2019 Mazda 3 Diesel with “Excessive Oil Level”

1475 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by misar, 11 d ago

DanTheMan23

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Hey all,
My 2019 Mazda 3 1.8 diesel has come up with a message on the dash saying “excessive oil level. have the vehicle inspected” as shown in the image attached. This is really confusing as I’ve not touched the oil except last week when I just checked the oil level. This message also came up on my car back in November 2022 and I took it to my local garage and they drained out the excess oil and even then it was confusing as to how it happened in the first place. A few weeks after that, I had an oil change as well. Now, I have it booked into my local Mazda garage to be inspected on the 21st of March but in the mean time does anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to why this is happening?

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1 - 17 of 17 Posts

arathol

· #2 · 3 mo ago

Fuel contamination possibly?

Deano

· #3 · 3 mo ago

If it's gotten higher on the dipstick it can only be fuel or coolant getting into the oil...most likely fuel

DanTheMan23

Discussion Starter · #4 · 3 mo ago

arathol said:
Fuel contamination possibly?

If that were the case, that would affect the performance right? But the car drives perfectly fine as it did when I first bought it

DanTheMan23

Discussion Starter · #5 · 3 mo ago

Deano said:
If it's gotten higher on the dipstick it can only be fuel or coolant getting into the oil...most likely fuel

Damn that sounds bad :/

Majkl

· #6 · 3 mo ago

DanTheMan23 said:
Damn that sounds bad :/

Unfinished DPF regens caused it probably. Are you often driving at short distances?

DanTheMan23

Discussion Starter · #7 · 3 mo ago

Majkl said:
Unfinished DPF regens caused it probably. Are you often driving at short distances?

That’s a good shout.. I do mainly drive short distances. My work is about a 2 mile drive so that doesn’t help lol

dvorjan

· #8 · 3 mo ago

DanTheMan23 said:
I do mainly drive short distances. My work is about a 2 mile drive so that doesn’t help lol

That's the perfect recipe how to kill a diesel engine. It will get all clogged up with soot.
Pick up a hobby that is at least 30 miles away. Or change the car for a petrol powered one.

Majkl

· #9 · 3 mo ago

DanTheMan23 said:
That’s a good shout.. I do mainly drive short distances. My work is about a 2 mile drive so that doesn’t help lol

2 miles are not great for DI Gasoline either. Driving such short distances with Diesel is a death sentece to the engine and DPF.

arathol

· #10 · 3 mo ago

Look, this is a known issue with diesels with DPF systems. Mazda knows about it but won't acknowledge its existence. If you don't do much driving outside the urban environment, less than a few miles a day, lose the car and get something with either gasoline or electric power.....

www.mazda3revolution.com

Faster DPF regeneration

If you notice that regen has started (high consumption, exhaust noise, i-Stop engine indicator), just downshift a gear or two. When engine revs over 3000, regen is done in less than 5 minutes.

www.mazda3revolution.com

www.mazda3revolution.com

DanTheMan23

Discussion Starter · #11 · 3 mo ago

Of course I understand that driving very short distances for diesels is a death sentence. I just mentioned my work place is a 2 mile drive just for info. I have driven a fair amount of mileage since I bought the car in Feb ‘22. It had been driven just under 29k miles and now it’s on 43k, so it’s not like I’ve barely driven it. I’m guessing in the past month or so, I haven’t driven enough motorway miles and that’s why this message has come up. Probably why it came up in October as well. The last long trip I took was at the end of January and it was about 100 miles each way.

Do you guys think it’s still worth Mazda having a look at?

arathol

· #12 · 3 mo ago

Yes. If your oil level is rising its because you have fuel contamination. Your oil will at least need to be changed.

DanTheMan23

Discussion Starter · #13 · 3 mo ago

Ah okay, very true. Thanks for your insight

arathol said:
Yes. If your oil level is rising its because you have fuel contamination. Your oil will at least need to be changed.

ASH8

· #14 · 3 mo ago

Never buy any diesel if you do short distant driving.

All Mazda diesels "suffer" oil level rising, it's unburned fuel getting past rings as car engine never gets hot enough and DPF does not get to burn off properly either. A recipe for disaster.
Most common rail diesels will have this issue if you do short distance commutes.

jamazda3

· #15 · 16 d ago

DanTheMan23 said:
Of course I understand that driving very short distances for diesels is a death sentence. I just mentioned my work place is a 2 mile drive just for info. I have driven a fair amount of mileage since I bought the car in Feb ‘22. It had been driven just under 29k miles and now it’s on 43k, so it’s not like I’ve barely driven it. I’m guessing in the past month or so, I haven’t driven enough motorway miles and that’s why this message has come up. Probably why it came up in October as well. The last long trip I took was at the end of January and it was about 100 miles each way.

Do you guys think it’s still worth Mazda having a look at?

Did you still go to Mazda - did they have anything to say about it in the end?

DanTheMan23

Discussion Starter · #16 · 11 d ago

jamazda3 said:
Did you still go to Mazda - did they have anything to say about it in the end?

I did go to Mazda back in March and they basically told me that there was indeed too much oil as the diesel engines require 4.1 litres of oil and not 5 litres, which is what is standardly put in during an oil change. The sensor only detects that level of oil later and not immediately after an oil change due to some technical things the guy explained but I’ve forgotten now. So they drained out all the oil and refilled with 4.1 litres. Essentially… if anyone gets this message on their diesel, just do an oil change and make sure you only get 4.1 litres filled up 👍🏼

misar

· #17 · 11 d ago

You had a typical dealer response.

As already pointed out Mazda diesels have had this problem widely reported since they were forced to use a DPF. The problem will return unless you periodically drive the car under the conditions required to ensure regen of the DPF is completed correctly. The view on UK forums for many years was at least 30 minutes motorway cruising in a lower gear than usual to maintain sufficiently high revs.

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