Hi all it is the second year in a row that I have collected my car from the Fiat dealers and they have overfilled the oil. On the dipstick it is about 5mm above the max mark. Last year I took my car back and they drained some. This time I called and they said its not neccessary unless its way over the max mark. Any ideas if its safe to leave it as is? Thanx in advance.

no do not leave it above the max line, after leaving the oil to settle for 15 minutes after driving on a level surface it should be somewhere close to the middle. Too much oil and it will increase the oil pressure and can break through good seals and start a leak, it will also increase the amount of moving parts that enter the oil in the sump, reducing power, and increasing the amount of air in the oil, creating foam and vaporising the oil, the increased air in the oil speeds up oxidisation and reduces the effective life of the oil, also the vapor will be blown into the intake manifold and burned with the fuel, this in turn damages the catalytic converter, the foam gets circulated as the normal oil would, but because of the high air content, it doesn't lubricate as well and in turn leads to increased engine damage.
if your garage can't do an oil change properly, i wouldn't go there for anything else either.

Hi
Don't know if this is the same as my Sedici multijet. But I do all my own servicing and always put the correct amount of oil in and have found out that I need to remove the dipstick and leave to stand for 20 minutes and then check the level as oil seems to get up the dipstick tube and give a false reading.
I was surprised after my first oil change as the level was 1/2 inch above the max mark and I could not see how when the correct amount was put in but then found out about it going up the tube so removal gives it time to drain back down.
Hope this helps.
Stephen.

MONSTAMUNCH said:

Hi all it is the second year in a row that I have collected my car from the Fiat dealers and they have overfilled the oil. On the dipstick it is about 5mm above the max mark. Last year I took my car back and they drained some. This time I called and they said its not neccessary unless its way over the max mark. Any ideas if its safe to leave it as is? Thanx in advance.

Click to expand...

safest..easiest way to remove roughly the correct amount..is to unscrew the oil filter cannister,
and catch what dribbles out as you slacken the "o-ring" type seal.

conventionally ..min to max is @1 litre of oil,
the filter holds @ 0.5 to 1.0 litres,

( these are rough averages.. as I don't know YOUR vehicle specs )

as others have said - seriously overfilled engines CAN have major issues,
ANY garage/ workshop that doesn't take this seriously don't deserve YOUR custom..!!

Awsum thanks guys!