How to check your oil
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008By checking the oil you should check your oil level every time you get gas is sufficient. By checking the oil you will fry your engine.
If you know your car is leaking oil you should check your oil level every time before it’s too late. If you know your car is leaking oil you should check your oil level every time before it’s too late. By checking the oil you should check your oil level every time before it’s too late. Checking your engine oil is very important because without oil you will fry your engine.
Things You’ll Need:
- 1 Quart of Motor Oil
- Paper Towels
- Rags
Check the oil when the engine is warm. Oil expands when it’s hot and contracts when it’s cold. Different temperatures will give you different readings.
Park the car on a level surface.
Turn off the engine.
Pull the hood release lever under the dashboard.
Walk around the front of the car, reach under the hood, find the latch and squeeze it. As you squeeze the latch, open the hood.
Find the dipstick, a long piece of metal sticking out of the engine with a loop at one end, usually located near the spark plugs
.
Pull on the loop and draw the dipstick all the way out.
Wipe the oil off the dipstick with a paper towel or shop rag.
Replace the clean dipstick, making sure to push it all the way in, then pull it back out and hold it horizontally in front of you.
Look at the pointy end of the dipstick. If the oil on the dipstick is below the line marked “full,” add a small amount of oil (less than a quarter of a quart) with a funnel. Many dipsticks simply have 2 lines with a cross hatch design in between. The oil level should be halfway between these 2 lines.
Add the oil by unscrewing the oil filler cap, which is about 3 inches in diameter and located on the very top of the engine.
Check the oil level with the dipstick after adding oil. Add more if necessary. It’s easier to add more oil, but fairly difficult to remove oil if you add too much.