Oil level & time to change

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Just a half a quart and 1K to go top off! Lots of people I've seen post on here would be thrilled with that little oil consumption. Oh by the way what is your OIC goal and which of your sig cars is this on.
 
There are two schools of thought. After you fill on the new OCI and get the level to the "full" mark of the dipstick, at any point in the OCI you check and it's below the initial point you filled it to, you can:

1. Top it off if that's what makes you feel good.
2. Let it go until you get to the lower end of the marks that say "Add oil".

Reason being, the level on the dipstick can fluctuate from temperature, if the oil is still in the top end of the engine, etc etc etc, and the defining call to action is when the level is at the lowest end of the marks. Whatever makes you feel good is what you should do, because neither method will make a difference to your engine.
 
Leave it alone unless you really want to waste a half a quart of oil.
Engines use at least some oil by design and the dipstick is marked with a safe range.
If the oil is to be drained in a mere 1K, there is really no point in adding half a quart of make-up oil
 
I'd always add oil to keep it within proper spec. It's foolish to do otherwise unless you're literally driving home and changing the oil anyway.

Even if I was doing the oil a week later I'd still top it off.
 
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If you are frugal, top it off to halfway so you will still be in the middle in 500 or 1000 miles.
If you know your oil consumption you can plan for this better. e.g. by topping off at oci halfway point if you only need 1 topoff per oci, or in thirds if you need 2 topoffs per oci.
 
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I keep the oil at the full line. Always. What if the car goes a while between checks? What if the car does a few thousand miles before you have the opportunity to check it again? If you always top off the oil when you check it to make sure that its full, it will never get below add.

I do my mother in laws oil changes. It could be a month or two before I see the car again. I always top if off when I check it.
 
Too many details missing to give a logical answer, including the rate of consumption, planned change interval, value of the vehicle, etc.
 
Couldn't happen nowadays. Havn't used quarts since primary school.

Course with this Brexit bollocks the clock is being wound backwards, so who knows?

If I was a litre down, something other than the clock would be broken.
 
always check cold + on level ground for a correct reading. depending on your crankcase capacity 1/2 qt means little, but my 4.25 qt 300 hp 1.8T gets the best Redline + i check it regularly as it uses-blows some out @ 25 lbs boost!!
 
Originally Posted By: CR94
Too many details missing to give a logical answer, including the rate of consumption, planned change interval, value of the vehicle, etc.


It's just a simple, casual question. No need to over-analyze this.
 
I would top off both cases.

How much is a quart of oil? A few dollars.

If you put a whole quart it you could extend the OCI a little bit as well, provided you didn't go over by a lot.
 
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