My car’s engine was overfilled with oil by one quart two months ago. The excess oil was removed after I noticed large plumes of blue smoke issue from the tailpipe. However the car continues to smoke especially when driving uphill (this happens only when the engine is fully warmed up). At the same time the engine loses power as though it’s not getting any fuel and there is some noise from the engine. The smoking is intermittent; there are times the car is driven some miles with no smoking at all. Is this car toast? It’s a 1998 model and I bought it new and is in very good condition (otherwise)! I’d hate to junk it. Any help will be appreciated.
A 1 qt overfill should not cause major problems.
Of course, it was overfilled, but most engines would not sustain damage from just 1 qt of excess oil. How long did you drive it before the excess was removed?
Thanks for quick reply. Car was driven about 5 miles with overfill also “Check Engine” light never came on. Could oil have fouled the throttle body which would account for engine loss of power? This car has 153k miles therefore is exhaust system too old and too contaminated with oil to be effective? Do you think exhaust system should be replaced? Thanks!
No, the oil overfill could not possibly have reached the throttle body, so you have to rule out that slight oil overfill if the throttle body is indeed malfunctioning.
You may have more than one problem. The lack of power could be from a partially-clogged fuel filter. On your car, this filter needs to be changed every 3yrs/30k miles, whichever comes first. The lack of power could also be from a clogged catalytic converter.
If the car is smoking, that could be from a clogged PCV valve, or from engine wear resulting in oil burning, or a bad cat converter. You need a mechanic who is a good diagnostician in order to figure out the exact source of the problem(s), but you might want to first replace the fuel filter if it has not been replaced as per the above schedule. And, replacing the PCV valve is one of the absolute cheapest things that you can do, so I wouldn’t hesitate to just go ahead and replace it.
Was this done by a quickie lube and have you checked the levels yourself?
I only ask because one quart of oil should not have had this effect. Quickie lubes have been known to make disasterous errors and I’m wondering if they could have put tranny fluid in the oil pan. That’s much thinner and would burn, although it should be white dense clouds.
I’d suggest not driving this vehicle until you get this resolved. Something just does not seem right here.
This work was done by Certified Tire & Service Centers of Riverside CA. They are also a Goodyear tire shop. I am 61 years old and have heard in the past that a Goodyear service center is only good for buying tires. I should have known better. The smoke is a light blue sometimes whiteish in color. I will have the fuel filter, PCV valve and cat converter checked out. I appreciate your quick reply.
I think VDCdriver called it with the PCV valve. That would be the first thing I would replace to try and solve this trouble.
There is no reason to expect that the person assigned your oil change at a Dealership or Independent could not also make such a mistake. Really, mounting tires, fixing flats, alignments, shocks/struts while not so difficult are more difficult than getting the oil level correct. Just how highly trained do lube personell need to be trained? we all know it’s is more of a work habits job than a training level job.
That is unless you want to debate the service level extension provided by the use of synthetic oil, then it’s a job for CarTalk 