Oil overfilled, wasn't before

[Sylvanite]

I checked the oil level recently and to my surprise the oil was half an inch above full mark on the dipstick. It's been parked a lot, it drove about a mile last week, drove a few times before that since the oil change in late May, maybe ~90 miles total. Now, it has a lot of oil leaks, so I was expecting the level to be low if anything. Oil seems clean, no antifreeze I think. Any ideas as to why this happened?

[fixkick]

engine oil or tranny?

virtual sig. 1993 16 valve 4 door sidekick what trans? of the 3?

[Sylvanite]

Sorry engine oil. Yes 4dr 16v, and 5 sp. if that matters

[fixkick]

if too high, then it was topped off hot.
or overfilled cold.
to check oil , so do in in AM first run, after all oil is in the pan. every drop. (mostly)
or is foamed up, overfilling it can cause the crank shaft to wipe i to foam , a very bad idea. foam done lube rods or mains.

1: over filled
2: short sticked.
3: foamed
4: gas in oil
5: other fluids there. ouch
6: filled hot.
7: filled running , OMG.

i hope it is 2

[Sylvanite]

The oil was stone cold, not run in a week. I could be wrong, but I was pretty sure the oil level was alright when I last checked it. So I think it would have to be something catastrophic that has gone wrong (I drove it at most 40 miles since the last time I checked the oil level), or some kind of measurement error/ problem with the stick.

What is short sticked?

[fixkick]

stick jammed, short sticked
there is no place for engine oil to hide. not overnight, oil is checked on a cold engine, after drain down..
on the road, very carefully, just keep it above the low line., then check it in AM first thing, key in pockets.