Periodically checking to make sure your car has enough engine oil is the best way to keep your engine running well for a long time to come. Engine oil is the lubricant between the moving engine parts; if the level is too low, the parts will wear quickly and increase likelihood of engine seizure.

There are two small lines on the end of most dipsticks. One corresponds to the maximum fill line in the oil pan and the other refers to the minimum. The minimum line is close to the tip, and the maximum is about an inch or so up from that on the dipstick.

During an oil change/oil check, we usually gauge the oil to the maximum fill line on the dipstick (note that some vehicles have dots instead of lines on their dipsticks).

Having looked into several car manuals, it is recommended that the engine oil be gauged in a manner that it will be halfway between the minimum fill line and maximum fill line of the dipstick.

One car manual says, "In a properly filled car that's cool, the oil level should be just about halfway between the two lines. "

Another one says, "Ideally get the oil level around halfway between "Min" and "Max"."

However, the oil should never be higher than the
maximum fill point, though it will be close to
that point when the oil is hot. If it is, you may
need to drain some oil from your car .

Due to this expansion of oil when it is hot and oil pumping when vehicle is in motion, the manufacturers of cars recommend that the oil level should be about halfway between the the minimum fill line and maximum fill line.

Now, my thought-questions are:
1. Why aren't we keen in sticking to the manufacturers' recommendations on this issue?
2. Why are we hell-bent on ensuring that we gauge the engine oil to the maximum fill line on the dipstick?
3. Don't we think gauging the oil to the maximum fill line when the engine is cold could have an adverse effect on the engine, crankshaft bearing, engine performance and spark plugs when the engine is hot, or at the long run/lifetime of the engine.?

Comments and Contributions are welcome.


Meanwhile....#HappyBirthdayToMe.

happybirthday, long life and prosperity. where is the party @, he don tey wey i chop cake?

for the engin oil, it all boils down to miss-information. how many people know the simple way to check how many cylinders available in their engine? even ask a mechanic what is the engine oil capacity of toyota camry tiny light, the guy will just say pour 4litres straight if him no guage we add more.

the best way to guage the engine oil is to follow the minimum and maximum mark on the dip stick even if you know the engine capacity. engine capacity is to guide you on litres to buy (if your engine volume is 3.5, just buy 4L instead of 5L) while the dip stick is to assist you in maintaining constant recommended volume of engine oil in the engine.

nurey:
happybirthday, long life and prosperity. where is the party @, he don tey wey i chop cake?

for the engin oil, it all boils down to miss-information. how many people know the simple way to check how many cylinders available in their engine? even ask a mechanic what is the engine oil capacity of toyota camry tiny light, the guy will just say pour 4litres straight if him no guage we add more.

the best way to guage the engine oil is to follow the minimum and maximum mark on the dip stick even if you know the engine capacity. engine capacity is to guide you on litres to buy (if your engine volume is 3.5, just buy 4L instead of 5L) while the dip stick is to assist you in maintaining constant recommended volume of engine oil in the engine.

Thanks nurey for your good wishes. I was even so busy that I couldn't even celebrate it. I hope you will be able to receive a cup-cake from me via Bluetooth? Lols!

Most of the misinformations we get are from Kazeems to our ignorant car owners who jave refused to open their car manuals. This is so appalling! That's why I brought this topic up. It is one of the vital but neglected issues here.

I do hope that car owners will begin to open their manuals after seeing this thread, and not rely on the advice of kazeems as it regards their cars.