Over filled engine carak case??

[Don Page]

Greetings. I have an 1996 Mercruiser V6 4.3 liter Vortec engine is an 1996 Chaparral 180SS. I/O drive of course. With the trailer jack adjusted so that the engine valve covers are very close to level and having changed the oil filter & run the engine to distribute the oil well into the engine, the dip stick shows about .5 to .75 quart more oil on the dip stick than on line info for my engine says the engine should hold. Which is 4.5 quarts. I let the oil drain for about 5 minutes after turning the engine off & then checked it. Several days later I checked the dip stick again & seems a bit more showed on the stick. Question is what to believe. The dip stick or the online 4.5 qts? I know absolutely that I thoroughly drained the engine oil, filled the oil filter with new oil & then added the remainder of the 4.5 qts. I had on hand. New oil is 10W40 with some Lucas oil stabilizer added. Not more than total of 4.5 qts. were added to engine which includes what I put into the filter before screwing in onto ist mount. If as an example the dipstick is the incorrect one for my engine & reads too high on the stick, no problem. But, if engine is actually about .5 to .75 qts. over filled, should I remove the excess oil? I don't want to overly concern about this, but want to properly protect my engine and not blow seals, if that could happen by too much oil in engine. Thank you all for what ever counsel you can provide. Best wishes for a healthy new year to you all.

 

[alldodge]

Greetings. I have an 1996 Mercruiser V6 4.3 liter Vortec engine is an 1996 Chaparral 180SS. I/O drive of course. With the trailer jack adjusted so that the engine valve covers are very close to level and having changed the oil filter & run the engine to distribute the oil well into the engine, the dip stick shows about .5 to .75 quart more oil on the dip stick than on line info for my engine says the engine should hold. Which is 4.5 quarts. I let the oil drain for about 5 minutes after turning the engine off & then checked it. Several days later I checked the dip stick again & seems a bit more showed on the stick. Question is what to believe. The dip stick or the online 4.5 qts? I know absolutely that I thoroughly drained the engine oil, filled the oil filter with new oil & then added the remainder of the 4.5 qts. I had on hand. New oil is 10W40 with some Lucas oil stabilizer added. Not more than total of 4.5 qts. were added to engine which includes what I put into the filter before screwing in onto ist mount. If as an example the dipstick is the incorrect one for my engine & reads too high on the stick, no problem. But, if engine is actually about .5 to .75 qts. over filled, should I remove the excess oil? I don't want to overly concern about this, but want to properly protect my engine and not blow seals, if that could happen by too much oil in engine. Thank you all for what ever counsel you can provide. Best wishes for a healthy new year to you all.

Howdy

All boats have what's called a dead rise angle. This angle can be from 15 to 22 degrees. The most common is an 18 degree dead rise. The dead rise is the angle the boat sits when stopped. That said the angle doesn't change the level a lot but there is some difference. You can never get all the oil out of a motor, some will always be left behind and as I remember, there has been several discussions about oil level after a change for the 4.3L.

So to anser your question a slight bit to much oil is OK, but not .5 quarts, IMO

 

[Grub54891]

The absolute best way to check the oil is to have it floating at rest. If it shows to full, take some out. I see this issue pop up once and awhile, someone thinks the wrong stick is in there when its actually fine.

 

[ziggy]

dead rise, definition.

agreed, best to check oil level in the water.
if overfilled. i'd take it out. i use an oil siphon. but do it however ya want. just get it back to the f mark. from what i get about engines. overfull is worse than low....

ya can crank up yer trailer to simulate how the boat sits in the water to add oil when on the trailer.

 

[NHGuy]

Sorry I need to butt in here. Deadrise is the difference between straight up and the angle that your hull presents to water. It's stated at the transom.
Boats with more deadrise have a deeper vee.
I think what the poster meant was the angle that your engine sits at while at rest in the water. But truthfully with the dipstick going down the side of the pan around midway you will get the same oil level at rest in water or level on the trailer.
.75 quart high is too much. .25 I wouldn't sweat. If the oil gets too high the crankshaft can hit it and whip it up. Not good.
I have been around cars and boats since forever and a few very seasoned technicians have warned me against over filled crankcases. Supposedly can cause rear and front seal failures. I doubt it in today's engines. Seals are made better with better materials.
If you aren't using the boat cause it's the middle of winter you could go through the exercise of finding the part # on the dipstick and check that the dip tube is in the engine correctly. Or there may be a spec for the dipstick where you could measure.

 

[tpenfield]

Not sure what deadrise and oil level have to do with each other ? AD, are you referring to the inclination of a boat's keel as it sits in the water? Not sure what the term for that is, or even if there is one.

 

[ziggy]

Not sure what the term for that is, or even if there is one.

i'd call that angle the rake (or slope) of the boat.

 

[alldodge]

Not sure what deadrise and oil level have to do with each other ? AD, are you referring to the inclination of a boat's keel as it sits in the water? Not sure what the term for that is, or even if there is one.

Yes, and I said

That said the angle doesn't change the level a lot but there is some difference

and the reason for the statement is from the location of the dipstick and mainly because the OP mentioned the boat was level. How much of a change there is, in most cases is negligible. Even in the manuals it has been mentioned to check the oil sitting in the water.

I probably could have explained it with terms which ,ay have understood more clearly, but then there would be others which did understand what my comment was, and then the first posters may come up with a another comment. These and other similar issues is what makes commenting on iboats so much fun

 

[Rick Stephens]

Dipstick spec is here:
http://boatinfo.no/lib/mercruiser/manuals/mercruiser18.html#/52


Rick

 

[fhhuber]

dead rise, definition.

agreed, best to check oil level in the water.
if overfilled. i'd take it out. i use an oil siphon. but do it however ya want. just get it back to the f mark. from what i get about engines. overfull is worse than low....

ya can crank up yer trailer to simulate how the boat sits in the water to add oil when on the trailer.

Overfill results in the crank hitting the oil and whipping it, adding air. Soon your oil pump is pumping foam instead of oil and that means your bearings are only getting a fraction of the oil they are supposed to.

Might as well be running without oil...

 

[Don Page]

I thank you all for your time and information. You have given me needed guidance which I appreciate. I will resolve the excess oil issue. I suspect that checking the oil level with the boat in the water is the best approach. I should have thought of that. Wrong dip stick? It likely came with the engine and is correct.
Thank you Rick for the link to the mercruiser shop manual. A real hit with me & oh so useful. Again. Thank you all. Much appreciated.