38 PM

I think this is a case of "you break it you buy it!" Then again, do you even want them to have the car now?

benhogan · #15 09-09-2011, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Unbelievable. I would not be letting them off the hook that easily. With that much extra oil, the crankshaft was probably spinning in it, turning that oil to foam. Foamy oil is not a good lubricant. To make a quick judgment that all is good now simply by draining the excess oil out is premature. I'd be expecting the person who took it to the shop to be purchasing the vehicle for the full asking price given what happened.

X3 unbelievable.

I have a similar story similar to this but it relates to mowers.

Back in March, I sold a woman a very nice self propelled Snapper. The asking price was $150. She said she did not have a car to carry the mower. She also said she was poor.

OK so after hearing the bleeding heart story I agree to deliver it and charge her HALF price. Last week (six months after she bought it) she called and said the mower was smoking and/or was hard to start.

Hmmmm...I go there to investigate. While I was there she was incessantly complaining that the Snapper handle was too big for her small hands, it was slow, it did not mulch (it was a side discharge). I tried to hide my anger. I decide to bring it home to investigate further.

I found out that she overfilled it with oil. It normally takes 20 oz. but I drained something like 50 oz. out. The air filter was soaked with oil (the excess oil was going through the pcv tube and soaking the paper filter).

So I fix it and decided to refund her money the next day. I went ahead and listed the mower on craigslist for $120 (lower price because the season is over).

So she SEES the mower on Craigslist. She then emails me inquiring why I am selling HER mower. I send her an email saying that although this is just a hobby for me, in the end, this is still a business and it cheaper for me to refund her money than to keep trying to please her.

I mailed her a certified check via certified mail the next day. Good luck finding another Snapper for $75! Beeeyaatch!