Oil overfilled by Citroen garage

Jimbo34 · Post by **Jimbo34** » 10 Sep 2009, 12:22

Hello,

I am on holiday in France. As I was coming up to the first ever cambelt interval I took my Citroen C5 2 litre petrol estate in to the Citroen dealer garage near where I am staying here in France.

They serviced it, changed the cambelt, I paid 650 Euros, then got into my car and drove 250 Km to see my son in another french town.

The NEXT morning I got into the car, started it and a huge cloud (Ten foot high and wide) of grey/white/blue smoke with a distinct petrol smell came out of the exhaust...

The next thing I did was switch it off and check the oil. It was overfilled by the garage at the service by a third over the max mark....

Lawmen aside, I am trying to understand what could be the result of overfilling and then driving on the motorway at 65 miles an hour for 2 hours, then doing some country road motoring in the mountains for an hour on this particular engine. As if I am left without recourse I may have to drive it back to the UK... my son has a lockup garage and an oil pump to get the surplus oil out about 30 yards from where I have left the car. I may have to change the oil again ?

Has anyone been here before me ? What could have happened ? As I understand it seals my have been damaged in the engine.

I am furious but trying to see through the mist...

Sid_the_Squid · Post by **Sid_the_Squid** » 10 Sep 2009, 12:44

I've seen a few cars over filled with oil before, usually the rocker cover gasket starts leaking, or it blows out the dipstick or breather pipes.

I don't know weather it could cause any internal seal damage, but I would have thought that unless the engine was really stressed during your drive it should largely be ok, the oil burning on startup would probably be due to oil going through the breather pipes in to he intake as opposed to breaking any seals.

I'm no engine expert so don't take this as law.

Jimbo34 · Post by **Jimbo34** » 10 Sep 2009, 12:46

Cheers sid,

One can only hope...

Post by **CitroJim** » 10 Sep 2009, 12:54

I concur with Sid. It might cause a few leaks whilst it's ooverfilled Jimbo but the risk of long-term damage is slight.

The main problem with overfilling comes from the crank webs dipping into the oil and really stirring it up, making it foam and throwing it everywhere at high velocity and in some quantity, overhelming seals and oil scraper rings, hence the smoke!

Be thankful it was not a diesel. Overfill those and there is a good chance the oil will get into the combustion chambers in sufficient quantity that it uses the oil as fuel. A destructive engine runaway is the usual result. It revs and revs uncontrollably until something lets go.

You'd have thouight a French garage working on a French car would have known better...

Jimbo34 · Post by **Jimbo34** » 10 Sep 2009, 13:11

Cheers Citrojim,

Still very uncomfortable...

And my Cat is poisoned too most likely...

I thought taking it to a French Citroen garagiste was a good idea too.

Famous last words....

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 10 Sep 2009, 13:35

it could also foul up engine sensors,

which in turn can cause the engine to run incorectly

regards malcolm

Post by **myglaren** » 10 Sep 2009, 17:25

It should also have flashed the oil level indicator on the dash - overfilling by a very small amount should do this.

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 10 Sep 2009, 18:57

Perhaps you should notify the garage ASAP, followed up by it in writing as you may (hopefully not) have to claim off them at a later date. Additionally, they may surprise you and make an offer that will ease your mind allowing you to continue your holiday worry-free. After all, if they're not aware and it was a genuine mistake AND they care.... ok it's a long shot but better to alert them now IMO.

addo · Post by **addo** » 10 Sep 2009, 21:16

I reckon the letter of complaint would be a perfect application of one of the "templates" you used to get in the larger translation dictionaries.

Jimbo34 · Post by **Jimbo34** » 11 Sep 2009, 13:04

Yes well somebody let me use their 20 year old BX... so I was able to drive over and see the garagiste. He insisted that it was impossible that he put too much oil in the engine. I stopped him there. I love being called a liar.
I exchanged insurance details with the boss, perhaps his insurance will do something...

My son looked in the airbox today and the airfilter and airpipe were clean he says. So that is something.

Views on overfilling on the internet are different. Some "experts" say don't worry about it. And others say you will have problems sooner or later...

Great.