The level of anxiety i go through when overfilling my engine just a little over the max level, thinking it's gonna explode any moment, this guy is a hero

For those who are looking for a problem and not seeing it, the problem is the foaming. As the oil level rises, the oil foams more violently, and this introduces air pockets to bearing surfaces inside the engine. On top of that, aerating the oil pump lowers functional oil pressure by introducing compressible air into otherwise non-compressible fluid, and makes it harder for the pump to maintain a prime while operating.

decades of conversations with professional mechanics, smart backyard mechanics, and me, who regularly works on my cars and friends' cars, and i've never been given a straight or consistent answer. i've always enjoyed this channel, but that was fucking fantastic. cheers, from me in Alaska to you in Siberia!

Unbelievable how reliable these engines are. This is great to know, sometimes we go a little overboard in the dipstick and it's good to know it is not quite that big of a deal

Back in the 80’s when me and my mates started driving I dropped round my mates house, he had the bonnet of his Vauxhall Chevette open and was staring into the engine bay. By his feet were 3 5 litre Duckhams oil tins, he had already poured 10 litres of oil and was starting on the 3rd tin!!! Seems he was waiting until it reached ‘the top’ and then he’d know it was full!!! He wasn’t the brightest of my mates! I drained it out for him and introduced him to the dipstick!

I laughed when he kept saying “more oil”, after what I thought was beyond the fill capacity. He’s a mad scientist. Love his videos 😊

A clear oil pan and a cutaway in the block? Brilliant! I've never seen this in a functioning engine. Thank you. I was so concerned once when I added oil past the upper level limit on the dip stick that I siphoned the excess out. Now I realize that I need not have worried.

10:48 - I was already screaming NOOO! DON'T DO IT !! and you added more oil three times after that!

This man answering the hard questions in life 🍻

2 things happen. 1. power is reduced due to the crank hitting the oil and picking it up. This is the reason race engines use dry sump systems or windage trays and scrapers. 2. The foaming action of the oil is increased not allowing air to dissipate out of the oil causing cavitation around the oil pump pick up tube, thus reducing oil pressure because of air in the system which reduces the film of oil on the bearings and causing extern wear. Garage 54 is what hot-rodding in the US use to be! Great and fun channel.

A buddy of mine had a Trailblazer with a 5.3 V8 engine. Those engines are notorious for the O-ring going bad at the top of the pick-up tube. It happens to be at the front of the engine, so during acceleration or on an incline, oil pressure would drop, since oil moves backward in those situations. We put a scanner on there that told us the realtime oil pressure in psi, then we jacked the front of the car up until pressure started to drop. We added an additional quart of oil to get the pressure back to normal, then we jacked it up some more until it dropped again. We added a second extra quart, then jacked it up again, and this time it was high enough that we didn't think the car would ever get on an incline that steep. We added the third extra quart to get the pressure back to normal. After that, we simply added the 3 additional quarts at every oil change. That was a long term test of about 70k miles for a total of 230k on the vehicle when he finally sold it. As long as that O-ring was submerged, it couldn't draw any air and the pressure stayed normal. That was only 3 quarts over full, and it was a bigger engine so I never expected any adverse effects. We could have dropped the front axle, pulled the pan and replaced that O-ring, but to add 3 quarts and get the exact same result just made sense. Apologies to all the OCD mechanics out there scoffing at the "rigged" fix, lol.

I didnt expect this in my recommendation feed as I'm nearly clueless as a mechanic, but as a scientist, as a car owner and just overall curious person, that was really great! I always enjoy looking at the "inside of things" and it's fantastic that we can now make transparent engines to make demonstrations like this one. Super job from you guys, although you made me anxious near the end with that crazy amount of oil LOL 😂

Needed an oil pressure gauge to show pressure drop

This guy answers all the questions I've had for the last 25 years as an automotive machinist and engine/drivetrain rebuilder.

This is the best mechanic channel on UKposts. To understand why things should be done in the correct way. Thanks and congrats.

Don't overfill the engine oil. Reason 1: Anything spinning in a fluid will slow the object that is spinning. You're making the engine work harder for no reason. Reason 2: The oil is foaming. You can't lubricate an engine with air. Reason 3: Drastically increased oil degradation due to heat and contact from the sheering effect. Just don't do it.

G54 is the worlds most awesome car related youtube channel. No joke. Thank you BMI for translating for a wider audience!

This is why some people are more visual learners than text n books. I learned so much even though I had a basic understanding of how oil works. Thank you sir.

The patience, knowledge and integrity behind these videos is off the charts

Sir , I'm not a mechanic but now I see what happens when there's lot more oil in the engine, thanks Sir

This guy has such a mild manner and teachable personality, he is clearly educated in mechanics, I love his videos.

put some egg yolks in it, a bit of mustard and fill it up with sunflower seed oil and after a few mins you got freshly made mayo

I was always afraid of the fact, when I pour in oil more than required at times and remained uneasy while driving ... But I must thank you for putting me at ease regarding pouring "bit" more than required ..... Thank you Man ..

This is exactly why I love youtube, I wouldn't search for this kinda stuff but watched the whole thing when algorithm suggested it. Really enjoyed you pushing it to the limit and arguably, past it 😄👏. Great video, thank you sir.

Thanks guys. I just added an extra 5 quarts just to be safe.

Genuinely impressed by how much that custom made plastic sump was able to take! The pressure inside it must have been considerable! Oh and any worries I had about accidentally adding 1L too much oil on my next oil change are gone forever! Thanks 👌👍

You just answered a question I have had since high-school autoshop classes! Thank you!!

Good video. Thanks, Adding an oil pressure gauge to the testing and displaying the changes in pressure would be very interesting.

I just got an oil change and was really worried because when i checked dip stick the oil was above the max line. This video puts my mind at ease. Thank you.

I'm amazed that oil pan and block window have no leaks

This video should be awarded the YT Video of the Decade Award! 🥇 🥇

Thank you so much for this. I just got done an oil change, and you just saved me a lot of anxiety, and you also saved me the pain of pulling my drain plug to remove 1/2 quart of oil. This video was suggested to me at the PERFECT time. THANK YOU 🙂🤘👌🤘

There was french motorcycle in 1938, named Simca Sevitame. 2 cylinder upside down engine works literally in oil bath. Whole engine was mounted in aluminium box, filled with oil. Check out, who is intrested.

It's impressive how well the anti foam properties of the oil work.

I loved your video it was a great piece of knowledge for me. For years i thought the gaskets would leak if i add one liter too much.

Thanks you, thank you for removing my anxiety of putting à bit too much oil in my engines! Greetings from France.

Best demonstration of windage ever, thank you!

It truly depend on the engine design, oil pan capacity and the method of storing the oil (dry sump). Some engine have higher tolerance above the "max" mark while other engines may have a tolerance of less than 1L It is also good to note this engine was not moving like in a car. While braking or accelerating the oil get slushed around, at x2 the maximum the oil could have easily found it's way in the breather. It is best not to put in too much above the maximum.

Love these kind of videos especially with the inner workings of a car engine. Keep up the great work 😊

I didn't expect the camera shots to be this good (good lightning, focus, positioning, and slow-motion)!

The joy on this man's face made my day batter. His inner child was coming out. It was good to see.

Who needs an oil change when your leaks and you keep topping it off 😂. Gotta change the filter of course

One of the most useful videos on car care I've ever seen. Thanks for the education!

This is an awesome video, I always wanted to know what happens when you overfill, and as I thought, not much of anything, accept a little extra oil. Thank you so much for the video.

This was actually quite fascinating to see! Thanks! 😄

it's great to finally know what actually happens inside the engine with the oil a bit overfull. Like someone else said, no more anxiety after overfilling by a half of a quart!

Also explains why you should measure with a cold engine, and why the warning light can come on while driving. Great video! Good to always carry a spare liter.

What I like about this channel is that all the questions i had is answered by them..Great experiment video's guys we appreciat it ❤

14:55 this IS the crucial part when overfilling Diesel Engines with oil it just spills the oil into the crankshaft Ventilation Back into intake -> RUNAWAY

Now I know how oil inside the engine moves! Wow! This one is for real and not animation, this is the first time I saw how it moves for real, thanks for this good guy, because of that I will subscribe to your beautiful channel. By the way, I'm watching here in the Philippines 🇵🇭.

You are a blessing sir. Came across this video randomly. Can't say I would have searched for this. But this is definitely how I learn. I subscribed forsure and watched the whole thing

Thanks for testing this out, I always wondered if a bit overfill caused excess foaming and poorer lubrication. Great video.

I really appreciate the effort put into this video just to teach the viewing audience (not just following someone doing their hobby!). THANKS SO MUCH!!

Garage 54, Wow ,always thought putting a bit extra oil in wouldn't over pressurise the motor, My commodore back in 1982 blew a sump gasket & I lost my oil & 3rd piston started knocking, bye bye motor. Kudos for the video ,you showed how overfilling a little doesn't hurt the motor. I didn't know this, great show & tell, keeps the people in the know.Thanks GARAGE 54, GREAT VIDEO....... ( AUSSIE JOHN)........

This is great! Thanks for running this experiment. Now I know that if my level is a bit over the marking on the dip stick, nothing bad will come of it.

Very informative! I have always wondered about adding too much oil when I do an oil change or add a quart when it gets a little low. Now I was surprised to see how low the correct level in the pan is. An extra quart won't cause any problem at all. I was also quite surprised to see how low the oil level dropped when the RPM's were increased to what might have approximated traveling normally. There wasn't a very wide safety margin even given that the fresh oil had not really warmed completely to normal operating temperature.

Another awesome experiment. I'm sure we've wondered about what would actually happen if the oil was overfilled, and these guys took it to the extreme in true garage 54 style. I've always heard that it would foam up and blow out the seals, and that it wasn't good for an engine to suck up a bunch of foam. Never seen it in person before though as I've never overfilled an engine like that. Definitely cool to see though, and it really scratches the itch of curiosity. You guys rock.👍👍

My car requires for 4.6 quarts of oil at an oil change and I always end up putting an entire 5 quart container in since I don’t want 0.4 quarts of oil lying around. Nice to know that small amount of extra oil doesn’t harm anything.

Thank you! I've looked for years for somebody to do this and now I've seen it all!

Well done! You've answered our prayers that our engine wouldn't destroy itself with a little more oil than required.

What a well oiled machine 😂

This is great stuff! Real information without somebody's dog or a "for humor" or "for drama" relative getting in the way. I just subscribed and I'm looking forward to more videos. Thank you for teaching me something!

I just witnessed execution of the most thorough engine flush ever performed!

thankyou Garage 54 and team this feels like the content where i should "join" and pay the subscriptions.

In the mid 90’s I stopped to help a poor woman with car problems. I asked her to pop the hood and everything was dripping oil. I opened the air cleaner on the carburetor and it was full of oil. I asked her if she had put oil in, and she told me her husband had instructed her to “put some oil in the car before you go to work…”. She told me she “filled it up”. She had just kept putting oil in until she couldn’t get any more in. I told her that her best bet was the oil change joint two blocks away. I still wonder how she made out.

Well this was a lot of fun interesting how the pressure builds up in the crankcase. good to see you guys at it again . never a dull minute in your shop kudos.

This video made me a subscriber! Thank you very much, was great to see and know the results! Wonderful!

Nice a vid that show simple functions of automotive engines There should be a playlist of these here

That's actually fascinating. In this engine, a couple of extra quarts won't hurt. Great video. Well done.👍👏

My mechanic has told me stories about engines having been filled twice by mistake at an oil change. One blew all the oil seals and the other blew its block.

Well this seriously addressed a major recent concern of mine. Well presented. Thank you.

My son was on a road trip, close to a hundred miles from home, remembered he forgot to do the 5000 mile oil change, so found a shop to change it befor heading home. On the way home it wasn't running as it should. Checked the oil, it was way over filled, figured they forgot to dump the old oil and added the new on top. We drained it, it was thick, all the oil was a thick foam and in volume, about triple the proper amount. After a month the drained oil was still the same, still foam. I was surprised something didn't break, a piston rod or something, but motor was fine.

This is an awesome demonstration. I would love to see this done again but with a windage tray. Also, with a race oil with the anti-foaming properties. I would also like ro see this test again with a high flow oil pump to test the theory of sucking the pan dry. Also, add a pressure gauge to see the difference.

WHEN WORKING FOR THE SANTA FE RAILROAD IN AN LOCOMOTIVE SHOP, I ONCE SAW TWO GUYS START AND GENERAL ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE WITH ALL THE CRANKCASE COVERS OFF OF ONE SIDE! AN EARLIER CREW HAD REMOVED THE COVERS FOR AN CRANKCASE INSPECTION. THESE GUYS FAILED TO DO AN WALK AROUND INSPECTION BEFORE STARTING AND WHEN IT LIT OFF , IT SLUNG A LOT OF OIL OUT! HOWEVER IT WAS AN GREAT SHOW WATCHING THE INTERNAL PARTS AT WORK! I COULD HAVE WARNED THEM, BUT THEY WERE SOME “. KNOW IT ALL” TYPES AND DECIDED TO WATCH THE FUN, INSTEAD!!😅😅😅😅 KEEP THEM ROLLING BROTHERS!! 👍👍

I worked at a full service station back in the 80's when one day this women comes in for gas and oil. I offer to do it for her [my job after all] but she informs me she is quite capable of doing it herself. So she request 3 quarts of oil [at gas station prices] and she puts them in. I see her looking down into the case via the oil filler hole and she comes in and ask for another 3 quarts. She was going to fill the case until she could see the oil. I diplomatically offered my help and explained what a dipstick was and what it did. Coincidently she did need 3 quarts but have always wondered if the car would have even started if I had sold her all the oil she wanted.

These guys gave us the proper visual answer that we have in our minds. Next video suggestion, how little oil can an engine have before breaking

@Garage54 .... if you redo the test, you will thank me!! It will be a lot of fun!! That oil foam gets into the crank and rod bearings, and actually causes the oil film to break down, and you will spin a rod bearing or crankshaft bearing!! How do I know, I had two people do it already. Engine oil has detergents, and it foams; think Dawn soap when you shake it. The oil lifting up the engine block is allowing more air to mix into the oil. You didn't run long enough to have any detrimental effect......yet!! Try running the engine at a constant rpm when you see the air bubbles in the oil, and you will have that engine seize up!! Redo the double fill 6:30 mark, and leave the engine run above idle for at least 20 to 25 mins at constant rpm when you see air bubbles. The issue comes as people drive 10 plus minutes and the motor is above idle so air is mixing with the oil, so the test stand running for a few minutes isn't reflective of what can happen.

What really destroys an overfilled engine is the actual oil foam, it would be great if there was a camera capturing how much of those air bubbles where sucked by the pickup tube instead of oil, even with that milky microfoam you have huge ammounts of air on the galleys, rod bearings, etc, would be nice to see the aftermath.

My Dad was Marketing Manager of Petroleum Products for Gulf Oil before the merger that created Chevron. He always told me it is worse to overfill than underfill. Times have changed. This is a fascinating video. He started out there working in the grease pits at the Harmarville, Pennsylvania R&D facility in the late forties and worked his way up. He was with API and SAE and helped to create the ratings system for viscosity and acceptance by the automotive industry.

Finally, something on UKposts that was worth wasting time over !! Thanks mate, excellent presentation 👍 now I know.

That's a cool look inside of an engine. You guys do some unique stuff. Great video! Cheers!!! 🍻

This is my go to channel for engine shenanigan's and education 😁

Great video. Would like to see when oil is less than half of what’s required. Amazing info. Thank you.

your video was so incredibly done and informative. I subscribed to find out more about stuff. Thanks.

Much love from South Africa!

When the oil foams and turns milky, it becomes compressible and oil pressure is lost to the bearings - that's the main concern - it was more foamy at 2x than at max, so probably already loosing pressure, but you would have needed a gauge to measure - thanks for sharing!

This was by far one of the best automotive videos I’ve ever seen! So fucking to watch and see what the oil is actually doing! Came at a good time too, because I just overfilled my truck by just a little and have had anxiety about it since. I figured it should be ok, but this puts me more at ease! It’s a big V8 too so plenty of room for the additional bit of oil…

Basically what happens with a lot of oil .. and air .. the engine becomes an "air compressor" .. there is an air compressor that runs in oil using two screws at high speed to compress air .. so compressed air is going to build up and find a weak place. Great video and it has answered a very big question!!!

Love these video's. With this one I stopped worrying about pouring an extra quart of oil in my car. Just leave it in. 😄👍

I'm curious and maybe others are curious to see the simulation of high G-force turns by tilting the engine.

This guy is a rock star! Very good educator and cool and calm.

I had this happen to my first car back in the day. A quick oil change place put 9+ quarts of oil in my 4 quart car and didn't notice. Blew out every seal and the dipstick. I had oil splattered in the front wheel wells and all over the hood.

It's a good day when garage 54 comes out with a video

This is a great video! I'd love to see what the oil pressure was during these tests

in the 1980's I bought a 1970 Plymouth Valiant with a 225 slant six. A previous owner put the wrong dipstick in the engine making it look like oil was low when it was actually over filled. I picked it up cheap probably because the previous owner thought it was a leaker. The oil coated the firewall and had blown all over the undercarriage pretty much rustproofing the whole underside. I put in the correct dipstick, my father and I put on newer heads that could handle unleaded gas and an RV cam that gave more bottom end torque. It always ran great even when over filled with oil.

This channel is excellent! Thanks to the translator too!

I like that engine. Reminds me of good, simple engines from the 1960s.

I have to say this is a GREAT video. Very well done.

Great video and most of all extremely interesting at the part if one over fills an engine by approximately 1 liter, which can happen when not on even ground.

This was actually really cool to see. Love the clear oil pan, that was awesome