Read our guide to learn how to keep your car topped up with the right level of oil.
Adding the correct amount of oil to your car is an essential part of car maintenance to keep your vehicle running smoothly.
Engine oil is needed to provide lubrication to the moving parts inside the engine, and if there’s not enough, or too much, then it can cause issues.
An engine with too little oil can damage parts like the pistons and bearings as they rub together, instead of being able to glide smoothly without friction.
It can also cause the engine to overheat, and if it’s left without oil for too long the engine can seize up and stop working altogether.
On the other hand, adding too much oil to your car can increase the pressure inside the engine, damage the catalytic converter, and cause the oil to foam up.
It’s sometimes one of the overlooked parts of maintaining a car, but knowing how much oil to put in your car can prevent these serious problems.
In this article, we’ll show you how to check a car's oil level and learn how much oil to put in your car so it runs smoothly.
With this nugget of information, you can soon change the oil in your car. This could save you the cost of an oil and filter change from a mechanic, too!
Before you can determine how much oil to put in your car, you should see how much is left in there already.
Many cars will need to have their oil checked using the method below, but some newer models will automatically tell you on the dashboard when you need to add oil or change it.
If you have a car that self-checks the oil and gives a warning, then you might not need (or be able) to check the oil manually using this method.
Checking the oil can sometimes be a messy job, so be sure to have the right equipment before you begin.
Have some paper towel to hand as you’ll use this to clean the dipstick from the oil sump (the tank that holds the oil).
You can also use nitrile gloves to stop your hands from getting oily.
Ready to check the oil? Let’s do it.
Step 1
The best time to check car oil is when your engine is cool, so aim to do this before you start it up, or after it’s cooled down for at least 1 hour.
The vehicle should also be parked on a flat surface, as a tilted oil sump will give a wrong reading.
Make sure your vehicle is not turned on, and the handbrake is applied.
Step 2
Lift the bonnet of the vehicle and look for the oil symbol near the engine, which usually looks like a small oil can with a drop coming out of it.
This oil cap is where you’d put the oil to top up your vehicle, but next to this there should be a dipstick.
It has a small handle that you can pull out.
Step 3
Pull the dipstick out all the way; some are much longer than others.
Wipe the oil off the end of the dipstick with the paper towel so it’s clean, and then push it back into the engine.
Let it sit for a few seconds then pull it out again.
Step 4
On the dipstick you should now have a dark oil mark on the bottom and you need to note its position.
On the dipstick there should be two marks on the metal, one higher than the other.
The bottom mark is the minimum level and the upper mark is the maximum level.
The oil mark should ideally be towards the maximum mark at the top, but if it’s near the bottom mark then your vehicle should be topped up with oil.
Step 5
Push the dipstick back inside the engine to replace it into the oil sump.
Wipe up any oil spills around the engine, then close the bonnet.
That’s all it takes to know how much oil is in your vehicle.
At this point, you may need to top up or change the oil if the dipstick indicates as such. To do that, though, you need to know how much oil to use.
Now that you know how to check your oil, let’s take a look at how much oil to put in your vehicle.
