I always read the dipstick after the car has stood overnight. I pull out the dipstick and take the reading ~ none of this withdrawing the dipstick, wiping it, re-inserting it and then withdrawing it again. Withdrawing the dipstick drags oil up the dipstick tube and this oil sticks to the dipstick if you re-insert it and withdraw it again.
It might not be what the manufacturer recommends, but the way I do it I get a nice clear reading.
How do you do it?
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I've always done it the way you don't.
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I'm with you Snail, the only way to get a consistant result. When an engine has settled down, and not having "run one in" for many years, (cars), I haven't had a car that used oil for ages. I believe in driving a car normally from minute one, just don't use max revs for the first 500 miles.
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I agree - with modern narrow dipstick tubes there is no choice.
My old tractor, and cars I have owned in the past, have a dipstick tube about 3/4 inch wide, the stick is located in the centre with a springy sleeve. So it gives a nice clear reading, no misleading capilary effect, and no oil dragged up the tube.
Also the stick is a real solid piece of engineering with a knob on the end, like a poker, not a length of bendy wire. And the tube is mounted somewhere accessable and visible, not lurking in the dark.
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No dipstick on the XF, just press a button 10 minutes after switching the engine off.
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>> No dipstick on the XF, just press a button 10 minutes after switching the engine
>> off.
>>
So your engines lifeblood level depends on electricery, I bet thats never been known to fail.
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Cheapo plastic dipstick in the CC3.
I take a couple of readings to be on the safe side.
The car doesn't use oil between services, so I tend not to check it more than once every two or three months.
A friend's BMW Mini Cooper S has started to use oil.
She found this out when she couldn't get a reading because the level was beneath the bottom of the dipstick.
The Mini dealer told her anything up to half a litre every 1,000km is acceptable.
Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 4 Oct 10 at 09:12
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This thread has caused me to scold myself slightly. The Mondeo, the Qashqai and indeed the late Ka have never used oil between services either. Resultantly I have become lazy about checking and should force myself to do so in case one of them suddenly starts to.
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There are many modern cars that will give a false reading with your method L'escargot. It is common for the dipstick to form a seal at the top of the tube which can mean a false lower reading is shown until the dipstick is withdrawn and pushed back which allows the oil to rise to the correct indication.
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...It is common for the dipstick to form a seal at the top of the tube...
Certainly is.
Try running with the dipstick out, particularly at high revs, and you will soon have a sooty oily mess on the underside of the bonnet and on the engine.
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>>>Try running with the dipstick out, particularly at high revs, and you will soon have a sooty oily mess on the underside of the bonnet and on the engine.
From experience iffy?
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...From experience iffy?...
Someone at the garage I use to work at managed to leave the dipstick out before taking a customer's car for a road test.
The mess was spotted and cleaned before the customer collected the car.
Most cars seem to run some pressure in the sump and will blow if the dipstick - or oil filler cap - is left off.
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>> No dipstick
>> so your engines lifeblood level depends on electricery, I bet thats never been known to fail
Same with my dad's C270CDI. He's always maintained his cars fastidiously, I swear he winces slightly when the digital readout promises a full oil level. Nothing gone bang on it in 80k miles and 6 years however.
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>> Nothing gone bang on it
>> in 80k miles and 6 years however.
>>
That must be better than an unused dipstick, I must be of your dad's generation, I would twitch too. :)
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You are :) Funny thing is, my boss has an ML with the same engine and that does have a dipstick...
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>> How do you do it?
I usually wait until the oil pressure warning light flickers during hard cornering.
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Chrysler alpines had dipstick low level warnings on the dash
ive never trusted non manual checking since
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My father had an Alpine. The oil warning light used to come on when on holiday in France and the weather was very hot.
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>> No dipstick
>> so your engines lifeblood level depends on electricery, I bet thats never been known to fail
I couldn't live with that. The C3 has a level check system of lights but you can pull a dipstick out as well.
And there was me thinking it might be nice to have an XF a few years down the road. Not now I think.
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Engine at normal temperature, left to stand on level ground for 10 minutes. Dipstick out, wipe clean, back into engine, out again - read level. Simples.
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>> Engine at normal temperature, left to stand on level ground for 10 minutes. Dipstick out,
>> wipe clean, back into engine, out again - read level. Simples.
Snap.
Usually while cursing VW's decision to use a black dipstick in a diesel engine. Turns oil level checking from a quick glance to a kind of myopic "where's my specs" squint. Muppetry!
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Vectra C
Manufactuer instructs that the oil is checked, 5 minutes after switching off the engine at normal operating temp
Why? I do not know and what difference it makes 1st thing when all the oil has drained back to the sump.
on another note my Laguna's had a really supid tiny dipstick located in a impossible place, but had a graph thing on the dash that did it for you. -
But i always checked it the proper way.
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A friend tells me his new model BMW 325 has no dipstick and the oil reading has to be measured with the engine running. Being a mechanical type he asked was the car dry sumped then?
No.
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Taking a dipstick reading - Clk Sec
