96 civic ex

Typically I check my oil when cold.

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to flip my car around, then checked the oil and it was on the lower mark, I just checked it Weds say 2 or so days ago when it was cold and it was on the upper mark.

My question is since I turned the car on for a minute to flip it, and then checked the oil maybe within 5 mins, could it read that much lower in a few days? I know you are supposed to wait say 15 mins or so for the oil to settle back down in the pan.

 

lol when its cold all the oil has had a chance to settle down to the pan, when you start it, oil is dispersed throughout the oil system. Check it warm.

 

Uh what? The dipstick reads the amount of oil in the pan.

 

True that is why the owner's manual says wait like 15 mins for it to settle back down after running it.

My question is I didn't wait had the car running for like a minute, can the reading be that off? Can that much oil I guess be in the oil pump, internals etc?

 

Oh. yeah. It could be. I did that once and panicked and wound up overfilling. What a smoke trail!!!

 

That always looks good going down the road.. LOL

 

On level ground, check the oil at least a coupe of hours after the engine has been shut off.

 

Guess what I checked it cold today, now I am past fill LOL. I must of jumped to conclusions, no white smoke like Marc had, I am thinking I will burn it off.

I guess starting the car and not letting it settle down and then checking it within 5 mins was not enough time, so I got a low reading.