I was having this debate with myself and a friend of mine a few days ago after I almost over-filled the crap out of my car with oil. I was always under the impression that you get the best reading of how much oil you have when you drive your car up to operating temperature, turn it off, and hop out and check the oil. This is what I usually do when I get gas, as it makes me feel better about beating the **** out of the car.

The odd thing is, I stopped to get gas, checked my oil in the R and was about 3/4 of a quart low on the dipstick. Being in the Meijer parking lot getting gas, I decided to go in to get some oil. It was cold as ****, so I decided I'd drive home to put the oil in my car, stopped at Arby's on the way, went inside and ate, then came back out to measure the oil again and put more in. THis time the car had cooled completely, and sat for about 15-20 minutes. I could not have asked for a more perfect reading on the dip stick, we're talking exact middle of the dot where the oil is supposed to be. (I'm really glad I checked it twice, because I was just going to dump the oil in as I already thought I knew how much I was down.)

So the question is, which measurement are you supposed to go off of when filling your car with oil? I find it to be hard to believe that 3/4 of a quart of oil is still in the engine when I hop out and check the oil when the car is hot... But who knows

 

I have always been told to check the oil on level ground after letting the car sit for a few minutes.

 

Run car for a few minutes to make sure the oil gets into all of the places it needs to be (oil filter, etc.) and then let it sit for a while and check it on a level surface...

 

Quick edit=> this is good method for right after changing the oil. If you just roll up into a gas station and need to check oil, by all means if the oil is at the low dot, please add oil. Just enough to bring up to middle. This is sometimes only about 1/2 quart.



[Modified by davidnyc, 6:45 PM 1/4/2003]

 

i always let it idle a few minutes, turn the car off, let it sit 10 min or so, then check the oil.

 

Good clarification!!! I need to start reading all the way through posts...

Thanks!!


[Modified by Haunt, 6:53 PM 1/4/2003]

 

good idea to always check the oil

 

I thought you were always supposed to check the oil on a cool engine? If you check it on a warm/just shut off engine, not all the oil will be in the pan, and if you top it off, then you would be putting too much oil in your engine. I could be wrong though.

Anybody care to clarify this?

 

Run together what HiRevn and py1091 said and you got what I think

 

want the best reading, check in the morning, - any other time is just to get an idea or make sure you're not too low.. but if you want to know for sure, let it sit for several hours.

 

I don't know about your methods, But when I open the garage in the morning thats when I check the level.
and it has been correct since day one.


If you do an oil change after the car sits all night (without being started) the oil filter is bone dry and all the oil is in the pan. thats the reason why I do it in the morning and not after driving.

(now I know I could be wrong, but my method seems accurate)

 

after a oil change I turn car over for about 15-20 sec just so the oil can get into the filter and then check it

 

I check the oil every other day in the morning...

 

oil expands when it's hot.

enough said.

 

so does metal

 

when the engine is cold.

 

Damn!! That's a lot of oil checkin'

 

If the car has been running, you need to let it sit for a minimum of 10 or 15 minutes to get an accurate reading. I like to let it sit for an hour or so. My Porsche has a neat little timer that calculates how long you have to wait to get a proper oil reading, and then shows you how much oil there is on a bar graph. If the engine is cold, it gives a reading instantly, but if the car has been driven, it will sometimes make you wait a while. I have noticed that even when I wait for it to say it is a proper reading, I get a reading one bar down, whereas if I let the car cool off for an hour, I get a full reading.

Mike D.

 

pimpy!

and I also wait for the car to be sitting for a little while before checking the oil level.

damnit, #1214 is a freakin oil EATER... I really need to get in the habit of checking more often - it was a full quart low or more when I did the last oil change the other day. I am better at checking during race season. One day at the track a friend of mine with a 97 R and myself raced the whole day, and he actually did one extra 15 minute session then me... at the end of the day, I was at least half a quart low, and he hadn't lost any. *shrug*

 

What kind of oil do you use in your R?

 

I always keep my oil level 3/4 way from the bottom dot.

 

I haven't decided yet. I bought the cheapy castrol 5w-30 crap, but I still haven't decided if I want my first oil change in the car to introduce it to synthetic...