Reading the section on "Checking the oil in your engine, and topping up"
from this web page http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html should
solve your mystery.

"Frank Boettcher" <fboettcher@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ckk2s1t05v7c7pdfcp15hsee6jmgctq952@4ax.com...
>
> Son has 94 accord four cylinder VTEC. Was visiting for the holidays.
> As he was warming up the car to start back I asked if he had checked
> oil. He said, no good idea so we turned off the engine waited about
> two minutes and then checked. Showed more than a quart low. He was
> alarmed but had just driven over a thousand miles on a high mileage
> engine and assumed he had burned some. Put a quart in and checked it
> again and it showed within the two dipstick holes about three quarters
> of a way to the top hole.
>
> He called me on the road when he had stopped for lunch and said the
> dipstick then showed about a quarter inch over the full hole
> indicating probably a half quart or so too much. The engine on this
> check had been off for about thirty minutes. We assumed full drain
> back from the head and any other crevices in the engine.
>
> question:
>
> How long should you wait to get a reasonably accurate reading on a
> fully warm engine after turning it off?
>
> Is a half quart too much a problem. Should he drain it back to
> protect the seals?
>
> thanks
>
> Frank
>
>