villain2000

During a home oil change last night my crank case got 1/2 quart overfilled due to my father-in-laws enthusiasm and me not paying attention. Should I drain out the excess oil? According to the manuel the car is supposed to hold 5.9 qts and there is definitely 6.5 in it. My father-in-law who is an old scxhool v8 drag racer, seems to think it wont be a problem, I think otherwise. Some opinions would be nice. Thanks in advance.

Wisconsin S2k

5.1 quarts is the amount that is supposed to go into the engine according to honda.... ??? where did you see 5.9? or did it change with the 2.2 liter?

xviper

Different people have reported differenct fill volumes ranging from 5.1 to as high as 5.9 qts. It all depends on the efficiency of the drain and the type and size of the oil filter.

Never mind what the manual says about how much oil the engine should take. WHAT DOES THE DIPSTICK SAY? That should be your final guide as to how much oil you should really have in there. If it's over the top full mark by the equivalent of an "X" (or even 2), leave it. It it's more, then pull the drain plug quickly and let a bit drain out.

ps. Always do another dipstick read after a bit of driving to fill the filter and to get the oil warmed up and circulated. If you read adequate oil on the dipstick right after the oil change, you're good to go till you can do the next HOT check. Then top up if required and do a COLD check the following morning to be sure.

Road Rage

Xviper - what if the variance has to do with how the dipstick tube is seated, or canted, or the sensitivity of the S2000 to surface flatness? Has that been looked at? Since these are variables greater than the sump variance, I would hope you guys have lots of empiric experience to back up the nearly 1 qt variance being touted. I do not doubt you, and as a relatively new member/owner, I defer to the Grand masters on this one, but......

First, the engine's capacity is spec'd at 5.1 US quarts with filter change - . The 5.9 is after an engine overhaul!! Have you overhauled the engine? If not, then you are about 1.5 quarts overfilled, which is risky.

Many dealers use oil delivery systems that do not rely on the dispstick - they dispense a pre-determined amount - anyone with dealer experience on what is "dialed-in" by such dealers using such equipment? Inquiring minds want to know.


BTW, many mfrs deliberately underspec the actual oil sump capacity, esp in cars like Taurus, GM mid-sizes, etc. Why? Because fleet sales are partially decided by bean counters who look at the TCO (total cost of operations) when selecting a vehicle for use in rental fleets, motor pools, etc. So if a car is spec'd at 4 quarts rather than 4.8, over many millions of oil changes, it adds up. I did a forensic analysis once of a V6 Camaro, and found it could easily hold another quart with absolutely no issues at all.

Of course, there are risks to overfilling in some situations:

1) aeration of the oil as already mentioned - oil in foam state is essentially useless as a lubricant
2) "Windage" power loss - oil whipped onto the cranskshaft can cause parasitic loss as the crank works harder to spin off the oil. Not sure how the S2000's oil sump is designed, but looking at the pan, its baffles, etc, it does not look like they scrimped on anything. There is a baffle plate in there.

villain2000

My owners manual says 5.9 with filter...

villain2000

My manuel says 5.1 without filter, 5.1 with filter, 5.9 total????? Xviper, I am going with your suggestions. I know I got a very good drain because I jacked the car up on the drivers side, so the car was tilted toward the right which allowed the oil pan to completely drain. On a cold check just now I am reading about two x's over. Which to me seems to be about half a quart. I think I am still going to drain a bit out just to be sure, though. Also, the oil filter I used is a new number for the ap2, its a Honda oem #15400-pcx-004. It was substantially bigger than the old honda filter I pulled off. This may be allowing a little extra capacity as well.

xviper

I believe you have the correct oil filter.
Don't drain any until you drive it for a day and then check it in the morning on the level, unless you are planning on going to the track today where an overfill might not be a good idea.