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Follow these few easy steps to keep your engine humming and to avoid spending thousands in repairs.
Oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle's engine. Making sure there's always enough oil is the easiest way to ensure that you avoid catastrophic engine failure and the huge repair costs that go with it.
This is especially important if you're driving an older vehicle. When a car's odometer rolls past the 100,000-mile mark, wear on the engine can cause it burn off small amounts of oil every time you drive. That loss adds up, which can make the oil level go down too far between oil changes. High-mileage vehicles are also more prone to oil leaks. Both of those issues are reasons to check your oil regularly to gauge just how often you need to top it up.
Check your oil once a week for a month and you'll know how quickly it gets depleted—or if it gets depleted at all. Once you know that, you can check it less frequently—say, once a month. Here's how to check your oil:
Step 1: Prepare to Check
Be sure your vehicle is parked on level ground with the engine off, the transmission in Park (or the manual transmission in a lower gear) and the parking brake on. Lift the hood. If you don't know how to do this, consult your owner's manual.
Most vehicles have a hood-release lever under the instrument panel on the left side. There's also a safety catch under the front edge of the hood that you'll have to unlatch before you can raise the hood.
Step 2: Locate the Dipstick
The dipstick on most vehicles is easy to spot, as it has a small colored handle—usually yellow or orange—marked with an oil-can symbol.
Step 3: Pull the Dipstick
Pull the dipstick fully out of the tube that it's housed in. It's like pulling a sword from a sheath. Have a rag or paper towel ready and wipe any oil off of the end of the dipstick. At the tip of the dipstick you will see two lines: the lower one indicates that the oil level is one quart low. The upper line denotes that the crankcase (the car's oil tank) is full. Some dipsticks are also marked with words like "full" and "add."
Step 4: Note Oil Level
Insert the dipstick into the tube slowly and push it all the way down. Now withdraw it and look closely at the tip, which should have oil on it. If the level of the oil is between the two lines, your vehicle has enough oil. If it's at the low mark or below, it's time to add a quart.
Step 5: Wait and Re-check
Once you've added a quart of oil, wait several minutes for the oil to drain down into the crankcase and and then check it again to ensure that the level is at least between the high and low marks. The oil level does not have to be at the high mark for your engine to have enough lubrication to run safely.
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Rich Ceppos
Director, Buyer's Guide
Rich Ceppos has evaluated automobiles and automotive technology during a career that has encompassed 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and Driver totaling 20 years, and thousands of miles logged in racing cars. He was in music school when he realized what he really wanted to do in life and, somehow, it's worked out. In between his two C/D postings he served as executive editor of Automobile Magazine; was an executive vice president at Campbell Marketing & Communications; worked in GM's product-development area; and became publisher of Autoweek. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA pro racing licenses, and has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He currently ministers to a 1999 Miata, and he appreciates that none of his younger colleagues have yet uttered "Okay, Boomer" when he tells one of his stories about the crazy old days at C/D.
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