How To Check Car Oil

How To Check Car Oil

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  1. You need to check car oil every time you gas up or at least once a week, which ever comes first. Engine oil performs many more functions than just lubricating your engines moving parts. Engine oil helps reduce your engine’s operating temperature. Engine oil carries heat from the engines moving parts to the engine coolant circulating in the engine’s water jackets. Engine oil contains additives that help fight corrosion build up. Engine oil carries foreign materials from the oil sump to the oil filter and held there. When you check car oil, you need to be checking for more than where it is on the dipstick. You want to know more about the oil than whether you need to add more oil to bring it up to the "Full" mark on the dip stick.

    How to Check Car Oil Level
    Shut the engine down, unlike when checking the fluid level in an automatic transmission, your car’s engine has to be shut off when you check engine oil level. You want the engine off because you want as much of the oil as possible in the engine’s oil sump, the engine’s oil pan, for the most accurate reading. Wait a couple of minutes after shutting the engine off before checking the oil level so the oil that is in the top parts of the engine has time to drain down into the sump. The oil level should be between the "Add" oil and the "Full" marks on the dipstick.

    Should You Add Oil?
    Check car oil for the proper level. The oil level in today’s small engines is critical. Back in the days when the big-block V-8s ruled the roads one quart of oil was not a lot of oil because the oil pan held six or more quarts of oil, not counting the extra quart held in the oil filter. Today’s 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines hold considerably less oil and one quart becomes a lot of oil. The oil level should be between the "Add" and the "Full" marks on the dipstick. The distance between the two marks on the dipstick represents one quart. If the oil is at or below the "Add" oil mark, add oil to bring it up to the Full" mark or somewhere between the two marks. Do not add too much oil. Too much oil will damage your engine just as quickly as not having enough oil.

    Check Car Oil For Abrasive Particles
    Check car oil by rubbing it between your thumb and forefinger. That is right, get the oil on your fingers. Soap and water is cheap compared to the cost of a new engine or the cost of having an engine rebuilt. Look for any abrasive particles in the oil. There should not be any metal particles in the oil. The presence of metal particles indicates there is there is something seriously amiss inside your engine.

    Check Car Oil For The Presence of Coolant In The Oil
    The presence of water droplets in the oil is another warning sign that something is seriously amiss with your car’s engine. Water in the oil could signify anything from a blown head gasket to a cracked engine block. A cracked block or a blown head gasket is not good things. Both are expensive problems to repair. It is better to know that you have a problem then have your engine freeze up on you.

    Check car oil frequently and correctly and you can keep your car’s engine working at peak efficiency. Checking car oil correctly will help catch many engine problems before they become serious problem. Have you checked your engine oil this week?
     

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