Ford 7.3L Oil change Overfill

[norcal*PWRstroke]

I had my oil changed just before a road trip with the wife this last weekend. I have been swamped with school midterms and extra hours at work lately so I took my truck in to wal-mart for an oil change instead of doing it myself.
I bought the same oil I always do, 15 quarts of Ford motorcraft 15w40 (thats 3 of the 5 quart jugs off the shelf) and the ford oil filter.
Well somehow they managed to put in 1 3/4 quarts of extra oil. the oil line on the dipstick was 5/8" above the the max fill line!!!

I noticed it was overfilled after a 140 mile road trip this past weekend.
I noticed several silver dollar sized puddles under my truck after I got home and parked it in the driveway. So I got underneath and there was oil leaking down from the rear section of the oil pan gasket down the bellhousing inspection cover and down the underneath of my tranny with small splattered dots of oil all over the rear axle and gas tank.
The oil was aerated and bubbly after the trip too.
Called the manager at the store and they said bring it in they needed to look at it and verify mileage pull my service record etc. took it in today and they admitted fault drained the oil and refilled it and degreased the under side of my pickup.
I said what about the leaking oil pan gasket???? The manager said to keep an eye on it and if it was still leaking to bring it back and they would make sure that it was repaired and taken care of. obviously they cant do a job like that!
So I had the manager put all of this in writing for me and sign it. Also had her write that the truck was overfilled, drained and refilled to the correct amount of 15 quarts.
Well I drove it all day today to see if it was still leaking.
It is still leaking, it is a much slower leak though. It is seeping down the oil pan onto the bellhousing inspection cover and accumulating as little droplets where the cover meets the lip of the tranny, then by capillary action moves a couple inches back.
Does anyone think the leak will stop if I re torque the oil pan bolts, should I go straight back to walmart or give it a week or so before I do?
any advice would be great.

 

[Stoney126]

I doubt they got all the oil off. Check your CCv, pull your intake tube and make sure its not saturated. I wouldn't mess with anything till its been thoroughly cleaned.

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

i came home immediately after they "fixed" it today inspected everything and cleaned the underneath again. this evening more oil had ran down the oil pan from the gasket. cleaned it again really well climbed underneath with a rag and carb cleaner, i could eat of the undercarriage now haha.
I will keep driving it
i hope it stops i dont want to deal with wally world anymore
just take it as a lesson well learned and be done with it.

 

[Stoney126]

How's the engine oil cooler look? If its leaking I wouldn't tighten the bolts . If the compromised the gasket it will eventually leak past again.

That being said how the hell could they overfill that big sump .

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

Oil cooler looks good no leaks out of it.
I get under my truck twice a year and wash everything front to back just to get all the road grime off the undercarriage, make sure everything is in working order and not leaking.
my wife claims im a little nuts, but its easier to find the problems without 14 years of road grime covering everything!
Im not sure how they did it, other than maybe filling the oil filter first then, dropping in another 15 quarts on top of that??

 

[Buliwyf]

Mitsubishi made faulty dip sticks for some of their V16 diesels.

I saw an overfilled engine with a cracked oil pan. And this pan is a massive chunk of steel. The force of the crankshaft beating into the oil, was more than enough to rip up the oil pan (liquids aren't compressable and transmit force extremely well). Not any different from the crank actually hitting the pan. Your gasket is fubar. Hopefullly the pan and engine are ok.

Also foamed up oil is a major problem. Air does compress. So low oil pressure is the result. You didn't hear any ticking or notice any excess heat around the engine? Maybe it's ok.

2qts over, and 5/8 over on the stick, generally does no damage to most engines. Unless the dip stick is dead vertical and the crank is closer to the pan than most. IE: a John Deere 6068 I6 can be overfilled quite a bit. Was the dip stick super foamy whipped cream? Or clear oil, just a few air bubbles?

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

It was clear oil mixed with clear bubbles. It was not aerated to a cream color. I Didnt notice any heat or ticking, the oil pressure gauge didnt drop while i was driving on the trip. Hopefully the engine is fine
but like you said the gasket is probably toast, its not like its going to magically re rtv itself

 

[Buliwyf]

That's sounds fine. The oil pressure guage won't read low from an overfill. But the bearings, rods, and fuel system, might notice. Should be fine. Cranks can whip oil up into an opague foam cream. A few bubbles is fairly harmless.

I'd just drop the pan and use a new gasket and permatex. Oil pan leak may just be coincidence.

 

[Woofwagon]

Have you considered running a larger filter such as the ELF7405 for additional capacity? I have one on my '01 and it works great. Allows 15K minimum OCI's.

 

[Eaglefreek]

I had a 93 Ford diesel van years ago. I usually do my own oil changes, but I was super busy and passed due on an oil change so I went to Jiffy lube. I had a little discussion with the guy about the capacity being just less than 10 quarts and he was confident it was 15. I said no, I change it myself all the time. Anyways, later that day I looked at the receipt and I was charged for 15 quarts. I checked the oil and it was way up on the dipstick. Luckily, I was close to the Jiffy Lube and had them take care of it after a heated discussion. Thankfully, no damage was done. One other time I went to Walmart with the same van and they screwed something up when taking the filter out. I had to go into the pit and fix it myself. After that I refuse to let anyone do my oil changes. It doesn't save any money, is messy and it's a pain to get rid of the oil, but I know it's done right.

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

Have you considered running a larger filter such as the ELF7405 for additional capacity? I have one on my '01 and it works great. Allows 15K minimum OCI's.

I have seen that done before are there any used oil analysis for the donaldson elf? I like the the idea of 15k mile oil change intervals too, plus when i run the chevron delo I wouldnt have so much unused oil left over with the extra capacity of the donaldson.

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

That's sounds fine. The oil pressure guage won't read low from an overfill. But the bearings, rods, and fuel system, might notice. Should be fine. Cranks can whip oil up into an opague foam cream. A few bubbles is fairly harmless.

I'd just drop the pan and use a new gasket and permatex. Oil pan leak may just be coincidence.

well i did some reading and we cant replace the oil pan or gaskets in these 7.3's without removing the engine or cutting the crossmember, so its a pretty big job to put a new gasket in

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

I had a 93 Ford diesel van years ago. I usually do my own oil changes, but I was super busy and passed due on an oil change so I went to Jiffy lube. I had a little discussion with the guy about the capacity being just less than 10 quarts and he was confident it was 15. I said no, I change it myself all the time. Anyways, later that day I looked at the receipt and I was charged for 15 quarts. I checked the oil and it was way up on the dipstick. Luckily, I was close to the Jiffy Lube and had them take care of it after a heated discussion. Thankfully, no damage was done. One other time I went to Walmart with the same van and they screwed something up when taking the filter out. I had to go into the pit and fix it myself. After that I refuse to let anyone do my oil changes. It doesn't save any money, is messy and it's a pain to get rid of the oil, but I know it's done right.

I totally understand what you went through now. I will always do my own from now on and that one time I dont have time i will think back to this mess and MAKE TIME!

 

[Woofwagon]

I have seen that done before are there any used oil analysis for the donaldson elf? I like the the idea of 15k mile oil change intervals too, plus when i run the chevron delo I wouldnt have so much unused oil left over with the extra capacity of the donaldson.

I need to figure out how to post the Blackstone report I got last time from the most recent analysis. I also run a sub-micron bypass oil filter that screens the oil down to 1/2 micron. Keep the water and acids out the oil and the additive packages in the oil last much longer, extending drain intervals. My current run on this oil is approaching 25,000 miles with plenty of TBN (total base number) left in the oil with minimal wear.

I personally never liked Delo, the strongest conventional diesel engine oil for the money that I use is Valvoline Cummins Premium Blue 15W40. It has an extremely strong additive package to deter acid formation and excellent soot detergents. The HEUI injector system doesn't like foam in the oil, and Premium Blue has very good anti-foaming agents in it.

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

I have been really interested in setting up a bypass filter i noticed there is some plugs where the stock oil filter screws on. If you dont mind sharing some information about your bypass setup I would really appreciate it.

Also who has the best price on the premium blue, i have read a lot of good stuff about that oil, and I was going to run it oil change before last since i did it myself but could not find it locally.
thank you for all your great information!