topping up oil in car?

[MR.H]

hey just wondering when you top up oil in a car. when do you look
at the dipstick( do you keep on checking it after pouring oil in
or only at the beginning) and how do you know how much oil to put in ?
thanks

p.s. i did do a search but could only find how to drain and put oil but not how much oil etc

[dc2r-0636]

check how much you have before you pour some in. its like 500ml from the min line to the max. so just pour in like 250ml at a time. and wait for it to sink down. wait like 2mins
most accurate to check oil wen the engine is cold. i check mine once a week in the morning every sunday

[flipfire]

You keep checking the dipstick.

Pour 3/4 of your engines oil capacity and then slowly fill it from there while checking the dipstick each time.

Make sure your car is in a flat surface so the measurement is accurate.

[DLO01]

Also, check 10 mins after you top up. This lets the oil fully drain out of the engine to settle in the sump.

[he-tec]

Aren't you suppose to top up then check levels after running the engine.... since the oil will be used/circulated once it's running?

just a thought/correct me if I'm wrong

[curtis265]

nahnah cos then your entire engine is all wet with oil, you can't accurately determine the level cos the dipstick will be all wet

[najdi]

yes u do turn it on coz you need to check how much pil you have in the sump..if u leave it cold...itl all stay in the sump and not account for the oil being spun by the engine meaning not enoguh oil...but if u measure as in top engine oil up, run for 20 seconds, wait 3 minutes then check..it will account for how much oil is being spun and in the sump which will be the correct amount ? meh upto u but i turn my engine on b4 cheking oil level so do many car dealerships

[mocchi]

you know how there are 2 dots in the dip stick, in my D15 it takes about 500ml to raise fluid level from lowest dot to half way to second dot.

[aaronng]

yes u do turn it on coz you need to check how much pil you have in the sump..if u leave it cold...itl all stay in the sump and not account for the oil being spun by the engine meaning not enoguh oil...but if u measure as in top engine oil up, run for 20 seconds, wait 3 minutes then check..it will account for how much oil is being spun and in the sump which will be the correct amount ? meh upto u but i turn my engine on b4 cheking oil level so do many car dealerships
Yeh, dealerships do that and when I get the car back, the oil level is about 1cm above max!

[euromandeluxe]

yes u do turn it on coz you need to check how much pil you have in the sump..if u leave it cold...itl all stay in the sump and not account for the oil being spun by the engine meaning not enoguh oil...but if u measure as in top engine oil up, run for 20 seconds, wait 3 minutes then check..it will account for how much oil is being spun and in the sump which will be the correct amount ? meh upto u but i turn my engine on b4 cheking oil level so do many car dealerships

no idea what this is about..

as implied by aaron, all oil must be in the sump when checking oil levels. on some cars (like the s2000) the owner's manual says you must check oil level when the engine is warm (but after waiting for a few mins with the engine off). other cars require a cold check. not much difference between the 2 really.

check your facts mate!

[Super-DA9]

Engine must be cold, or at least not been driving for an hour I'd say. top up in small amounts with at least 30 sec intervals to let the oil sink down to the sump. fill to exactly the MAX level (dot). check again once a week.

[mocchi]

Engine must be cold, or at least not been driving for an hour I'd say. top up in small amounts with at least 30 sec intervals to let the oil sink down to the sump. fill to exactly the MAX level (dot). check again once a week.

fill in until fluid level is between 2 dots. not MAX level dot.
some dipstick wont have anything on them, just 2 dots. lower and upper dot.

[Super-DA9]

yeah but the space between those dots represents the "safe zone", shouldn't have any more or any less. you could have it halfway between the two if you wanted to, and it'd still be fine but it just means you'll have a bit less oil meaning a bit less protection and a bit less to spare if the engine burns some. as long as it's not significantly higher then the top dot there's no issue.

[na-118]

doesnt matter at all as long as there is oil showing on the dip stick for the oil pickup,

[defect]

yes u do turn it on coz you need to check how much pil you have in the sump..if u leave it cold...itl all stay in the sump and not account for the oil being spun by the engine meaning not enoguh oil...but if u measure as in top engine oil up, run for 20 seconds, wait 3 minutes then check..it will account for how much oil is being spun and in the sump which will be the correct amount ? meh upto u but i turn my engine on b4 cheking oil level so do many car dealerships


dealerships have no idea ! lol

[najdi]

ok net heros what i ment was the engine needs to spin to accumilate the oil..do internals NOT run on oil ? if you pour in oil...dont start the car and just check it..thats not correct..you can do that if u really want but i personally wouldnt...and as per specs i no certain cars eg VW fill 4L oil..turn on car for couple seconds...wait 3 minutes then check....no need to be mad kunts its only checking oil

[na-118]

best off turning the motor on as mentioned for a few minutes and re check it, cause the oil filter does take a little, but i dont know anyone who drops oil and doesnt change filter

[flipfire]

I usually put a bit of oil on the filter before putting it in

[na-118]

you can do that method or just slap it on and start the car, it's not a diesel motor will flow quick enough for it to starve

[migoreng]

It's 1 litre between the 2 dots on the dipstick (H22A engine). A couple mm over the top doesn't isn't an issue...If your oil level is a few mm below the bottom dot, don't drive hard. The oil light won't come on or anything...Just top up when you get home.

I always check my oil level in the morning.

[gumus89]

Thats a bit excessive. Im sure once a week would be fine. And I thought it was more like 0.8L from top to bottom dot.

Anyways, as long as you make sure the car is on flat ground and you check it at the same time you will be fine.
As in, if you check it in the morning, always check when you haven't driven the car for an hour or so.
If you check it 15 minutes after you turn the car off, do it like that all the time.

[curtis265]

interesting, i started the engine and let it run for a bit, switched it off and gave it a few minutes to settle. Oil was still below the bottom dot.

I shat bricks and put oil in until it's between te 2 dots...

too much vtecing in my new car lol... Gumus do ludes devour oil??

[migoreng]

interesting, i started the engine and let it run for a bit, switched it off and gave it a few minutes to settle. Oil was still below the bottom dot.

I shat bricks and put oil in until it's between te 2 dots...

too much vtecing in my new car lol... Gumus do ludes devour oil??

Just below the bottom dot is at least a litre of oil lost.

Most Preludes (and Hondas performance engines generally) burn oil, I guess the average is half a litre every 1000km? Some people might be lucky and don't burn much as all. My partner's 98 EK Gli doesn't. Has 170,000km and uses FEO oil...

[twofake]

can others post how much oil their S2000 uses please? I was told by Honda that all S2000s use oil as the engine is so high performance.
Also does that mean that the exhaust pipe should have a dark grey to black colour ?

[Super-DA9]

all cars burn oil over time, highly strung engines just burn a bit more when driven spiritedly or use the high rpms often, because thats just how they are. B series engines are all known to use a bit of oil, K series are more modern so they don't use quite as much.

twofake, how much oil does your car burn? usually you should only worry when there's blue/grey exhaust smoke coming out the back.

[twofake]

"twofake, how much oil does your car burn? usually you should only worry when there's blue/grey exhaust smoke coming out the back. "

Hi Super DA-9,
my car uses ,as a guess, a litre a month (very rough guess as I have not really measured the exact amount) and does not seem to bow any smoke at all. Now and then I have noticed some black stuff shoot out of exhaust on start up and the chrome exhaust tips usually have black on them.

[euromandeluxe]

"twofake, how much oil does your car burn? usually you should only worry when there's blue/grey exhaust smoke coming out the back. "

Hi Super DA-9,
my car uses ,as a guess, a litre a month (very rough guess as I have not really measured the exact amount) and does not seem to bow any smoke at all. Now and then I have noticed some black stuff shoot out of exhaust on start up and the chrome exhaust tips usually have black on them.

How many kms do you drive in a month?