oil overfill...am i screwed?!?!??!?!

[picturesofhope1]

yo sup everyone...so i think i may have made a fatal mistake. i overfilled my engine, started it and noticed some white smoke...so, i drained the oil and am going to start over tomorrow. im wondering...am i completely screwed now and is it even worth trying to start over?! let me know what you can.

Thank you!!!!!!

[cywelchjr]

No, you should be fine. The main problem with overfilling is that the oil pressure can be a bit high which can put extra pressure on seals which can cause trouble over time, and that is can make your bike smoke and use oil. Having caught it quickly and fixed the issue you should be just fine, it being very unlikely for anything to have been damaged that quickly, guys have run for days or even weeks with too much oil in their engines without damaging anything other than ending up with oil in their air filter.

[picturesofhope1]

good lord sir thank you! I was completely and totally freaking out. Good thing i caught it quick. to be completely honest im a complete and total newbie with doing anything mechanical and made the mistake of ONLY taking the oil filter off without realizing i had to take the stupid drain plug out. Absolutely stoked i figured that out and will NEVER make that mistake agian! Thanks once again for the feedback, and i appreciate it!!!

[cywelchjr]

Have seen people make that mistake before . Once you know where the oil drain plug is you won't miss it again though .

[picturesofhope1]

ha! that is the complete and total truth. Glad im not the only one to have made this mistake before!

[ddragon63]

the biggest issue with over filling the oil in anything is the crankshaft counter weights can touch the raised oil level... the crank will swipe @ the oil and create "windage" which will build excess crank case pressure. which can cause seals to leak and oil to blow thru the breather into the air box. the smoke you are seeing is probably blow by (too much crank case pressure causing the pressure to push past the rings) which the pressure will take oil vapor with it and into the combustion chamber then it burns IE smoke. Drain out the access and you should be fine. Take your air box apart and clean out any oil if you find some clean your plugs too. It happens to the best of us

[mjpxs11sh]

learning

let me just say if we didnt make mistakes, we wouldnt be learning. as long as they're not fatal mistakes.
1) you were smart enough to acknowledge ur mistake

2) and more importantly, you're smart enough to be on this forum

CONGRATS!

[XJfan1]

i disagree with you guys totally. the bike is screwed you should give it to me. im kidding. its fine im sure of it. when i bought my xj it was about a quart over full and was as thin as water."it was full of gas". i changed the oil and the filter and she seems to be fine. my bike has k&n pod filters on it so the crankcase vent just has blows into the air via a little filter and when the po had it it blew a ton of oil out the vent and allover the motor and battery area. im still trying to clean it up. i have put 210 miles on her this month. with no big problems. she purrs like a kitten on crack. fyi incase your new to the 1100 alltogether they will wheelie fairly easy. i scared the crap out of myself.

[James England]

I once filled mine with oil and thought "this is taking a hell of a lot". Then I found the puddle of oil at my feet. I'd forgotten to put the drain plug back!

[ViperRon]

cavitation

I am sure your bike is fine but the real damage to bikes cars etc is not really from the excess oil pressure blowing out seals. When the crank is allowed to beat the oil it induces excessive amounts of air bubbles into the oil. When the oil pump gets the oil it can go threw a process called cavitation where the pump can be damaged and it can push bubbles of air up into crank and rod bearrings that have reduced lubrication just like when the oil is low enough to start sucking air into the pump. Generally if the mistake is caught early there is no damage but over a period of time the oil is beat thin where there is more and more air introduced. My experience was with hydraulic pumps in the Navy running at over 1200 PSI and 60 GPM these pumps would actually dissentigrate in a short time if too much air was injected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation

[DAVINCI]

good lord sir thank you! I was completely and totally freaking out. Good thing i caught it quick. to be completely honest im a complete and total newbie with doing anything mechanical and made the mistake of ONLY taking the oil filter off without realizing i had to take the stupid drain plug out. Absolutely stoked i figured that out and will NEVER make that mistake agian! Thanks once again for the feedback, and i appreciate it!!!

Fer crissakes get yourself a service manual.

[trbig]

So is this the point we tell him about the other drain plug for the middle drive?

[jetmechmarty]

I am sure your bike is fine but the real damage to bikes cars etc is not really from the excess oil pressure blowing out seals. When the crank is allowed to beat the oil it induces excessive amounts of air bubbles into the oil. When the oil pump gets the oil it can go threw a process called cavitation where the pump can be damaged and it can push bubbles of air up into crank and rod bearrings that have reduced lubrication just like when the oil is low enough to start sucking air into the pump. Generally if the mistake is caught early there is no damage but over a period of time the oil is beat thin where there is more and more air introduced. My experience was with hydraulic pumps in the Navy running at over 1200 PSI and 60 GPM these pumps would actually dissentigrate in a short time if too much air was injected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation

This is the real reason you'd be screwed in a hurry if you ran like that. Did the red "OIL" light come on? Once the oil is whipped into a froth, you'll have no oil pressure. If the light did not come on, you're going to be OK. Just drain it and service it properly.

[trbig]

In this case, you aren't screwed, but you did waste some oil. Since you put new on top of old, you'll need to drain it all and add new again.

[CaptonZap]

So is this the point we tell him about the other drain plug for the middle drive?

Naw, that one is hard to find, unless your head is 6 inches in diameter, and you can focus six inches in front of your face, and if he is new to the meching on these things, it's better to wait till he has some experience before he delves into the middle drive. Just make sure there IS oil in it. CZ