I'm mystified. I took ten readings today, about 5 min after I stopped the engine. 2 came out high, 4 came out low, and 4 came out in varying shades of "in between."

Is there a trick for getting reproducible measurements? Right now, my oil level could pretty much be anywhere. Seems like a recipe for disaster ...

TIA.

 

I don't believe 5 minutes is enough time for the oil to settle. Probably wait at least an hour and make sure the car is level.

 

A "hot" or "warm" check is only to make sure you're in the "good". A truely accurate oil level reading is obtained just prior to a cold start (or aka your first start of the day). If you're really fanatical (read: compulsive/obsessive), you should yank out the dip stick the night before so that ALL the oil will be gone from around the bottom of the dip stick hole (this, of course can cause "spotting" on the stick when you pull it out). Once you've done this (and it shows full), you can then check it "hot" at the end of the next drive (assuming you haven't gone across to the other end of the country or VTEC'd every gear change) and be confident that what it reads at that time will be OK.

 

Most folks here know I'm an oil junkie---

Let me start out by saying congrats for following your manual and realizing you need to check your oil AT EVERY FILL UP until the engine is broken in. Second let me say that most folks are not familiar with looking at clean oil on a stick. Third let me say The S2000 is a difficult stick to read. The stick is composed of several x's. Each "X" represents ~1/10 of one US quart. The high difference between high and low is ~ 1 US Quart. The readings you get will vary depending on whether you pull from the driver/passenger/ or front of the vehicle. The stick will drag in differing ways. Here is how I read mine:

1) After driving let the car cool down for about 5 minutes...this will let the oil return to the pan (for the most part).
2) Pull the stick out, from the passenger side,and wipe it clean with a rag
3) Reinsert carefully and pull it straight back out
4) Check the reading
5) Repeat 3 times

The key is consistency.....which side you pull from, which side of the stick you read, how long you let the oil drain prior to reading.

Good luck!

Utah

 

Why does it matter which side we pull the stick out from if we "pull straight out"? Do you mean pull vertically even though the stick is inserted at an angel? I typically pull it out from the front with as little resistance as possible. Also, I noticed that the level is one X lower on the driver side of the stick.

 

I always pull as vertical as possible and get a consistent reading.

 

Does this mean for UK cars... its to pull from the drivers side... ? As our sides are swapped ??

 

Could we design a better dipstick to make it easier to read? I'm serious. It's a bitch. I've sometimes take as many a six readings before feeling comfortable with the results. I'd find a manufacturer to make a replacement stick if we could design an easier reading one.

I would design one with a white powder coated section in the reading area to provide more contrast, with slots deep enough to capture some oil as it runs down the stick. The slots would be at 1/2 pint intervals, so there would be eight of them, with the bottom slot indicating a quart low. The 1/2 pint intervals would make it easier to add the right amount of oil when there's a low reading.

Anybody have other ideas? What do you think Utah S2K?

As I said, I'd arrange to have these manufactured if we can come up with a better design than Honda's.

 

I see this frequently also that one side of the stick is one x lower than the other??? I find it easiest to stand in front of the car when I check, and pull the stick out as vertically as possible. And why doesn't it read the same with repeated checks one after the next within minutes w/o any variables involved (just sitting in the driveway one check after another....shouldn't they all read the same?)

 

I've found that if I don't match the angle of the dipstick when pulling it out, I often get a bogus reading. It's a RHD car. I'd got into the habit of disregarding any reading where I'm nore sure it came out cleanly, and then I do at least 3 readings to be sure. It is a pain, but I've had plenty of practise by now!

-Brian.