Quick dipstick question

[seisflutes]

My old car's dipstick had lines across it, and crosshatching and all these nice markings so you could tell where the oil was supposed to come to. My sister crashed that car. Now my new (to me) car's dipstick has only two small round holes near the end, spaced maybe an 3/4 of an inch apart. Anyone know where in relation to these holes the oil level should be? Between them? Above the top one? Just sort of wondering.

[Wanderer]

Between them, I believe.

[swizzlestick]

I think this varies somewhat, but my cars are full at the top hole or notch and one liter down at the next lower hole. So I think Wanderer is correct; when you are at the bottom hole, it is time to add a liter.

[Walden]

So, the ones with the holes are metric.

[seisflutes]

Okay, thanks. That's comforting.

[Redwolf]

I think this varies somewhat, but my cars are full at the top hole or notch and one liter down at the next lower hole. So I think Wanderer is correct; when you are at the bottom hole, it is time to add a liter.

Can you buy oil in liters here in the States? Last I checked, oil was still sold in quarts (yes, I know they're roughly the same, but still...).

Redwolf

[Dominic Allan]

When the oil level gets to the lower hole ,it's time to get a longer dip stick

[Tyler]

I think this varies somewhat, but my cars are full at the top hole or notch and one liter down at the next lower hole. So I think Wanderer is correct; when you are at the bottom hole, it is time to add a liter.

This is correct.
Your oil level should be maintained near the top marker, but do not exceed either marker (i.e., don't overfill, don't let it get too low).
If you find you have to add oil more than once a month, it's time to get the car looked at by a trustworthy mechanic.
If your car is using too much oil, it could be as simple as the piston rings are starting to wear out, which can happen in older cars (basically what this means is that the piston rings are not scraping the excess oil from the cylinder walls before the combustion cycle of the cylinder, and that excess oil gets burned off thus using your oil faster than normal).
Normally, if your car is newer, you should see little to no oil use at all. Make sure you change your oil as directed in the owner's manual. if you don't have an owners manual, change the oil every 3K miles or every six months. 3Kmiles/6mos is kind of a conservative estimate, because it really depends on what kind of a car you drive, how often you drive, and how you drive in general; for example, if you have a turbocharged sportscar, that turbo gets fed oil from your oil pan in order to lubricate the shafts and ball bearings. Turbos spin many many times faster than your engine, and can get much much hotter than your engine internals, and thus it breaks down the viscosity of the oil faster. Changing the oil in a car like this any less than 2,500 miles/3months is asking for trouble in the long run. If oil changes are not regular and often in these types of cars, excessive wear can result in it's untimely demise, or at best, a warped turbo component. In my turbocharged cars I've owned, I make sure and hold to the 2.5K/3mos schedule and use full synthetic oil (Royal Purple and Redline are fantastic synthetic brands for these types of cars and usually last longer than your average synthetic).
If your car is a little four cylinder that gets driven like a granny five miles a day and never on Sunday, then you can get away with changing that oil every 4K miles or six months.

I'm very pleased to see you're concerned about your car's oil; too few people are, resulting in unneccesary damage to otherwise perfectly fine cars.
Keep it up!

[Flyingcursor]

Mine's a 4 cylinder but I don't drive it like a granny. I'm a grandpa.

[Tyler]

Mine's a 4 cylinder but I don't drive it like a granny. I'm a grandpa.

Granny, grandpa....whatever
much the same thing, I've noticed

[Flyingcursor]

Mine's a 4 cylinder but I don't drive it like a granny. I'm a grandpa.

Granny, grandpa....whatever
much the same thing, I've noticed

Except I drive it like a hot rod. My last car was a Lumina and now I've got a Vibe. It's like a speedy little go-cart.

[Wanderer]

As i was taking him home from school once, my six year son asked me, "Why did you call that guy 'grandpa'?"

[seisflutes]

It's a 1999 Honda Civic. My old car was a 1994 Nissan Sentra, and it needed oil added every month or so. This car is using significantly less oil, but I did think it would be good to know about. Thanks everyone!

[Doug_Tipple]

As i was taking him home from school once, my six year son asked me, "Why did you call that guy 'grandpa'?"

That is the reason that I wear my ball cap when I drive. From behind no one can see my bald head and automatically make the grandpa assumptions.

My wife likes to tell me that I am driving too slowly. I guess that is one thing that I must learn to bear without protesting too loudly. I tell her that she usually drives way faster than her skill level. Furthermore, I postulate the protection of guardian spirits for the reason that she hasn't had a serious accident. I put my foot down, though, when I am in a parking lot looking for a place to park, as I don't need help finding a parking place.

With regard to the original dip stick question, the US quart is so close to the liter that I don't think it would make much difference whether you added a quart or a liter, as one quart (US liquid) = .946353 liter.

[djm]

I could never understand people requesting the tune The Four Quarts. Why don't they just ask for The Gallon?

djm