Blowing Smoke!

I just changed the oil and filter in my VX yesterday - put in 10w40 this time, because the 10w30 that I filled it with last time was almost all gone (i guess summer heat?).

I put in about 1.5 gallons (6 quarts) and it's way over the full line.

So anyhow, I turned on the engine tonight, and what looked like white smoke (it's dark out) starts billowing out of the exhaust.

What could it be? Did I put in too much oil? Or maybe something worse? I'm concerned that maybe there was too little oil and my cyllinders got scored and now I'm burning large amounts of oil.

Anyone have any ideas? I was going to get a compression test done anyway, now I really need to. Should I get it towed to the service station or do you guys think it'll be ok to drive?

Thanks!

Steve

Ouch! When dealing with crankcase oil it's always better to be a little low than a little over. Too much and you can blow out all sorts of stuff from the excessive pressures. Drain the excess out immediately and don't run it until you do, then get it checked to asess the damage. This is one of the oldest tenets in reciprocating engine maintenance, so take note! ;oog;

As the 3.5L is a pretty tough block I've got my fingers crossed there is little to no damage and that you ran it only briefly. Let us know how it turns out! :luck:

Uhhh... what do you mean by "almost all gone"? How much drained out?

The VX is water cooled so engine temp is largely determined by the thermostat. If you're burning oil it's not caused by high ambient temperatures. You did overfill it though. Oil change with new filter should only take about 5 quarts. I've seen overfilled vehicles blow hellacious amounts of smoke but in all but one case the situation was easily rectified with proper oil level. Have you tried draining out a quart to see if that improves the situation? I hope it does! Almost all gone is not good though so keep an eye on that oil level!

If it wasn't smoking before the oil change.......

...then there was either no problem, or no oil.

By the way Transio, that one case I saw that wasn't easily cured by just draining the oil out was an extreme case where the guy didn't overfill by 20% or whatever - he doubled up and filled up the crankcase. It was a big single and the piston had stopped near TDC as they are wont to do. When he hit the starter and spun that big flywheel the crankcase was pressurized and you can imagine what happened... You didn't overfill it that much though so you should be OK - just drain the excess. As you were!

Ok, thanks, guys, that's what I thought the problem was...

I put in the extra quart this time because I'm lazy and don't like adding oil between changes. I hope I didn't do any damage!!!! :eek:

I'll drain a quart and update you guys.

UPDATE: drained the quart and it's looking good. I'm gonna take it to my mechanic just to be safe and have things checked out.