Hi folks.

My FL2 had its first service last week at my local independent and they allowed me to provide the oil which was Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel 0W-40. I had provided 7 litres and they gave me back 300ml. The dipstick now shows an overfill and in the 100 or so miles that I have covered since the service the dipstick oil is a black colour.

Should I: 1) return the vehicle to them and insist that they drain some engine oil

2) query why the oil is black after such a short time


Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Ummmm, dropping oil out isn't easy, you would need to suck it out via the dipstick and that takes time
You oil will always be black for 2 reasons
1) It's a diesel engine so particulate gets in the oil and there is nothing you can do about it - if you dipped the oil immediately after the refill it would still be pretty dirty as the service agent can never get all the oil out of the engine - even if you left it several days to drain you would have to run the engine with no oil in it to get the last few drops out of it = dead engine!

2)The dealer has about one hour to get as much of the old oil out as it possible............................. if you did it yourself you could leave it longer, but see 1) above!

Also bearing in mind 1) above the mechanic (I hesitate to call him a technician!) is told he has to put X litres of oil in the car, he has no idea unless he measures what comes out when he drain the old stuff out, how much new oil to put in to get the level back to what it should be. Also I don't mean to be insutling to mechanics but some are not the smartest cookies on earth........................... and just do what they are told "Put X litres in it" so they do regardless. How can carbon have a footprint, it has no feet?
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Tim , apologies if this sounds really thick but does the engine not have a drain plug?

Yes, but it's on the bottom of the engine and once you ease it back you would have to keep it threaded by about 2 threads so as not to loose ALL the oil in one big rush.......................... also if you haven't tried to change engine oil yourself, doing the 2 threads thing sprays oil all over the place! Very messy job trying to drop a small amount of oil out.
What they should do is drop all the oil out and replace it a small amount at a time over a couple of hours to let it run down inside the engine, checking the dipstick as they go. Unless you do this yourself it will never happen at a dealer's service bay because they have a fixed time to carry out the service. Also I don't think many customers would be very happy to turn up at the end of a day to collect their car to be told that the dealer hadn't finished running the oil out, please come back in a couple of days - oh and we'll be charging you all the labour for doing it! How can carbon have a footprint, it has no feet?
Now driving - RRE Coupe Dynamic Lux Auto with Plus pack, Fuji White, Ebony, SD4 with tow pack
Gone - 2010MY FFRR TDv8 Stornoway and Ivory, Privacy - the pace of a TDv8 RRS, the incomparable grace of a Range Rover
Gone but will be missed- RRS Tdv8 HSE Stornoway Grey with Ebony Leather
Gone (only a little missed) RRS Tdv6 2.7SE Giverny Green/Aspen
Defender 90 County HT in Epsom Green

Thnks very much indeed Tim for your replies.

I am extremely concerned about the overfill though as I have read on this site and elsewhere that it can lead to engine failure. Still don't understand exactly how a "mechanic" , knowing (or maybe not as the case may be) that the oil capacity of the FL 2 is 5.8L cannot for example stick 5 litres in folllowing the drain and then top us as necessary to ensure that the dipstick isn't showing overfill.

I'm sure the garage could/should withdraw a little oil for you thru the dipstick hole. I agree with Tim though the black is normal At work
At home

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EN, probably he puts in 5.8litres because the job card he is working to says to put in 5.8 litres and he has a graduated measuring jug that holds just that much. The thing that will happen if there is too much engine oil in the sump is that it will get dragged up into the combustion chambers and get burned, which could have implications for your catylistic converter and lambda probe/ emissions. Whether 0.3l too much would cause overpressure in the engine or not I don't know.
Best thing is to contact the dealer and ask them to reduce the level for you, leaving it up to them how they do it!
You could also go to Lakeland Plastics and get a turkey baster tool and some tubing and do it yourself! How can carbon have a footprint, it has no feet?
Now driving - RRE Coupe Dynamic Lux Auto with Plus pack, Fuji White, Ebony, SD4 with tow pack
Gone - 2010MY FFRR TDv8 Stornoway and Ivory, Privacy - the pace of a TDv8 RRS, the incomparable grace of a Range Rover
Gone but will be missed- RRS Tdv8 HSE Stornoway Grey with Ebony Leather
Gone (only a little missed) RRS Tdv6 2.7SE Giverny Green/Aspen
Defender 90 County HT in Epsom Green

My car has been serviced twice so far, both times oil was over full. Have seen this sooo many times before on other makes I've stopped worrying. If there's a bit more in to start with then its longer before I have to top it up.

As TiS says its too much farting around for the dealer to be paying attention to the last couple of mm's on the oil level. A couple more variables to matching what goes in to what comes out ... how hot is the engine when they pull the plug plus a lot of lubes are pumped in from a bulk tank through an inline trigger/measuring device, probably depends how close an eye the mechy (or techy) is keeping on the gauge as it pumps in. And another point on dealer supplied oil is that they have different buying agreements so don't expect the same brand from every dealer. LR had been recommending Castrol as part of the Ford corporate alliance with BP, I guess this might change now LR is no longer part of the Blue Oval Group.

The car is just about due its third service, my money is on a slight overfill, again. At least that would be consistent!!! Stornoway Grey GS ... What a fine motor ... but not any more ... ... psst look at my gallery!
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