Maintaining your car properly is a way to increase its life and keep it running at a lesser cost. One of the key point to check your car is the level of engine oil in it. Checking the oil levels should be part of your regular car maintenance activity especially when you are about to go on long trips and those which involve heavy engine use.
Oil change becomes very necessary if there is some dirt in it or has inherited smell of petrol or diesel. Let’s check out the steps to know the oil level in the car.
1. Find a Flat surface:
To check the oil levels in the car, the first thing one needs to do is to park the car on a flat surface, ensure that oil tank remains stable so that you can correctly check the level of oil.
2. Open the Hood:
Most of the cars have the engine in the front and thus implying the location of oil compartment too. After you have stabilised the car, just open the hood.
3. Find the Dipstick:
Now, locate the dipstick near the engine. If you don’t know where exactly to look at. Please refer the car’s user manual and then try to trace dipstick.
4. Don’t Touch Transmission Fluid:
If you have a vehicle with automatic transmission, please ensure that you don’t end up pulling out the transmission fluid plug rather than oil dipstick. Such a silly mistake could cost quite a garage bill.
5. Paper Towel or Old Rag:
Whenever you open the hood of the car, always keep an old rag handy. It helps you to not only clean your dirty hands but also clean the parts of the car where something was written or symbolised is not recognisable.
6. Clean the Dipstick:
Carefully take out the dipstick and gently clean it with the old rag or paper towel, whichever is available. Using a paper towel for oil check is always advisable as it cleans the dipstick and gives you clean bright white contrast to judge the oil colour.
7. Insert Dipstick:
After drying the dipstick with the paper towel, insert it again in the hole to get the correct reading. Ensure that you have inserted the dipstick completely into the hole.
8. Take the Reading:
Pull the dipstick again and carefully examine the level. Keep the tip of dipstick downwards so as oil doesn’t flow backwards and changes the true oil level. Read the marker on the dipstick.
Add some oil if the level is below the minimum. Ensure you fill oil a bit less than the maximum point. So, keeping your car healthy is equally important than driving it correctly because if the machine is not in best condition, it may deceive you at crucial moments. Let us know if you have any queries or suggestions.