[Car] Friend borrowed my car and overfilled the oil. How bad?

mightyspacepope

I let a friend borrow my car for about a week. When she gave it back to me today, she told me she added a quart of oil because the dipstick looked low.

I go out driving for about 5 minutes. I'm at a red light and start to accelerate. A significant amount of white smoke comes out of my tail pipe and the engine seems to be struggling to get up to 30 mph. I of course stop to check things out. As the engine idles, no smoke.

I start to drive back home, since I don't want to bone anything up. Once again, I bring it up to 30 mph and it starts to smoke again.

I get home, making sure to stay under 30 mph.

I call my mechanic and make an appointment to drop it off tomorrow, I've just told them the symptoms by this point, not about my friend adding the oil.

I let the engine cool down and check the dipstick. It's significantly overfilled.

I did some research on the net and what I've found ranges between "no big deal, just drain some" and DOOM.

I drove it for about 10 minutes and did so very gently. Anyone with more car knowledge, what do you think?

erraticrabbit

Is draining it and refilling (or just draining...) to the correct level not an option for some reason?


edit: what's it smell like?

mightyspacepope

At the moment, no. Even though I'm not a big dude, the car is low enough to the ground that I can't get under it (Hyundai Accent). Also, I don't have a jack at the moment that I'd feel safe to lift it up a bit.

EDIT: I didn't notice a strong smell when it happened, but I have a pretty crappy sense of smell.

jkylefulton

How close is your home to an oil change place? You could take it in, have them drain it and fill it, then take it to your scheduled mechanic visit.

matt has a problem

White smoke usually implies a fuel problem, as in someone put diesel in a gas engine. Blue smoke is usually burning oil. Ask her if she filled your car with "gas" and if she remembers the handle on the fuel nozzle being green.

Bowen

You should keep from driving it anymore and drain it. I question your friend's motives for refilling oil, while necessary to keep track of it, was it doing something before she filled it up? I'm sure she was just being a good friend but it seems weird someone who doesn't know how to add more oil would be willing to check it.

If you do drive it a lot you can cause some massive damages to the car, so, drain it asap and keep the driving to an absolute minimum. Tell your mechanic it's overfilled, white smoke from your exhaust is a pretty telling symptom it's been overfilled.

Derrick

Ouch. Yeah. Drain it yourself. It's really not that hard. I'm sure you can google your specific model but (though it's messy if you don't know how to do it) you really only have to loosen a nut for a minute.

Potential damage? Quite bad. Don't drive it until you drain it down a bit.

Bowen

Yeah it's unlikely he's damaged anything at the moment. But it could cause the engine to lock up. He seems okay for now. Personally I'd pay the $60 or whatever to have it towed to the mechanic because it'll probably be way cheaper than the alternatives if he risks it.

mightyspacepope

Thanks for the advice, all. Luckily, a friend works for a towing place. Got the car to the mechanic, he took a quick look and said it looks okay. They'll just drain it and everything should be alright.