How often do you check your oil level?

[mightymousetech]

Personally, I check my Civic about every week or two, and before and after any track event.

The BMW gets checked pretty much every time I get the oil up to full temp, so easy to do from the driver's seat.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: mightymousetech


The BMW gets checked pretty much every time I get the oil up to full temp, so easy to do from the driver's seat.


I am the same way with my wife's BMW. I don't drive it as often as she does, so whenever I get behind the wheel I always scroll through the dashboard display to get to the oil level. IMO, the electronic dipstick in the BMW is an amazing invention. No more second guessing the level like with a regular dipstick. (for instance, the one on my Corvette is annoying, it will read full on one side of the stick and when you flip it over it'll show the level in the middle, and nobody I've talked to seems to know which level is the correct one)

 

[totegoat]

When cold after a long drive.

 

[dogememe]

Crown Vic: Every fill up
Suburban: Every fill up
Escape: Between each Turo rental

 

[bigjl]

I will check it weekly when I first buy it.

Once i figure out if it actually uses any oil I may adjust what I do.

I always liked the way most Renaults since the 80's have an oil level check every time you start the engine, and it is accurate.

Checking the oil on the Smart is a pain in the you know what, empty the boot, remove the parcel shelf, remove the sound deadening, undo the screws that hold down the boot floor and then struggle to get hold of the slightly awkwardly situated dipstick.

Annoyingly the Smart is based on a Renault Twingo and I wonder if the Twingo has the usual oil level check on the dash every time you start the car.

Preferable to the nightmare of the Smart.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Check fluid levels and lights and tire pressure every Sunday.

 

[Wurlitzer]

What oil?

 

[pjhalifax]

Maybe once a month at best. Oil levels are always steady on our cars now so I check a few times after an oil change and tend to forget about it. When I had my trusty Saturn SL2 I was checking weekly because that car drank oil!

 

[K23Turbo]

Each time I fill up at the gas station.

 

[javacontour]

About once every 1k miles or about every other week for the Mazda. Maybe monthly for the '99 MGM. About the same for the '17 Rav4

Since I've dispatched the '03 Protege5, the only car that seems to use any meaningful volume of oil is the '99 MGM. I'm sure it suffers from the valve stem seal issues common with Ford's Mod V8. I probably add a quart every 1500 miles, give or take.

 

[Duffyjr]

Just bought a used car so I've been checking it once a week to see if it's using any. Been a couple months now and not a drop is missing so I will probably back off to once a month for now. My other vehicles I've had for a while and only check them when I think about it, maybe every other month as I know they don't use any.

 

[littleant]

Every week. Long trips every fill up.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: mightymousetech

Won't grenade, but it will increase oil consumption every time you go down a L or two. We do so many V6 pistons and short blocks due to oil consumption, they are currently on back order. They can't build them fast enough.


What vehicles are these engines for?

 

[JeffKeryk]

Sounds stupid, but never.
Cars range from 2001 Tundra, V8 190K to new Accord and RX 450h.
Forgot the 2006 TSX, 180K.

 

[Silverado12]

I had been lazy about checking the oil for a while, but I think I'm going to go back to once every couple weeks or so. I had a oil pressure switch recently go bad on my old Mustang and was dripping oil. I checked it and was 1/4 quart low. Not a real big deal but there always can be a leak like this, esp an oil filter gasket so it's good to check about twice a month IMO.

 

[CBR.worm]

In one car, never. It doesn't appear to use any in the 8-10K OCIs, and it has no dipstick. The others - every 1,500 miles or so.

 

[SeaJay]

Every 3 months, whether or not it really nneds it

 

[Voleak]

I never check it. I do 6,000 OCI and the dealer says my Crosstrek is always full when I bring it in. In the past I never thought to check it, either. But now that I am on BITOG, I will be more responsible and check weekly to get in a habit. I want to be knowledgeable about motor oil, that's what brought me here.

 

[Malo83]

Monthly.

 

[lego]

2 Nissan trucks - never

KTM dirt bike - before every ride

2 Suzuki Motorcycles - 1/month

20 yr old Ducati - before very ride, and for trips of more than 200 miles I carry oil with me