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View Full Version : How often you you check the oil level on your car?



Wade Lippman
11-24-2016, 9:11 PM
My last question about missing an oil change got me to thinking about this one.

Mark Blatter
11-24-2016, 9:46 PM
I was partner in a transportation business for 16 years. Ran 135 vehicles and our drivers checked oil daily. Personally, I am terrible about checking it. However, I pay attention to the driveway for spots showing I have a leak. I have my oil changed religiously at 6000 miles, plus or mines 2K....guess I am not too religious on my oil. Almost an atheist on it. I have gotten very lazy in fact.

Wayne Lomman
11-25-2016, 4:05 AM
The poll doesn't have a category for 'every trip' as that is what is absolutely necessary for my '86 Range Rover. I don't look for spots on the driveway - it's more like a slick in the driveway... I change the filter but specific oil changing is unnecessary. Cheers!

Van Huskey
11-25-2016, 5:34 AM
I voted never but technically I measure the drain. Even after an extended drain interval none of our cars "burn" more than 8 ounces 2 hold 5 qts and 1 holds 6.

Gerry Grzadzinski
11-25-2016, 6:37 AM
I also voted never. Are vehicles are both less than 4 years old, and get regularly scheduled oil changes.
In the last 25 years, I've really only checked the oil on vehicles with over 150,000 miles.

Brian Tymchak
11-25-2016, 8:28 AM
I also voted never. Are vehicles are both less than 4 years old, and get regularly scheduled oil changes.
In the last 25 years, I've really only checked the oil on vehicles with over 150,000 miles.

+1. Never here too. My Tundra is coming up on 16 yrs, and I have never personally checked oil levels. I have the oil changed @ ~5000 miles and have always heard that the oil was full and in excellent condition. I could easily push that to 7500 miles but old habits die hard. I think the newer motors are so much better engineered and the motor oils themselves are much better than back in the 80's and 90's, I doubt I will ever again check oil levels. Same with transmissions.

Tom Stenzel
11-25-2016, 8:51 AM
On my old car I checked it with every gas tank fill. But that was a SL1 Saturn, the oil control rings were notorious for gumming up on those engines. Using synthetic oil helped, mine burned about 1.5 quarts of oil between changes.

On my new car I check it every month along with the tires and other under the hood things. Then again with my new car I went from a 16 year old Saturn to a 12 year old minivan. The minivan get its oil changed twice a year because of the short trips it makes. I don't drive far anymore.

-Tom

Robert Engel
11-25-2016, 9:14 AM
Not as often as I should.

I think its important on high mileage vehicles. Once you determine the motor is using oil I think you need to check weekly.

If you don't check the oil, measure the amount of oil when its changed. I do this by refilling the old quarts. If the motor is using more than 25% between changes, then you need to start checking weekly.

If you have your oil changed by someone else, then check it the day you bring it in.

BTW I talked to a guy who was a Boeing engineer and also worked for Pratt and Whitney. He told me oil does not break down it just gets dirty.

I quit changing at 3K and went to 5K intervals. I think the filter is more important than the oil buy the best.

Finally, service on farm tractors and diesel semi's is done by hours, not miles. I have a friend who was a Master Chief he has an hour meter in in truck and changes the oil every 100 hours. I think this makes more sense than miles.

What do you guys think?

Bob Turkovich
11-25-2016, 9:44 AM
BTW I talked to a guy who was a Boeing engineer and also worked for Pratt and Whitney. He told me oil does not break down it just gets dirty.




Hopefully this guy was misquoted or was referring to a unique, specific application.

Oil will breakdown and significantly lose its ability to perform when exposed to high temperatures. The longer the exposure, the greater the effect - even if the oil is kept clean.

If not, then why do some engines/applications require external oil coolers?

Jim Becker
11-25-2016, 9:54 AM
The Hemi in my Grand Cherokee Summit is known to use a little oil, so I do check it about half-way between scheduled changes by mileage and add what's needed to bring it back to where it should be. I clicked monthly on the poll because there wasn't a better option, but it's more like every two months or so based on my usage pattern.

Brian Henderson
11-25-2016, 1:49 PM
The car tells me when the oil is low or needs to be changed. Why bother checking it?

Jim Koepke
11-25-2016, 2:50 PM
I only check it when I change it.

Watch the pressure gauge and it will let me know if it is low or getting old.

Old oil drops 5 or 10 lbs of pressure.

jtk

Shawn Pixley
11-25-2016, 3:04 PM
My car notifies me 1,000 miles before the change is due and at the mileage 7,500. I checked when I got it every month. Now, I largely check only when going for a longer trip. It has never needed a touch-up.

My wife and son's cars are checked monthly.

Mike Henderson
11-25-2016, 6:45 PM
In the old days, engines would start to burn oil, especially when the intake valve guides wore to the point where oil could be sucked through.

But in modern engines - and with modern oil - you just don't see that kind of wear. If cared for, engines go 200,000+ miles with no major overhauls.

I never check my oil between oil changes now days. In the old days, I checked it every time I put gas in the car.

Mike

Larry Frank
11-25-2016, 7:37 PM
I rarely check the oil. I am amazed at the improvement in cars over the years. They start in cold weather, get better gas mileage, use less oil and do not rust.

Wade Lippman
11-25-2016, 8:24 PM
The car tells me when the oil is low or needs to be changed. Why bother checking it?

Can you rely on it telling you when it is low, and not being low enough to do damage? Just asking; I don't know.

Brian Elfert
11-25-2016, 11:07 PM
I check the oil on my car very infrequently. For a variety of reasons I have driven very new cars most of my life and none so far have ever burned or leaked oil.

Other stuff with engines I check more frequently. My converted bus I check at least twice on a 4,000 mile trip although it never uses enough to need more oil. I am also pretty good at checking oil on all my small engines.

Brian Elfert
11-25-2016, 11:12 PM
A little story about not checking oil:

A place I worked summers for seven years had a lot of equipment and trucks. Oil was supposed to be checked at every fill up. There was an old IH McCormick Farm-All tractor. I didn't drive it, but I noticed one day the oil pressure gauge read zero and I assumed it was broken. The person driving the tractor apparently had not checked the oil for weeks and one day he had to add quite a bit of oil. I noticed the oil pressure gauge was now reading normally so it was running with no oil pressure for probably 100+ hours. The engine in that old tractor didn't seem to get hurt one bit by the serious lack of oil, but it was just pure luck.

Wayne Lomman
11-25-2016, 11:59 PM
Hopefully this guy was misquoted or was referring to a unique, specific application.

Oil will breakdown and significantly lose its ability to perform when exposed to high temperatures. The longer the exposure, the greater the effect - even if the oil is kept clean.

If not, then why do some engines/applications require external oil coolers?
The aero engineer was spot on. One of my mates is a retired aero engineer as well and says the same thing. Sure, oil will break down at excessively high temperatures. It's called catching fire. Oil coolers are to prevent breakdown happening and to control viscosity. Cheers

Bob Turkovich
11-26-2016, 6:51 AM
The aero engineer was spot on. One of my mates is a retired aero engineer as well and says the same thing. Sure, oil will break down at excessively high temperatures. It's called catching fire. Oil coolers are to prevent breakdown happening and to control viscosity. Cheers

Wayne,

I'm not sure if you're agreeing with me or mocking me...:confused:

I was addressing Robert's quote of an aero engineer stating "Oil does not break down, it just gets dirty". Engine oil will lose performance (and life) at temperatures well before it catches fire.

For the record, I have a B.S. in Aero Eng. and a M.S. in Mech Eng. I retired after nearly 40 years working for a major auto manufacturer - the last 30 in powertrain (of which the last 15 were managerial). I had direct involvement in our corporate move to lube-for-life transmission fluid which was also time-at-temperature dependent. While I did not have direct involvement in engine oil life responsibility, I sat 30 feet from the corporate experts on such matters, broke bread with them weekly, and sat in numerous meetings (as an observer - we had the same director) where the subject was discussed.

Engine oil breaks down over time - period. It has an unopened shelf life (5 years max.) The life degrades with exposure to air (humidity),dirt and the exposure to engine operating temperatures. The higher the temperature, the faster the degradation.

(Sorry for the rant - I'm 3 days into recovery from a bad bout of stomach flu. It's 6AM and my alma mater is facing its college football rival in 6 hours and the adrenline rush is killing my ability to sleep...)

Wade,

Sorry for derailing your poll. I predominantly lease my vehicles and rarely see higher mileage conditions where oil quantity loss may occur. I always follow the manufacturers guidelines for oil change frequency and will check fluid level only if I'm about to embark on a long trip (1000mi+).

Michael Dye
11-26-2016, 6:59 AM
If I don't check the oil in my Porsche Cayenne every gas fill-up, I run the risk of running low on oil, scoring the cylinders, and dealing with the $15K replacement costs. Seen it happen far too often with these models. Mine goes through about a quart every 1000 miles, which is unusual for a car with less than 90 thousand on the odometer. Oh, well. I love the car otherwise. Think of it as a supermodel wife..........fun to look at and drive, just expensive to keep around.

Curt Harms
11-26-2016, 8:32 AM
The aero engineer was spot on. One of my mates is a retired aero engineer as well and says the same thing. Sure, oil will break down at excessively high temperatures. It's called catching fire. Oil coolers are to prevent breakdown happening and to control viscosity. Cheers


Oil may not break down but I wonder about the additives. Every aircraft engine I've been involved with, piston or turbine has oil change intervals. All turbine oils are full synthetic.

Mike Henderson
11-26-2016, 10:30 AM
I rarely check the oil. I am amazed at the improvement in cars over the years. They start in cold weather, get better gas mileage, use less oil and do not rust.

You really hit the nail on the head. I restored a couple of old Porsche cars. People would say to me "They don't build them like they used to, do they?" To which I would reply, "Thank God, no. They build them much better."

We used to say, "It's much better to want an old car, than to own an old car."

Or, "When you restore an old car, what you have when you're finished is an old car."

Mike

michael langman
11-26-2016, 12:45 PM
I aways change my oil amd filter myslf, because I use premium wix fiters and full synthetic oil.

I always check my oil after the first drive in the cars after the oil was changed. I do this to check for oil leaks that may be because of a bad filter, or drain plug leak.

James Tibbetts
11-26-2016, 1:01 PM
I'm in the monthly column. First Saturday I check everything; oil, coolant, wiper fluid, brake fluid, all lights, etc. I don't change oil on a mileage criteria. After 300k of my own up keep, I know that when a quart has been burned it is time to change. Sometimes that is 8k, sometimes it's 15k. Just depends on the load it has taking. (Cummins diesel)

Kev Williams
11-26-2016, 11:32 PM
About 'shelf life'--
I have this one can of Chevron 10w-40 oil and about a case of this Yamaha 2-stroke oil--
348324348325348326

I'm pretty sure I took the 10-40 out of our old '66 Chev Suburban when we sold it in 1972. It's API-SE oil, mfr'd somewhere between 1971 and 1979.
The Yamaha oil is leftover from my parents snowmobile days, which began in the mid '70's thru about '82.
Dad bought mom a new Artic Cat for xmas in '79, so I'm figuring that's probably when he bought all that oil.

I've recently used some of the 2-stroke oil in a couple of chainsaws with no ill effects.

I've been considering sending these off to a lab just to see if they have degraded any... :)