xviper

NOTE: Never check the oil when the oil is just "warm". It will hang up for a long time and you definately will NOT get a good reading.
If you've just driven down the block and back, THAT is NOT the time to check it. Once it's HOT, it will drain down easily within 3 - 5 minutes.

vincewchan

Bringing this back alive. Just a reminder to those who don't know how to check their oil

phonedrn8

good info,fill up and every weekend before and after driving

JLUDE

The best tip I can give is you MUST wipe the stick off and reinsert it to get an accurate reading. The hatch on the stick keeps oil on it giving a false reading if you don't wipe it clean and insert it!

hirev

Can't say what is normal oil use for everyone, only after 45,000 miles and 7 years mine uses no oil between changes which range about 4-5,000 miles between

KonaMan

Curiouis to know if any of my fellow Amsoil users have heard this one. While making a recent Amsoil purchase the owner of the shop I wandered into to buy the stuff told me that Amsoil lubed car oil levels, "unlike other oils" should always be checked when the engine is cold. Amsoil apparently has properties that make it, for lack of a proper word, cling or adhere to metal when it is warm. He said that checking Amsoil when it is hot or warm would give a false low reading. He even gave me a little plastic tab to put on my dipstick, ok, my car's dip stick, that told would be oil checkers to not check the oil when it is warm/hot and to not add oil without consulting the car owner. This cat owns a respected independent/respected shop in the Orlando area and has been hawking Amsoil for years.

Has anyone else ever heard this fascinating Amsoil factoid or do any other syn oils share this same metal bonding property?

punchdrunk

I used to check mine when hot and could never figure out what I was looking for. Now I check it from cold following the advice of one of the posters on here.

JERO

I always check mine after it has sat overnight and is 100% cold.

Try this...

With a warm engine turn it off and immediately check the oil.
check it again in 5 minutes.
check it again in 15 minutes.
check it again in 30 minutes.
check it again after sitting overnight.

The variables I've seen when trying to guess exactly when "warm" is just isn't reliable.

If you really listen to the engine, you can tell when it needs oil (unless your modded intake and exhaust drowns it out). When I get to about 2 XX above low (overnight cold), I swear I can hear a little more engine raspyness over 8K. I top it off, and viola, smooth and uniform again to redline.

2slow2Bfurious

i have an ap1, i check the oil level at least 10 times a day.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR36T6notVk [/media]

Great To Be Alive

I always thought the Hot check would yield a lower reading. I find like one poster said, that oil is still hanging throughout the head area etc, and not in the pan... hence a lower reading. Oil may expand when hot, but in my experience that has less effect than the amount in the pan or up in the head, so hot reads the same or slightly lower than cold for me. My cold reading matches what came from the factory which is just slightly over the top line. Actually the factory fill covered the H when cold, so I'm a bit more conservative so as to not overfill.

I agree that cold is the only way I can clearly see the reading with my middle aged eyes.