Narrative:

Short after takeoff out of ZZZ during the initial climb and after flaps were up; we noticed the lower part of the lower EICAS (engine indicating and crew alerting system) indication displayed came on; upon checking it we saw the oil quantity indication for # 4 engine displaying 3 units in magenta color; but no other EICAS indications or messages were associated with it and all other parameters seemed to be normal on that engine when compared to the other 3 engs; as soon as I saw the oil quantity showing 3 units I opted to reduced engine thrust to the affected engine to idle (#4) to try to mitigate and/or delay a possible engine shut down.I immediately proceeded to contact ATC and requested to stop the climb and advised ATC of an issue with one of the engine and that we needed to troubleshoot the problem and contact the company to see if we needed to shut down that engine; (since no EICAS message was calling for an engine shut down) but that we would most likely would be returning to the field. We briefly explained the engine issue to ATC after they asked the nature of the problem; and we also told ATC we needed a few minutes to work out the issue. ATC cleared us to maintain 18000 ft and they proceeded to give us headings. I then proceeded to satcom maintenance while I delegated the 3rd first officer (first officer) to handle ATC and assist [the first officer] who up to this point was still the PF (pilot flying). I briefed maintenance about the situation and since up to that moment there was no other EICAS indication calling for an engine shut down; or high oil temp of that engine; I asked maintenance if they recommended to shut that engine down anyway due to the low quantity indication; to what maintenance control responded not to shut it down and run it at idle. I ended our conversation with maintenance. I followed maintenance recommendation and we then proceeded to run checklists; work out the landing performance which I delegated to one of the fos and the fdp (flight data processing) was good for an overweight landing for both flaps 25 & 30 at the longest available runway which we then requested; and I then changed roles with [the first officer]; so I was then the PF and we then decided it was probably best if a more experienced first officer would sit on the right seat to assist me as the pm (pilot monitoring) for the approach and landing; so [the 2nd first officer] swapped seats with [the first officer] (who was on his second leg of oe) and [the 3rd first officer] stayed on the first observer seat throughout. We then notified ATC of sob (souls on board); fob (fuel on board); hazmat and that we didn't need to dump fuel.we set up and brief the approach and advised ATC we would be returning to the field; and since I deemed it safer to do an overweight landing rather than jettison fuel; we then requested for fire department to be standing by the runway and to escort us to the parking spot as a safety precaution in case the brakes would get too hot and catch on fire (due to the overweight landing). We then proceeded to return to ZZZ to shoot the RNAV approach to runway xr. We flew the approach all the way to landing with number 4 engine at idle for the most part since up to that point there was no EICAS message and all other engine parameters were normal. The landing was smooth and I used full reverser's and flaps 30 to mitigate high brake temperatures; but then right after we cleared runway xr; engine 4 oil temp upper EICAS message came on and I then proceeded to shut down engine #4. A number of fire trucks and vehicles met us by the runway and they escorted us to our parking stand; however the brake temp never went higher than 3 and no further issues were encountered during the taxi in. We proceeded to park finish our check lists and wrote up in the maintenance logbook both the issue with the oil quantity and the overweight landing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747-400 Captain reported low oil pressure and high oil temperature in an engine. Resulted in air return.

Narrative: Short after takeoff out of ZZZ during the initial climb and after flaps were up; we noticed the lower part of the lower EICAS (Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System) indication displayed came on; upon checking it we saw the oil quantity indication for # 4 ENG displaying 3 units in magenta color; but no other EICAS indications or messages were associated with it and all other parameters seemed to be normal on that ENG when compared to the other 3 ENGs; as soon as I saw the oil quantity showing 3 units I opted to reduced ENG thrust to the affected ENG to idle (#4) to try to mitigate and/or delay a possible ENG shut down.I immediately proceeded to contact ATC and requested to stop the climb and advised ATC of an issue with one of the ENG and that we needed to troubleshoot the problem and contact the company to see if we needed to shut down that ENG; (since no EICAS message was calling for an ENG shut down) but that we would most likely would be returning to the field. We briefly explained the ENG issue to ATC after they asked the nature of the problem; and we also told ATC we needed a few minutes to work out the issue. ATC cleared us to maintain 18000 ft and they proceeded to give us headings. I then proceeded to SATCOM Maintenance while I delegated the 3rd FO (First Officer) to handle ATC and assist [the FO] who up to this point was still the PF (Pilot Flying). I briefed Maintenance about the situation and since up to that moment there was no other EICAS indication calling for an ENG shut down; or high oil temp of that ENG; I asked Maintenance if they recommended to shut that ENG down anyway due to the low quantity indication; to what Maintenance Control responded not to shut it down and run it at idle. I ended our conversation with Maintenance. I followed Maintenance recommendation and we then proceeded to run checklists; work out the landing performance which I delegated to one of the FOs and the FDP (Flight Data Processing) was good for an overweight landing for both flaps 25 & 30 at the longest available runway which we then requested; and I then changed roles with [the FO]; so I was then the PF and we then decided it was probably best if a more experienced FO would sit on the right seat to assist me as the PM (Pilot Monitoring) for the approach and landing; so [the 2nd FO] swapped seats with [the FO] (who was on his second leg of OE) and [the 3rd FO] stayed on the first observer seat throughout. We then notified ATC of SOB (Souls on Board); FOB (Fuel on Board); Hazmat and that we didn't need to dump fuel.We set up and brief the approach and advised ATC we would be returning to the field; and since I deemed it safer to do an overweight landing rather than jettison fuel; we then requested for fire department to be standing by the runway and to escort us to the parking spot as a safety precaution in case the brakes would get too hot and catch on fire (due to the overweight landing). We then proceeded to return to ZZZ to shoot the RNAV approach to Runway XR. We flew the approach all the way to landing with number 4 ENG at idle for the most part since up to that point there was no EICAS message and all other ENG parameters were normal. The landing was smooth and I used full reverser's and flaps 30 to mitigate high brake temperatures; but then right after we cleared Runway XR; ENG 4 Oil Temp Upper EICAS message came on and I then proceeded to shut down ENG #4. A number of fire trucks and vehicles met us by the runway and they escorted us to our parking stand; however the brake temp never went higher than 3 and no further issues were encountered during the taxi in. We proceeded to park finish our check lists and wrote up in the maintenance logbook both the issue with the oil quantity and the overweight landing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.