Engine oil level

[adinfinito]

I have had my Hybrid for a year now and my dealer changed the oil as part of the yearly maintenance. Today I checked the engine oil level and noticed it was pretty much filled till C(drawn on picture). However I also noticed oil streaks above that. Is that a problem, given that a warning is written?

I have drawn with black how I see the oil.

I performed the check according to the protocol.

[flash22]

Pull the dip stick, wipe clean - Put it back in, pull it back out and read it to get a correct reading

[adinfinito]

I did. The streaks are after those steps.

[paul9]

Up to the top mark is fine. The streaks are most likely just from oil drops up the sides of the dipstick tube.

[fourbanks]

it's normal 

[TonyHSD]

If you have difficulty reading the oil level on the dipstick, you can park the car on level ground for overnight and check oil next morning before starting the engine. Open bonnet and take the dipstick out read first and then wipe clean to prevent any residual marks left from the tube. Read again after you clean. If you want to compare with warm engine oil level start the engine, let it running for 15 min then check oil again. Here is an example how to read oil level correctly like in the book. 👍

 

[adinfinito]

Thanks for the advice. I ll check the level of cold oil tomorrow. Wouldnt want this to happen:

 

[AndrueC]

Meh. What a waste of time and pointless worrying.

I stopped bothering to check the oil on my cars years ago. Modern engines don't leak oil unless they've been ragged to hell and back. The level stays the same month after month.

I don't even know where the dipstick is on my Corolla and I don't care. At barely 24k miles it's not worth the effort of looking.

 

[Cyker]

It's a good habit to get into, like checking coolant levels, tyre pressures, washer fluid etc.

 

[Derek.w]

I had the problem of low oil just after a service on a Ford vehicle as filter was not sealing correctly 

ie was not tightened correctly,

If I had not checked it angine wood of seized.

[paul9]

Some modern engines have oil consumption issues, especially with the newer, thinner oils used to help fudge a few extra mpg on fuel consumption tests.

[Derek.w]

Your oil streeks I wood ignore if just on one side of dip stick take your reading from opposite side.

[Derek.w]

7 minutes ago, paul9 said:

Some modern engines have oil consumption issues, especially with the newer, thinner oils used to help fudge a few extra mpg on fuel consumption tests.

I have known new expensive cars use a leater of oil between services and that was 5w40 oil.

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, Derek.w said:

Your oil streeks I wood ignore if just on one side of dip stick take your reading from opposite side.

That’s a good tip 👍

[adinfinito]

So I checked the oil at a cold engine and it is pretty much to C. On the other side its over. Given that old expands and this reference picture, I will probably just drive it to the car service for them to verify.

 

When I checked the oil with a warm engine, I actually cant even tell where the streaks start, because the oil is so clear. But I would say looks more like overfilled than underfilled.

[AndrueC]

13 hours ago, Cyker said:

It's a good habit to get into, like checking coolant levels, tyre pressures, washer fluid etc.

 

Tyre, yes (although the pressure doesn't seem to change either). Washer fluid, yes because obviously that gets used. Coolant, nah, you can see that with a glance.

Oil will either obviously drip on your drive or (if the car is less than five years old) should be fine.

[marlinleg]

Oil 7/8 years ago Honda Civic GT  brand new used 1 litre every 1000 miles. I always check my oil before a motorway run quick check can save you a lot of cash from a seized engine. Oil the life blood of a car. BMW workshop Forman told me at the time your BMW530d the minimum level shown on the dip stick is the correct level for this engine, the maximum level is 1 litre reserve oil 

[Cyker]

2 hours ago, AndrueC said:

Tyre, yes (although the pressure doesn't seem to change either). Washer fluid, yes because obviously that gets used. Coolant, nah, you can see that with a glance.

Oil will either obviously drip on your drive or (if the car is less than five years old) should be fine.

I find my tyre pressures drop very slowly over time, perhaps because of the pothole-ridden hellscape that is my normal work drive, so it's essential I check them regularly (I have to say I love that the Mk4 has TPMS sensors that give you a 4-wheel live PSI readout!).

With oil, while the lack of a splodge on the driveway means it's probably not leaking, that doesn't mean the oil level isn't dropping! My Mk2 was a perfect case in point - It was burning something like a litre a month! With such thin oils and low-friction piston rings I can imagine oil consumption rising as the engine gets used, especially with my mileage.

That said, I'm slacking a bit as the car is brand new and if it had noticeable oil consumption this soon I'd be very unhappy, but by year 4-5 I will definitely be checking it more regularly!!

Remember folks - the biggest weakness of Toyota engines is the oil! If you keep the oil in good condition, the engine will last forever, but if you don't, keep an ear out for that chain rattle...!

 

[Cyker]

3 hours ago, adinfinito said:

So I checked the oil at a cold engine and it is pretty much to C. On the other side its over. Given that old expands and this reference picture, I will probably just drive it to the car service for them to verify.

 

When I checked the oil with a warm engine, I actually cant even tell where the streaks start, because the oil is so clear. But I would say looks more like overfilled than underfilled.

Yeah, I do wish Toyota would use dip-sticks like Ford ones, as the cross-hatching would make it much easier to read the oil level - These ultra thin oils are practically invisible, esp. when recently changed. And the hybrids are much more gentle on their oils so even after say 5k of use it's still nowhere near as dark as it would be on a normal car.

[TonyHSD]

Oil level checks together with coolant levels are actually the most important checks under bonnet. Should be done once a months or even more often if you drive the car more. I do once a week including washer top up and tyre pressure checks. Oil shows other information too as how the engine is running and healthy it is., so good to know. Hot or cold engine oil level difference is within 5mm which is not a big deal if level is in either side of the B mark, although within B mark is preferable. I have seen cars well overfilled or well below and still drives. Well below is actually worse in engines, well above is worse in transmissions. 

[Cyker]

That's a good point, once I checked the oil on the Mk2 and it was nearly diesel-car black (Which is fine in a diesel but a bad sign in a petrol car!)

I think I'd been hammering it particularly hard those few months so gave it a mid-year oil change with some help from my travelling mechanic friend, and then just started doing mid-year 'services' on it since then.

Thankfully not something I need to do on the Mk4 (Not yet at least!) - The Toyota service itemization for the 0w8 oil it uses was nearly £90!!!  

 

[PRus]

I always check the fluid levels before a long drive(oil, coolant, windscreen wash, and tyres), no matter the car and how new it is. I know 2 instances of engines siezing due to lack of oil. 

Other than that, every 2-3 weeks I have a look at the levels. 

[Cyker]

Yup, that's just common sense before a long journey!

[marlinleg]

I am 74yr old . 1966 RAF North Luffenham driving a lorry bang engine seized no oil I hadn't check the oil. Fortunately for me the engine block had cracked. I always check oil from that day to this 😵‍💫

[Gerhard_Corolla]

10 hours ago, adinfinito said:

So I checked the oil at a cold engine and it is pretty much to C. On the other side its over. Given that old expands and this reference picture, I will probably just drive it to the car service for them to verify.

 

When I checked the oil with a warm engine, I actually cant even tell where the streaks start, because the oil is so clear. But I would say looks more like overfilled than underfilled.

A tip I read on another forum: You can do the regular process to check the engine's oil level, but if it's a little bit difficult to read it, fold a tissue or napkin over the dip-stick, open it carefully without moving nor tissue or dip-stick and that way you would immediately see the correct level...

 

The first time I checked the oil level, I needed three attempts and use light reflection to try to infer where it was. I found out that the level is 3/4mm above the MAX mark, did a little research and decided that the level should be corrected on the next oil change. Apparently they all come overfilled from the factory, and if it's not above a centimeter, it doesn't cause splashing bubbles nor augment the piston pressure or valves.

 

Supposedly you need to fill the engine with 4 liters, start the engine and let it warm up, shut it down and let the oil cool/drop for 5 minutes, and then add little by little the remaining 300ml until you reach the b mark on the dip-stick.

 

🤘