2013 Chevy Avalanche jerking/knocking after oil change — could oil be overfilled?
2013 Chevy Avalanche 4WD ~149,000 km
About 2–3 weeks ago, I changed my engine oil for the first time myself, along with the idler pulley, tensioner pulley, serpentine belt, and engine air filter. I originally did those repairs trying to fix a squeal coming from the truck. Oddly enough, the squeal didn’t go away after replacing those parts, but it has since mostly disappeared on its own.
When I first checked the dipstick after the oil change, the oil was so light/clean that I had trouble getting a proper reading. I didn’t think much of it because I added the amount listed in the manual. Since then, though, I’ve checked it periodically and it now looks noticeably overfilled.
When warm, the oil level sits a bit above where the dipstick starts to twist. Now that the truck has been sitting cold for over a day (I haven’t driven it since the engine light came on), the level looks way higher than that.
The truck was running fine until the other day while I was doing deliveries (yes, I know this is a terrible food delivery vehicle 😅). I started noticing a mild banging/jerking/knocking sensation every minute or so, almost like something underneath or near the front end was intermittently catching or jolting.
A little while later, the engine light came on. I ended up getting it towed home because I didn’t want to risk making things worse by driving it further. Thankfully I’m with CAA, so the tow wasn’t a huge issue.
My question is: could overfilling the oil cause the jerking/knocking feeling and trigger the engine light? And if so, is it possible that draining the excess oil could resolve it?
I’m hoping to avoid another major repair bill if possible- this truck (and life in generally) has already cost me plenty this year.
Video is of my very anemic ass trying to show both sides of the dipstick 🫠
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!