Overfilled oil -- 98 Corolla Seca--Cactus?

[MrTgeezer]

Hi folks, Concerned dad of first-time car-owner son. He just bought a 1998 Toyota Seca 1.6L Automatic in Melbourne. Perfect condition. Saw that the oil was so low when warm it did not even touch the dipstick. Filled it to within specs on the stick (took about 1L). Drove 15 mins to home--car performed well. Checked in the morning. Still low. Added another 0.7L (now about 1.7L added total, maybe 2). Test drove for 3 mins. Noticed gear shifting suddenly irregular and slow. Rechecked oil level. It was now 5cm over the limit on the dipstick!! Drained off 1.5L through the pan and no more oil would come out of the pan. Mystified that the oil was still 5cm over the dipstick limit. Took a syringe and aquatic tube. Drained off another 0.25L through the dipstick tube, which was about everything that we added in total. Oil level now 1cm over the dipstick limit. Engine still starts and idles fine, but now the car will not go into gear at all. My son is devastated. Please help.

[Banjo]

Hi Concerned Dad.  You've got me scratching my head, & totally mystified. We are talking about engine oil here ?  Is the oil coming out, when draining it; milky, or aeriated in any way ?  Does it appear to be thin, like it has lost it's viscosity ?  Does the "screw on oil filter" look like it has been changed recently ?

Are there any noises coming from the engine, that could indicate the the oil pressure is low.  

Quote

Noticed gear shifting suddenly irregular and slow.

This is an automatic, so a bit weird that something happening in the engine, all of sudden changes the auto changing, to "irregular & slow".

I would not be driving it far, if at all, until You get to the bottom of this matter.

I had something happen like this many years ago, in a Fiat 125. The oil pressure "over pressure valve", in the oil pump; jammed open & bypassed everything back into the sump.  The reason it jammed was a piston skirt broke off, (common in early Fiats) & a little fragment of piston skirt got jammed in the oil bypass valve, when it opens a little sometimes, in the first minute or so, on a cold Winters morning, when the oil is initially very thick & viscous.

I'll be interested to hear what You ultimately find the issue, to be.  Good Luck !

Cheers Banjo

Edited September 20, 2024 by Banjo

[altezzaclub]

Don't sweat, he'll love a manual when you convert it!

This question-

" Is the oil coming out, when draining it; milky, or aeriated in any way ?  Does it appear to be thin, like it has lost it's viscosity ?  " ...and is there oil in the radiator?

I'm not an auto man, all I know is the gearbox oil is cooled in the radiator and that's the only place that would add or reduce oil level unless there is a puddle under the car.

Doesn't checking the auto oil have to be done with the gearbox warm and the motor running at the time??  That would alter the oil level too as the pump inside the gearbox fills pistons. I'd expect oil level to go up with the motor off.

My son's first car was an old 1980s Nissan Pulsar wagon from the auctions, they all blew up gearboxes and it was dirt cheap... his first education was on how to change Pulsar gearboxes!

 

[MrTgeezer]

Thanks so much for your advice. We checked the transmission dipstick (finally!) and it was empty! Yes old dad did a boneheaded move. My son then changed the oil and filled the transmission fluid on his cherry 98 Toyota Seca and the car sings! Thankfully our 100m test drive on no transmission fluid does not seem to have done any major harm. Cheers

[altezzaclub]

Well, that's good to know!  Hopefully he gets a good few years trouble-free running out of it!