kfboone

I've researched online about methods to extract some oil after a recent overfill. So removed the dipstick and inserted a 1/4 inch vinyl tube into the opening. No problem and it reached what felt like the bottom, but nothing would siphon out, just air. Multiple attempts to make the vinyl tube go further, with no success. When removing the vinyl tube and measuring the length that it travelled down the dipstick tube into the pan, it measures exactly to the high level mark against the dipstick. So two things. One, I do not appear to have an overfill, even though the dipstick sometimes shows oil above the high level mark. Two, there must be a block somewhere in the system that prevents the vinyl tube from going all the way down into the oil pan. Oil cannot be extracted from the pan this way, at least not below the high level mark of the dipstick. Does this make sense?

Thanks,
Kirk
2007 ES 350, Premium Plus, 179k miles

chuyrobles

When you remove the tube, is there oil on the bottom end? Like when you plug the top of a straw from a glass of liquid with your thumb plugging the top.

How far above the upper line is the oil level? You can be up to a quart overfilled with no problems. If you think you are way over, drain some out.

12jimmyjam

You could always loosen the bolt on the oil pan without removing it to let some of the oil trickle out into a catcher.

Paul3637

How far over the full line is it after the car sits overnight and you check it in the morning? 5/8" over the full line means you have 0.4 quarts too much oil. This is common. The official crankcase capacity is 6.4 quarts but in a regular ten minute oil change, about 0.4 quarts is left in the top of the engine and takes several hours to drain out. Probably 90% of these engines in Toyota and Lexus vehicles are running over the full mark. The dipstick will register exactly on full if the engine is started after an oil change ....... but if you take the car home and check the oil the next morning, it will be well over the full line.

kfboone

Thank you for replying! It is just barely touched with oil on the bottom end. Which is what I would expect, since when trying to draw out oil, I could only get air. The strange thing is that after letting the car sit overnight, the oil level looks to be about 1/32 in above the upper line. When reinserting the dipstick immediately, it appears overfilled by a quart for some strange reason. I do not think I am way over. The main question in my mind after this experiment is why the vinyl tube will not go into the oil pan down to a level to draw out the oil that is obviously in there. All over the web it seems a common way to remove oil from cars now is from down the dipstick access. Not with this car it seems. Thanks again!

kfboone

Yes, I could do that, but when researching the best ways online, it seems it's a bit easier to go down the dipstick access with a 1/4 inch tube. Little mess, no bolts to loosen, not laying yourself on the ground, etc. I decided to give it a try, but what is strange is I can't access the oil from the dipstick access. All over the web, it seems an option to get the oil out of a car is by siphon or pumping it from the pan out of the dipstick access. But it doesn't seem to work on this car. Not necessarily a bad thing, and not complaining, just an observation while learning about how cool our Lexuses, or Lexi perhaps, are.

Thanks again for the reply!

Kirk

kfboone

Thanks for replying! I'm feeling pretty good that it's not overfilled at this point, especially after your very helpful and accurate information. I was not aware of this information. Thank you. I've kind of switched over to trying to figure out why we might not be able to access the oil in the pan with a 1/4 inch tube down the dipstick access.

Many thanks again!
Kirk

chuyrobles

The 1/4 inch tube you are using may be too wide and catches on something, probably the little dent from the o-ring. Other than the oil level high on dip stick, why do you think it's overfilled? Did you put in 7 qts? A shop uses a pump that measure how much oil they put into an engine, so they are not likely to overfill. I may have some 1/4 hose lying about, I can see if it goes into the oil pan tomorrow.

kfboone

Thank you for your reply! It goes down the tube very easily, and stops very suddenly, far down, when one would think it's down in the oil pan. My reason for thinking it might be full is that I used two 5 qt containers and tried to add oil slowly from the second container, start, check, etc. The markings on the 5 qt bottle do not seem to be very reliable but perhaps I didn't pay close enough attention. I tried to get it on the full line during the job. But now things seem strange. I can check it after letting it sit overnight and it's right at the full line, maybe 1/32 inch over. I immediately reinsert the dipstick and when removing, it' shows 3/4 inch to 1 inch too much! This is my first oil change on this car and have not seen this with previous cars.

I just decided to remove enough oil to indicate the level is between the low and high marks, when this experiment started. At this point, I don't think I have too much oil. I think it's right on the money or slightly over.

Let me know what you think about it if you get to try it.

Thanks again.

PoorES

Have you considered taking it to a shop? I know that you want to save money, but blowing your engine would cost even more.

Alternatively, you can clean your oil pan, drain the oil into the pan, then use 1qt containers to fill it back again.