Oil change over fill

I have a question on changing the oil on my 1995 XJ6.
The manual said, oil change with filter is 81/2 quarts.
I put in 8 quarts and the dip stick reads.about a 1/2 inch over full.
this is on a 4.0-6 .
Thanks
TheChin

Is the car on the LEVEL as they are very sensitive to their angle especially so the X308.

Many posts about overfilling because of this over the years, the level is best checked with the car on a lift and with correct tyre pressures all round!

Neil,
I just don’t have a lift and the tires due have the correct pressure. I just did not want to have to much oil in the engine. I never had this issue 0n my 1993 VDP. I will find a level spot and check it again.
Thanks,
TheChin

I always short fill and then top u as required to the correct level.
I take it you did change the filter as well and cycle the engine before checking the level?

Specs for the engine are 8 liters which is about 8.5 quarts.

Not to insult your intelligence, but here’s some things to ponder:

  1. When you checked the oil level, was the car flat on the ground or still elevated? The reason why I’m asking, (and to show that I’ve got a good grasp on the obvious) if the car is on an incline that will skew the dipstick reading. while I’m talking about inclines,

  2. I’m not sure where the drain plug is on an AJ6 or AJ16, but the AJ8 (4.0 V8) drain plug is on the front of the engine. When I put the front of the car on stands while during an oil change, I don’t get all of the oil out because the low point of the engine while on stands isn’t the drain plug, it’s the back of the engine. Gravity works its magic and the old oil pools in the back of the sump. To remedy this, I usually lower the car to catch the remaining oil, or put the whole car on jack stands, and rotate the tires while I’m at it.

  3. If the oil is checked prior starting when a new filter was installed, the dip stick reading will also be skewed because of the amount of oil in the sump that would normally reside in the filter.

  4. While I’m going on about filters, the filter physical size of the filter will also affect the amount of oil registering on the dipstick. I made the mistake of installing the AJ8 (4.0L S/C V8) filter on the (XK6 4.2L l6). :blush:

Hope you find this useful
Mark

Sump plug on the AJ6 is at the rear, I believe the aj16 is at the rear as well.

Mark, thank you. I have been working on cars since the 50’s. I have owned a 93 VDP, for 7yrs. Yes the car was on level ground etc. The reason why I asked the question is because it showed over,full on the dip stick. I put 81/2 quarts as the manual said. I will let some oil out
Thanks for your help
TneChin

If it is on the level I would then fill progressively until with a warm engine the settled oil level is on the mark!

Your welcome,
I’d be curious if you ever find out anything that would cause the odd oil reading. One other thing, I discovered this with my XJ6 Series II I was over filling it and upon acceleration the oil would blow out the dip stick tube. Cause? it was the wrong dipstick for the engine. pulled the dip stick out of the extra XK6 I had sitting in the garage, and I was putting in a quart too much. Oops.

Mark,
Talking about dipsticks, I might have the wrong one. I noticed it might at times go by the stopper. this why it would go farther in. I did not notice it at first. Put some tape where it should stop. End of story. I thought someone would ask me if I did not know how to count. Maybe I put in 9 quarts of oil.
Thanks again,
TheChin

On an AJ6, parking on the side of the street and checking the level can be a problem - even the road camber can throw it off enough to see dick on the stick!

I seriously doubt you will have any problem with 1/2 inch overfill unless you are doing high G maneuvers. The potential problem is the crank throws hitting the oil and making a foam.

Not applicable in your case, but the X-308 engines have a dip stick length change between AJ 26 and AJ 27, as I recall. It almost got me when I could not find the dipstick after a tear down!

Thanks for the info. I found out the dip stick stop was not working right. I have owned a 93 VDP for 6yrs and never had a problem checking the oil. I just purchased this 95 X300 a few weeks ago.

Larry,
the best time to check the oil is when getting gas. The surface is level.

Good point Vin, like to do it when cold though if I can …since I lost my garage and are now out on the street maybe the gas station IS my best bet - thanks mate

Larry, Just a thought. My X300 is not garaged. It is always level at the gas station