Hi all,
as a newbie, i,m probably going to ask the most stupidest question off all,, theres probably a very easy answer, but i dont want to dive in and do damage to my car,,

the questiopn is,, how do i check my oil??

may seem simple but its driving me nuts??

when i saw the car, went for a test drive , on return ,, checked the oil, all ok good healty reading up the dipstick,,,

when i bought the car, i drove it home and parked in the garage..

next morning went to give it some work,, pulled out the dipstik
NO OIL !!! eeek panic etc,, several rechecks later still the same result, so down to halfords and started to fill er up.. bout 1.5 lites later, i had this vision of quentin wilson/ tiff needel/clarkson remarking about porsche boxter engines must have the oil checked with the engine running oh s**t have i done it damage?? i checked with the engine running.. still gave different readings.. up to the thermal expasion mark then dom to mimimum etc then logic kicked in.. the oil warning light on the dash goes out, and hasnt come on since i had the car so surely theres some oil in it..

non apppears to be going out the back, and the engine dosnt appear to be running hot.. so im a bit puzzeled

any help would be appreciated

2.0 glx wagon non turbo no mods

Mart

 

I have always found the oil check a bit irritating. It either shows very little or too much. The engine must be left to stand for an appreciable time to allow the oil to drain back into the sump to start with. The car must be on level ground of course. The dipstick tube seems to attract oil up it by capilliary action so remove the dipstick and allow the dipstick tube to drain as well. Then try dipping the oil. There are two marks, a hole and a notch a little higher up. The cold oil mark is the hole and the hot oil mark the notch. Do not overfill the sump since the excess oil will cause problems with the boost control solenoid. If you find you have overfilled it you are advised strongly to drain the excess oil out.

Hope this is of help

Les

PS. Forgot to mention it is not a dry sump system like the Porsche and having read your post again I have just realised you dont have a boost solenoid to worry about

[Edited by Leslie - 4/27/2003 9:15:34 AM]

[Edited by Leslie - 4/27/2003 9:18:23 AM]

 

Hello Mart,

The only way i can get a useful reading with my dipstick is to pull it out,with engine off .. leave the dipstick out for 5 minutes or so, to let the oil dragged up the dipstick tube when i pulled the stick out to drain back down ... then check the level.
It needs to read somewhere between the min and max marks.

Gary

 

This works for me.
Check the oil after filling up with petrol.
Most garage forecourts are level, the car must have been driven to get there (ie, warm), the oil's had a minute or two to settle.
I seem to get much more reliable results this way.
BTW this exactly what it says in the manual.
"Let engine run, turn off, check oil after a few minutes."


Hope this helps.

 

Every time i've checked the oil after a night in the gararge, it apears i have none.
As Blobster pointed out, an accurate reading can be had after a run, as long as its been given some time to settle.