I've heard a number of stories about oil consumption being higher at
the max mark, and in fact a friend of mine got a 300D cheap because of
this --= the PO was convinced it had a terrible engine problem because
it was using more than a quart/1000 miles -- he kept it topped up in
spite of the advice my friend (his mechanic, no less) gave him. When
Hans got it, he just waited until the oil level got to the minimum
mark, as pre usual -- no oil added until the next change was due! The
half quart or so just under the Max mark burned off very quickly, then
it didn't use any more....
Overfilling will also cause the crank to slap the oil the in pan --
this usually results in a failed crankshaft if it persist any
significant length of time -- usually the oil gets foamed out the and
into the engine first, where it can cause hydrolock. You would
probably have to add several quarts over the max mark for this to
happen, though.
Peter
