Dipstick Oil Level: How to Check The Oil Level In Your Car’s Engine

You want to keep your car in top shape. You want to get as many miles out of it as you can before trading it in. To do so, you will have to keep on top of the maintenance. Regularly checking and changing the oil in your vehicle is an essential part of this.

Engine oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle. Oil is necessary to keep your engine going, which in turn keeps your car running. Without a sufficient amount of clean oil, your engine will run down quite quickly. No driver can afford to be cavalier about checking the oil level in the car regularly. If at any point there is not enough oil in your engine, it can lead to catastrophic engine failure and extraordinary repair costs.

Why Does This Happen?

Your engine consists of clusters of fast-moving parts. They create a great deal of friction when you drive your car. Even if you drive mostly in congested areas and are unable to accelerate to higher speeds, there will be considerable amounts of friction between engine parts. Oil is the lubricant that keeps the contact between them smooth and seamless. The moment the oil in your engine begins to run low, the parts in it will begin to grind each other down. Your engine will seize up and your vehicle will stop altogether. This can cause not only temporary damage to your engine but its utter ruin.

The Oil Needs of High Mileage Vehicles

The easiest way to avoid this is to do a car oil level check. Most newer vehicles have advanced diagnostic sensors that will warn you when your oil is running low. Older vehicles may not have such devices. If you drive such a car, you may not know that you are running low on oil until it is too late. In fact, if the odometer on your vehicle has passed the 100,000-mile mark, the rate at which your vehicle burns oil will increase. This means that the oil level in your vehicle will go down faster between oil changes. Older vehicles are also more prone to oil leaks. For both reasons, you should check your oil quite often if you drive a high-mileage car.

When you buy a new car, you should check your oil once a week for a month to determine how quickly it gets depleted. Doing so will help you establish a baseline so that you can figure out how often you need to check the oil and change it.

How to Check the Oil Level in Your Car’s Engine

Here are a few simple steps to check and analyze the oil in your engine.

Step 1-Prepare to Check

Your vehicle should be on level ground with the engine off and the transmission in park. It is also a good idea to put the parking brake on. You will then need to lift the hood. Most vehicles have a hood-release lever under the steering wheel. It will be on the left side. The engine hood itself will probably have a safety catch that you will need to unlatch before you can raise it.

Step 2-Locate the Dipstick

The dipstick is a simple measuring device. Checking oil levels on dipstick is the best way to determine how much oil is in your engine. In most vehicles, the dipstick is marked by a yellow or orange colored ring. The words CHECK OIL may also be printed on top of the ring.

Step 3-Pull the Dipstick

You will need to pull the dipstick out of its housing tube. This is a rather simple process. It is like pulling a sword from a sheath. Before you do this, you should go get an old rag or paper towel to wipe the oil off the dipstick oil.

Once you have unsheathed the dipstick, you will see two lines at its tip: the lower line indicates that the oil is one quart low; the upper line indicates that the car’s oil tank is full. You may also see the words “add” or “full” printed above these lines.

Step 4-Reinsert Dipstick

This is the main event, so to speak. You will need to insert the dipstick into the tube slowly. Be sure to push it all the way down. Then withdraw the dipstick and look at the tip. If there is oil between the two lines, then your engine has enough of it. If the oil level is at or below these lines, you will need to add a quart of oil.

Step 5-If You Need to Add Oil

If you need to add a quart of oil, you should wait several minutes for it to drain down the car oil tank. Then check the oil level again according to the steps above. The level should be between the high and low marks.

Changing the Oil

Running your engine on dirty oil can have a negative impact on it. Particulate builds up in old and dirty oil, which can wear down and damage your engine over time. That is why routine oil and filter changes are necessary. It will keep your engine clean and running smoothly. You should take your vehicle in for an oil change every 3000 miles.

Shield Lubricants is a Kuwaiti brand that manufactures, supplies, and exports lubricant oils of top quality across the countries. We specialize in providing high-quality lubricants, oils, and specialty oil tailored for the automotive, industrial, and marine industries. With years of expertise in the field, we understand the unique needs and challenges faced by these sectors, and our extensive range of products is designed to meet and exceed their requirements. We prioritize quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction. Our products undergo rigorous testing to meet and exceed industry standards, ensuring that our customers receive the highest caliber of lubricants and oils.

Originally published at https://shieldoils.com.