electrical reset

[afpdl]

I over fill my gt3 with oil and now the car will not allow the starter to turn the engine over. Any ideas as to what to do?

[nick49]

The first thing I would do is drain out the excess oil.

[afpdl]

The first thing I would do is drain out the excess oil.

This happened to my dads car. I wasnt there when the initial overfill happened but this is what was described to me. He drained the oil for an oilchange but didnt know there was a drain plug for the oil tank as well as the crank case.

He then put oil in untill it was completely topped off (as there was still oil in the tank) and then started the car. Im told it started fine then but then realising the car was overfilled the oil change was reattempted and the same thing happened as the oil tank never got drained but this time when starting the car it wouldnt start.

This is when he told me about the problem and I went over and re did the oil change correctly (both drain plugs and filter) and then put in 8 quarts of oil. I took off the intake and cleaned out all the oil I could which I guess shot out when it was started the first time. Reassembled everything and turned the key. The starter didnt attempt to turn the engine over and all that happened some clicking noise. It seemed like the battery was dead (it never had any previous problems) so I tried jumping it to no avail. Plugged the battery into a charger and it sat for a day charging and it still wont crank.

Cliffs: Engine was overfilled and started/ran. Second time it was started while overfilled it wouldnt turn over. Drained all oil and filled with 8 quarts and it now sounds like it has a dead battery but battery is charged and checks out fine.

[clord]

afpdl...... This might be serious. I gather from your statement the oil "shot out" that the engine has inhaled some amount of oil from the breather system. Best case, the MAF is soaked and giving some danger signal to the ECU. Worst case (I hope this isn't it), the first start after the overfill inhaled enough oil to partially fill one or more cylinders and the motor has hydrolocked. If it has, the starter is trying to turn the motor which has a charge of incompressible oil in a cylinder and won't turn over. If this worst case has happened, and the car is still on warranty (you didn't say if it's a Mk I or Mk II in the USA), I would recommend getting a flat bed tow to the nearest dealer for analysis. Please let us know what happens.

[nick49]

I would remove spark plugs to decrease resistance of compression and see if it will crank over. Also try to turn over the motor carefully manually using a wrench on one of the accessory pulleys. If it is locked it may require disassembly. Cross your fingers and hope for the best. I have heard catistropic failures from the engine filling with fuel and an attempted start. Good luck!

[0586slb]

It sounds as though there has been enough oil sucked into the cylinders to cause a hydraulic lock. This is fairly serious, as you can crack something if you continue. Charge the battery and remove all spark plugs. Crank and crank the engine until there is no more oil perceptively coming from the spark plug holes. Now re-install the plugs but do not connect them. Try cranking the engine over. If it now cranks, shut everything down and reconnect the spark-plugs. Now attempt to start. Be prepared for some exhaust smoke and to clear some engine fault codes.

[afpdl]

Thanks for the replys. Hydrolocking seems very possible as I could still see a decent amount of oil in the intake manifold I just didnt think about it being a possibility for some reason.

I will let you all know how it goes.

[clord]

Hey afpdl.... I was speaking to a lead Porsche Tech from a local dealership yesterday. I described your situation to him. He suggested that a potential 'hydrolock' might be happening on the crankcase side of the pistons instead of the the combustion chamber side. He has seen dry sump 911s that have sat unused for a few months (especially if car is not level and the oil tank is on the high side) drain oil from the tank back through the pump and into the crankcase sump. That would fill the crankcase to the point that the motor could lock on a piston down stroke into the crankcase. He specifically remembers other techs trying to start such a car with a jumper and getting just the solenoid click....and thinking that their jumper was dead too. He says the fix is to just open both the crankcase drain AND the oil tank drain and let it drain for "a few days".....then, turn it over to see if it has freed up. If so, refill and start it.....and expect a lot of smoke for a while.

Good luck and please let us know how it turns out for you.

[afpdl]

I forgot to reply but my dad removed the spark plugs and there was some oil in all of the cylinders and one cylinder with alot of oil. He turned the engine till oil stopped visibly coming out and then put the plugs back and it started up. Smoked alot for awhile and now appears to be fine.

Thanks for the help.