Every person that operates a car should take some time to learnhow to read dipstick. It’s important why? Because oil is like blood, right? You need the right amount, and the right type, at all times.
Too little engine oil and you ruin the engine from too much friction. Too much engine oil and you have frothy oil most times, and that leads to premature wear and tear of the internal components of the engine.
What do you do? You need a suitable amount of motor oil in the engine, and the best way to be sure is to read your cars oil with the dipstick.
This article will show you how to do that, as well as answer questions concerning maintaining optimal levels of engine oil in your car.
How to read dipstick step by step
Reading your car’s oil dipstick level is no rocket science and is something that can be accomplished quite easily once you follow the steps you are about to read. Follow the steps outlined below:
Consult your owner’s booklet
Different car makers have various requirements to be followed before you can effectively read your engine oil. So consult the owner’s booklet to know the car maker’s view on the best temperature to check the oil.
Park Your Vehicle on a Level Surface
Keep your vehicle parked on a level surface when attempting to read the oil level in the engine correctly.
If you park the vehicle on a slope, that position will affect the way the oil is settled in the engine, which will in turn affect the amount of oil available to your oil dipstick and ultimately, its reading.
Lift the Vehicle’s Hood
There should be a catch to make it easy to lift the hood covering the vehicle’s engine bay. Depending on the vehicle, the catch could be anywhere on the vehicle, and you may have to pull it or push it to release the catch securing the car’s hood.
You then look for a second catch underneath the hood. Once it is located, you then pull/push it to retract the hood allowing you access the car’s engine bay. Some car hoods come with springs that allow the hood to easily stay up without support.
In other cases you may have to use some prop to hold it upright. Whichever of the two is used, do keep the hood up so that the next step will be easy for you to complete.
Find the Dipstick
To find this, you may need to refer to your car owner’s booklet.
Your car’s oil dipstick is basically a flush (minimum of one foot) long, pencil thin piece of metal, which has something like a circlet you hold in your fingers to remove the dip stick.
Oil dipsticks are generally fitted with red, orange, or yellow caps, and have sign of an oil can on them. The shapes are generally round of rectangular and should be around the engine block.
Of course, dipstick is not and depends on the vehicle because some vehicles have dipsticks which stick out from the top of the valve cover. In any case, it should be near the front of the engine bay.
Take Out Dipstick
After locating the oil dipstick, you are to gently pull it out while holding a paper towel or clean rag around the port from which you pull it out of.
You may want to use the paper towel to catch oil that will spill from the port when you remove the dipstick.
Remember, do not force the oil dipstick out. Just get a good grip of the loop on top of the cap and pull.
Wipe It Clean
The other reason you need a paper towel in withdrawing the dipstick considerable oil generally spills out the port when it is looped out of it. The other reason for the paper towel is to wipe the While wiping it clean, be sure to wipe down from the very tip of the dipstick.
The reason for this is—you will immerse it a second time the port after withdrawal from the dipstick. It is difficult to get an accurate reading of the dipstick setting when it is withdrawn the first time.
That is why it is important to wipe it clean before ascertaining the reading. Wipe from the top of the dipstick to the
Tip of it. But be sure to take notice of the condition of oil itself, such as its color, constituents and the like, before wiping the dipstick.
Take Your Oil Reading
Assuming again you’ve wiped the dipstick clean, you need to put it in a second time. You then pull it out a second time to have a good look at it. Your car’s dipstick should have some holes, letters, lines to indicate oil levels in the engine.
For some it’s F(Full) and L(Low). For others, just two (or more) small holes or perhaps a line or series of lines to mark these spots. You’d need to refer to the owners’ booklet again and see what it says about the markings on the oil dipstick.
In any case, the lower most marking is often closest to the tip of the dipstick and the highest should be nearer to the cap of the dipstick. So where is oil on the dipstick?
If the oil is somewhere between these markings (closer to the top the better), you have optimum engine oil levels.
However, if your dipstick looks like the oil is close to or below the markings (end of dipstick tip) then you need to add engine oil. In any case, if above the upper mark you’ll want to drain out, and maintain with a normal oil level.
Wipe The Dipstick Before Replacing
Once you are through reading dipstick gauge, you want to wipe off the oil from dipstick before returning it to its port.
FAQs.
Q: What do the lines on the dipstick mean?
The lines on a dipstick are actually measurement lines and they simply show how much oil is in your engine at a time.
You may also see that some are marked with letters or small dots (bubbles). Check your car owner’s manual or have a chat with a professional if you’re not sure how to read a dipstick with dots.
Q: Is it OK to slightly overfill engine oil?
That depends on the car in question. For most cars, slightly overfilling your engine with a quart of oil won’t lead to damage that is catastrophic to the engine. That said, some engines bring an even higher risk of getting damaged when the engine has excess oil.
Such cars might not be capable of even taking as much as an extra quart of oil as the oil pressure rises, putting pressure on the seals and gaskets to prevent leaks of oil. That results in more wear and more tear on those seals and gaskets, ultimately damaging your engine.
You want to lessen the oil when you see that the dipstick oil level is too high.
Q: What do the 4 holes on a dipstick mean?
It is very easy to learn how to read a dipstick with 4 dots. The topmost hole on a 4-hole dipstick stands for the full mark when hot oil is in the car. The next hole is the maximum point for cold oil in the car.
Of the last two holes (the one closest to the tip and this next hole above it), the uppermost of these two is the lowest mark when oil is hot and the hole closest to the tip of the stick is the lowest of the oil when cold.
Q: What does the H stand for on a dipstick?
The “H” on a dipstick represents high or normal oil levels. The oil levels of car dipsticks are indicated by markings.
For instance, on some vehicles, there could be a series of pinholes relating to MAX (this means maximum) and MIN (this means minimum). In others, you may find letters such as “H” and “L”.
Q: Do I have to wait for my engine to cool before putting in oil?
Not really, it depends on the car. You may have to consult the owner’s booklet to determine this.
Different cars have different temperature requirements so it is best to get confirmation from your owner’s booklet or your mechanic.
Final Words
You need to be regularly checking your engine oil should you wish to keep your engine in tip-top condition.
Your car is fitted with a part that lets you check the level and condition of the oil manually: the dipstick. In order to keep your engine always having the ideal amount of oil, you should know how to read dipsticks.
Reading a dipstick is child’s play, and this article has explained the steps you can take.
Follow the steps as described above to ensure that your vehicle is always in possession of the right amount of engine oil. You might want to seek professional help if you find that you have followed the steps and the engine oil dipstick is hard to read.