Oil level - where do you keep yours?

[E38Ross]

Random question but i've sometimes wondered.....on the dipstick, if you had to choose (which clearly you don't!) between having the oil level right near the max (but certainly not past it), right near the bottom, or roughly in the middle (on most cars it's 1L between min and max) where would you prefer yours? for some reason, i've always thought having it nearer the max mark is always better than the middle since there is more oil there, but in reality this stemmed from a belief founded on absolutely no evidence at all.

or to put it another way, if you checked your oil, and it was 1/2 between min and max....would you bother topping it up?

random question i know

[y2blade]

On the MAX line when cold here.

[Mr MXT]

Mosly in a pool all over the drive.

[E38Ross]

y2blade said:

On the MAX line when cold here.

which is probably a little under max in reality, sounds like a pretty sensible thing to do. at least you know it's not over-filled!

Mr MXT said:

Mosly in a pool all over the drive.

i have stained drops on the drive from the E21 when it had an oil leak. i thought it was major (when the car got, erm "(ab)used" it used to drop a lot.....turned out it cost around £10 to fix

[g3org3y]

Prefer it closer to max. If I found it right in the middle, whether I topped up would depend on my level of laziness that day.

[xr287]

I like it near the max level and would always top up if it was approaching halfway inbetween min and max

[em177]

An honest poll about who actually checks their oil level would be interesting.

• Excluding RX8 owners

[y2blade]

em177 said:

An honest poll about who actually checks their oil level would be interesting.

• Excluding RX8 owners

I check mine once a week, always have done......along with checking tire pressures and topping up washer fluids.

[Pannywagon]

The car tells me when it needs oil.

No dipstick!

[y2blade]

Pannywagon said:

No dipstick!

I beg to differ

[HustleRussell]

In the race car- as low as possible without causing oil pressure loss due to surge. Just over 'min'. The more oil in it, the less power it makes.

[collateral]

Max because otherwise the VCT doesn't seem to work as well

[philmh]

I tend to only check mine once a month. It's not dripping onto the drive and theres no smoke in my rear view when i accelerate. Oil is always just under the max level and hardly ever needs topping up, maybe a litre in almost a year. Washer fluid rarely needs topping up through summer- autumn either as it gets washed weekly.

[Deva Link]

Pannywagon said:

The car tells me when it needs oil.

No dipstick!

Same with mine (Merc) but it has to drop a heck of a long way before it asks - in fact I've never had it happen on my own car.
I can check the actual level from the cluster computer - it holds 6.5L and I top it up when it drops under 6 unless it's close to needing a service.

[Howard-]

y2blade said:

I check mine once a week, always have done......along with checking tire pressures and topping up washer fluids.

Every two weeks or so for me

[andym1603]

No dipstick, as such, here either. On previous cars always kept it as close to the max mark as possible.

[Pannywagon]

y2blade said:

Pannywagon said:

No dipstick!

I beg to differ

I've got a merc. The dipstick isn't built into the engine. The dealer has a workshop dipstick. I have to either check using the computer (5 minutes after parking up) or wait for it to ask for oil.

[y2blade]

Pannywagon said:

y2blade said:

Pannywagon said:

No dipstick!

I beg to differ

I've got a merc. The dipstick isn't built into the engine. The dealer has a workshop dipstick. I have to either check using the computer (5 minutes after parking up) or wait for it to ask for oil.

I was being cheeky..hence the " "

[Pannywagon]

[Noesph]

Just under max, but I've never needed to top it up. It gets changed every year and the stays at the same level all year. Not bad for a 12 and half year old car.