[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Dennis H.

This is so true! I worked in parts at a Dodge dealership for 20 years and saw so many oil lube guys come and go. Most all were incapable of doing a simple oil change correctly and I saw so many issues from them it was comical at times. They NEVER would check the dipstick before or after an oil change, only pump in what they thought it needed, and a lot of the time they did not even know the correct weight and capacity recommendations each engine took. Our dealership had to replace countless engines due to personnel issues at the oil change position. We even had a couple of lube techs would stash the oil filters in his tool box and never replace the filter! I would never trust any dealer or quick oil change place to ever change my oil, in my whole life I am the only one who has ever changed my own oil. And guess what, after over 56 years of driving I have never had a crossed or stripped oil plug, double gasketed filter, wrong oil type or qty issue ever. When I get too old to change my own oil, I guess it is time to quit driving or buy a Tesla!

My father was a mechanic almost all of his adult life, he lived to be 92, and changed his own oil in his cars rougly up until he was in his late 80s. My mother then took their car to the dealership for oil changes, and later to a trusted local independant garage. This was also about the time he started with dimentia, so probably for the best. My parents lived in Prescott AZ, so there was only a car port for him to do the oil changes, lying on his back, that's dedication......

I also have worked most of my adult life as a mechanic, and can think of only 1 time when the thermometer was only getting to around 10 degrees during the daytime, and my garage had a dead car in it, so I would have been lying in the snow to change my oil before a lengthy trip to NC, that I allowed someone else to change my oil in my car.

I finally bought a lift last year, so I guess as long as I can remember to drain the oil first, and refill it, I extended my years of changing my own oil. Hopefully the climate zealots don't outlaw petroleum during the rest of my life, just turned 71 on Saturday...........

I also have seen the grease monkey in a shop screw up oil changes with disastorous results, many times over the years. Goes back to the ancient adage, If you want it done right, do it yourself............

Nice thing about using by pass oil filters is, the time you can safely extend oil changes, and put off buying the overpriced oil currently. The price on TP is still under a dollar a roll...........LOL

To the OPs question, likely a mistake. If the oil is up to the crank it's going to be whipped into a aerated smoothie, and aerated oil will cause as many problems as running it low for oil. I can't really think of any mechanical deficiencies that overfilling the crankcase is going to cover up. One of the first things I do when considering buying a vehicle is pull the dipstick out, and remove the oil fill cap to look at the bottom of it, and get a visual under the valve cover, if it's not baffled.

Olds engines of that vintage have a tendancy, to coke the oil under the valve covers around the heat crossover in the intake manifold, especially if oil changes are neglected, This will also plug up the oil returns in the heads. I've seen many Olds (260/307/350) with that problem over the years.