Hi Scotty, how's it going? About 3 weeks ago, we replaced the engine in our 2003 Camry and filled it with fresh oil. The "new" engine has about 60,000 miles on it. We noticed a few drops under the car the other day and checked the oil to find it was way too full. We drained some out today, and it wasn't foamy, but we used synthetic. Anyhow, just wondering if we could have done any damage to the engine, and how will I know? Thank you!
You checked the oil after the oil settled aand got rid of the air bubbles or oil foam that the overfill of the oil created. In the mean time when the crankcase was overfilled..the crankshaft churned the oil and make it foamy..that foam was sucked into the oil pump and distributed all over the engine...that air in the oil (foam) caused metal surfaces to contact other bearing surface and caused wear. Remember air compresses while fluid does not. How much damage ? no one can really tell....all depends on how much time and how much were the revolutions. basically I tell people maybe you robbed 5000 to 10,000 miles off the engine. maybe thats a little too much but it differs due in part to how much the engine was originally worn before.
Yes you did damage the engine but only incrementally. I would not lose sleep on it but always check the oil level before you start the engine and check it after it ran.
Thank you for your response!