oil overfill weirdness -- anybody ever seen this

I recently bought an '01 XJ, has the factory off-road package and oil cooler. The dipstick has two dots, says "SAFE" between them. When I checked the dipstick before buying, oil was clean, but above the top dot by maybe 1/2 inch. Did not think much about it. After I got it home, I noticed that there was a little oil dripping from the front, plastic piece under under the radiator etc and occasionally I would smell oil. I changed the oil, added the 6 qts that the manual says it should have, and a new filter, Oil still above the top dot by 3/4 inch. Took a long road trip. Lots more oil dripping from the front than before, have not been able to tell where it is coming from. Now that is has slung out the excess, it appears to have quit leaking (or at least slowed down again) still above the top dot. I have looked at the oil pan, it is not dented. I'm not sure what to think. I doubt that it has the wrong dipstick and I am assuming that oil above the top dot means that it is overfilled. Can somebody verify that for me? I can't imagine that what could make my capacity smaller than spec. Is it possible that for some reason the oil cooler assembly is keeping all of the oil from draining? I'm thinking that I should figure out what it takes to get the oil to the full mark on the dipstick and leave it at that, but it will be less than the spec'd 6 quarts.

And no, I'm not a newbie to maintenance (but am a newbie to Jeeps) I have been doing my own maintenance for over 20 years, rebuilt several engines successfully, but this is strange.

Thanks for any feedback you might have.

you never thought about maybe draining some out?
check your distributor's base see if its coming out there.i doubt that excess oil would make the oil pump push it out through the front cover.and it takes 5 quarts, as my pennzoil master lube book states.also check your valve cover, mine was loose and i was losing about 1quart per 100 mi


EDIT:also anybody see that thread floating around pirate about that guy that did the first oil change on his sti with 80w90
but it was atleast royal purple,reminded me of that hahah.

that is wierd, I don't think the last guy knows what he is talking about. Maybe the leak is coming from the front seal?

mine came from the factory with a cooler in front of the radiator and a/c, for the AW-4, low down 'bout 4 inch tall and 14 long. the in and out tubes go down under the radiator and change to hose. one clamp was loose and it had a slow leak, real bear to get to, tightened during radator change fixed it.

-might try to find another jeep and compare the dipsticks to be sure its right one. Also measure the dipstick tube into engine correct length.(check the oil in one engine with both dipsticks and compare. Strange problem!

Good Luck.

You didn't mention the transmission--AW4?

Could that cooler be a transmission or PS cooler?

Maybe you don't have the correct dipstick--had that happen with a Ford 351W one time, always read overfull until I put the correct dipstick in.

I would figure the front seal, but if the VC is leaking oil can run down the front of the engine and accumulate on the plastic crud shield down there.

Xj's dont have a oil cooler!

Well, there you go!

That is, unless the PO installed one--is there an adapter plate sandwiched between the oil filter and the mount, perhaps with two lines running from it to the cooler?

RockHeep, the '01s do not have a traditional distributor, mine has a coil pack and crank pickup. Also my manual clearly states SIX qts for the 6 cyl engine not 5.
I was not going to drain any out just for kicks, since I know I put 6 qts in and drained the engine properly when I did the change.


I thought the as built from DC said that it had an oil cooler, but I could be mistaken. I can't find the email now for some reason. There is another cooler in front of the radiator, most likely for the auto tranny.

I do believe that it is engine oil, not trans fluid. It is difficult to see what is going on in there without pulling some stuff of.

Anyway, right after I changed it, there would be a 6 inch smear of oil on the ground where it was parked after it set for 20-30 minutes, but it does not do that now. The oil on the dipstick is still above the second dot and the tranny fluid is fine too.

Orange that is an excellent idea about trying another dip stick, I will do that.

My 2000 is relatively new to me and I only did one oil change. I only put in 5 quarts and checked it after a short run. It was up to the middle between the low and high marks. I know if I put the extra quart in, it would show overfull. Most people would say to put in the 6 quarts and consider that full, but I left it like it checks on the dipstick. The other thing to watch on the 2000's and 2001's is coolant getting into the oil via the famous 0331 cracked head issue, of which I am also a victim. Look on the bottom of you oil filler cap for the tell-tale milky residue. And watch your coolant usage.

-From FSM on mine 4.0L also 6 qts.-(for sure-I just looked!)

I added oil cooler long ago- seems like it WAS about a 1/8 inch over on stock with fresh oil and filter. Its been a while, so not sure.

Maybe someone else can verify stock fresh oil/filter level dipstick reading.

(Seems like it's supposed to be read, -oil hot and 5 minutes after shutdown somewhere in the book?)

how about maybe the PO ran a crap oil in it, and you have an inch of sludge in your oil pan...

I've seen that before....

LOL- Ya got me! now I gotta read the dipstick EACH qt. of oil next change to see how much one qt changes reading!

wow. Well I had not consider that I might have an inch of sludge in the pan, but maybe.
How about them Steelers?

I think I will go to a higher capacity filter, like the wix 51515 and see what that does, take orange's suggestion about checking with another dipstick and pull some of the shrouds off to see if I can tell where the oil is leaking from.

If I have any breakthroughs I will post, but keep sending the ideas.....

Think about it. How much does a quart of oil change the oil level? How much tolerance is there on an oil pan stamping, on the oil pan gasket, on the engine block oil pan face, on the dipstick tube and on the dipstick seat to marking length. As long as you keep more than 2 0r 3 quarts in it and don't go over 7 or 8 quarts, you should be good. The most accurate way is to put 6 quarts in it, run it for 10 minutes, let it sit for 10 minutes, and try to keep it at whatever that shows on the dipstick or a touch lower.

You ever think to check and see if maybe you had a dent in your oilpan?

Maybe think to add oil, check dipstick, add oil, check etc til it was right rather than doing what it says it calls for letting that be that.

I am no master mechanic by any means but I do my own maintenance and I know not to overfill the damn oil cause it will find its way out.


As stated above you may have sludge in the bottom or maybe a piston hanging out in the bottom (joking)..... the attitude of add what they say to is a horrible way of going about doing things. It just makes more work for you later since it (obviously) had blown some seals with too much oil.


Your Jeep isnt new, and its certainly doesnt seem to have had the best caring for in the world, so do a little thinking before you mess something else up for yourself.

I dont care what the FSM says, if I put in 6 and a quart leaks out through the seals, something just aint right

RCP Phx said:

Xj's dont have a oil cooler!

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X2 That would be a Tranny cooler AW4!!

If all else fails. Check all the seals, add an oversized oil pan. keep puttin the 6 qts in. I am new to the Jeep world. got bored with on-road vehicles. last project was a '77 Z28 Camaro that had its fair share of issues.

Mine typically takes around 5 1/2 quarts, filter and oil change (I use liters, so this is a guess). When your looking this up, always remember there is a difference between an oil change and an oil and filter change. I usually add a quart less than called for, start up the motor, run it for awhile, then top it off with a portion of the last quart. I stop adding oil before it reaches the full mark, somewhere around half way between add and full, it takes awhile for all of the oil to drain back to the pan.
I usually top off at add, until about 1/2 way between add and full, because I usually check my oil after a drive and some oil stays in the top end of the motor for a good long while. I was always told overfilling is as bad as under filling.
Oil doesn't get really critical until it barely registers on the dipstick at all, there is some redundancy built into the fluid levels.
I've noticed before, when I have a leaky front or rear seal, it often tends to leak worse when the pan is full (dipstick at full) and the leak often tends to slow down as I reach the add mark.
One sure way to overfill is on a hill or cant. It doesn't really take much off level to affect the level on the dipstick.

Stallacrew said:

You ever think to check and see if maybe you had a dent in your oilpan?

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If you had read the first post, you would have seen that I said it wasn't dented.

Stallacrew said:

I dont care what the FSM says, if I put in 6 and a quart leaks out through the seals, something just aint right

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My point exactly. Every other Chevy, GMC, Ford, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota I have ever owned took the amount of oil stated in the manual without blowing any of it out.

I am an engineer, I expect specs to be correct so if DC says their 4.0L engine with filter takes 6 qts, I believe them. If something seems amiss then I start looking for the issue. I cannot believe that even stacked tolerances would account for a 1 inch delta on the dipstick.

Maybe your using the wrong oil filter, if its to small your capacity will go down, also theres a possibility you have sludge buildup on the bottom of your oil pan, that would easily put your capacity down as well. My 4.0 takes 5.7 litres ( 6 quarts) every time