How to Know If Your Car Oil Needs To Be Changed?

A Car engine bereft of oil is equivalent to your body functioning without blood vessels. There are many imminent dangers of keeping your car running on stagnant engine oil. Firstly, with the passage of time, it’s highly likely that contaminants form in the crankcase and corrode metal parts resulting in the formation of SLUDGE!

Secondly, as the oil holds abrasive particles of metal suspended in it, these very particles morph into Trojan horses that wear away the engine that the oil is supposed to circumvent. Thus, maintenance and timely engine oil inspections are a must when it boils down to keeping your car in pristine form as it gets old and rusty (pun intended).

The ingredients to a glistening car include everything from hosing it down regularly, ensuring it remains free from caked-on grime, to getting it serviced at least twice, yearly. But, nothing takes away the importance of ENGINE OIL!

To keep a tab on your car’s engine oil, you need to check it periodically depending upon the number of kilometers you have clocked on the odometer. Before you take the plunge, the first thing you ought to do is to assemble some accessories such as a handy pair of plastic gloves or some degreaser cleaner that prevent the dirty oil from seeping inside the pigments of your skin since it doesn’t come off easily. Subsequently, keep a bottle of the right type of engine oil ready.

How to Know Whether Your Car Needs Car Engine Oil or Not?

You can easily check if your car needs an oil change. Here we go-:

Park your car

Park your car on level ground or a flat surface. Avoid parking on a slope to prevent inaccurate readings. Most importantly, if you are halfway through your car ride and suddenly get the pang to check on the engine oil level due to some inconsistencies, halt your car. Wait for at least 10 minutes prior to reading the oil level, so that the oil sinks back down to its reservoir.

Pop open your Car’s bonnet

To go about this, check your car’s manual to get a hang of the location of the bonnet release of your car. It is normally a lever located in the driver’s footwell that needs to be pulled to pop open the bonnet. Once you’ve pulled the lever inside the car, you will need to disengage the safety latch that is situated under the leading edge of the bonnet.

Find the Dipstick

The next big thing on your checklist should be to locate the dipstick. Ideally, the dipstick is easy to spot in most cars. It is a brightly colored round or T-shaped handle that appears like it is conjoined to a spindly looking pipe. You should again refer to the car’s manual to forego any trouble if you are still uncertain!

Remove the Dipstick and check the oil level

Finally, to get a gist of the amount of engine oil in your car, pull the dipstick back out. You will notice two marks on the dipstick- notches cut into the side and some engraved marks on the metal.

If the oil level is somewhere between the two, the oil shouldn’t need a refill unless it’s lower than the halfway mark or at the lowest mark on the dipstick. This represents the minimum amount of oil you can safely run your engine with. If the engine oil level is below this mark, then you need to top it up immediately!

Get a Refill

Lastly, if the engine oil level is below the acceptable threshold, avoid pouring the oil up to the level of the filler cap to avoid overfill. This might result in catastrophic damage the next time you fire up your engine! Always pour in small doses of oil by checking the dipstick each time. Follow the aforementioned procedure, until you reach the maximum mark.

Final Words

Frequently checking on engine oil also gives you a good idea of your car engine’s health. To attain better results, always buy genuine conventional or synthetic engine oil from trusted brands. Some of the names include Bosch, Castrol, Mobil, Shell and you would be all set!