Oil problems

[rgatleson]

I have a 1993 Ford Explorer and am confused about what is going on with it. I recently purchased it and changed the oil as soon as I got it home. Everything was fine for a few days but when I checked the oil yesterday, the dipstick shows that I am about 5 quarts over full. It was perfect at the time of changing. I am not showing any water in the oil at all. What am I overlooking?

 

[James909]

Have you checked the transmission fluid? If it's low then you probably have a bad vacuum modulator. If the diaphragm rips on the vacuum modulator ATF can get by and is then sucked into the engine via the vacuum line. This ATF would then make it's way into the oil.

 

[rgatleson]

Yes I have checked the transmission fluid and knew when I bought the Exploreer that the front seal was bad. But thank you very much and I will also check on the vacuum modulator as well.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! A leaking front seal won't cause a problem like this.

 

[Cobraguy]

If it were 5 quarts of ATF, the car wouldn't move. Let's drain the crankcase until the level is correct and see how much extra is in there. Maybe we can tell what's in there to from that. If it's ATF, I suspect it's only a quart or so. If it truly is 5 quarts over, I sure wouldn't start it.

 

[Maniak]

Is it really 5 quarts over, or are you just extrapolating based on how large the low to full hash mark thing is on the stick and using that to gauge how much higher it is?

If your extrapolating, keep in mind that once your get over full, how much over full shown on the dip stick doesn't follow the same as it did between a little low and full.

~Mark