over filled herald oil

[Camilla]

Hi All

this is probably a very silly question but please don't heap derision on me for my newbee ignorance. I checked the oil levels this morning and they were low so i topped them up but have now over filled the herald by about 2/3rds of an inch over the marker. Is this going to lead to any kind of catastrophe? i tried opening the oil drain bolt but it is simply too tight.
Would you recommend having the oil drained off or can it be driven in this state?
Thanks as always for your help

Camilla.

[ferny]

The crank should miss that (I think...). To be sure though, take the spark plugs out and spin her up until the oil light goes out then remove the oil filter and left it empty into something. Repeat until the oil level reaches where you want it to be. The reason for taking the plugs out is to lessen the strain on the engine and allowing the battery to last that bit longer.

You're going to have to get that sump plug out at some point for an oil change, but it'll get messy if you only want to drain some out rather than all.

[Camilla]

thanks for the reply. i did as you suggested and ran it for 5 minutes until the oil light went out and then tried removing the oil filter. unfortunately, i couldn't unscrew the filter. we had a new oil filter less than a year ago so i know its not being held in place by years of rust and muck. Shouldn't it be relatively straight forward to unscrew?

[ferny]

Aye, it should be hand tight but some hands are stronger than others. Try a damp rag which will give you better grip or something robbery.

[Camilla]

Still no luck unfortunately. My boyfriend tried and no luck either (he's usually pretty handy for this kind of thing).  Do you think it's worth taking it to a garage to be safe or is the likelyhood of the excess oil doing any damage quite slim. cheers Camilla

[herald948]

Personally, I wouldn't chance it. Do you have an old fan belt you can wrap around the filter as sort of a tourniquet? That might be enough to get it off. Alternatively, just get a clean pan to drain the oil in and start over!

[Spider]

Drain the oil into a clean container and refill by straining the oil through an old pair of tights or stockings, put one leg into the other to double the thickness then stretch over a funnel. You could of course refill with fresh oil. Oh yes I would suggest you throw the stockings away afterwards as no matter how many times you wash them they will never be the same again, as my ex will tell you.  :B :B :B probably one of the reasons she is now my ex.  :)

[ferny]

My post should have said rubbery, not robbery. Silly phone!

Nip along to Halfords, Machine Mart etc and grab a filter wrench then;
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_209641_langId_-1_categoryId_255216

Or, a jar opener which is what I've used on bits in the past;
http://www.dropshiponline.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=152


If it's coming up to a year old the filter needs changing anyway so if needs be, smack a screwdriver through it and us that as a handle... (whistle)

[Zendervision]

I favour the jar opener tool (B&Q sell a beefier one called the boa-constrictor, which is superb) I never had any luck with the chain type.

Anyway I'd say have another crack getting the sump plug off, then just let a little bit out and check the dipstick. It'll be messy but the filter method will be messy as hell too thanks to the filter pointing downwards.

[trojan]

small tube to go into sump via dipstickhole,   bicycle pump to fit tube onto,   and suck and squirt it out

[Camilla]

haha! excelllent. thanks for everyones advice. I eventually decided to go with the tube in the dipstick hole before Trojan's response. I was a bit in two minds about it but i'm glad to hear that someone else had the same idea. Thanks all