How To Check And Top Up Your Car Engine Oil Guide

How To Check And Top Up Your Car Engine Oil Guide

Check And Top Up Your Engine Oil Guide

Not checking your car's engine oil regularly can reduce performance or damage your engine. We'd recommend checking at least once a week, so here's a quick guide on how to do that!

How do I know when to change my oil?

You’ll know when this happens if your oil colour is black and gritty. In addition, your engine is louder than normal, you can’t remember when you last changed your oil, or your check engine light won’t go away. Also, if you keep topping up your oil and the level keeps dropping quickly, your oil is probably too old and needs to be changed.

What colour should your engine oil be?

New oil is clean and golden in colour but quickly turns dark brown or black when in use. This darkening is quite normal and nothing to worry about. It can even look black right after you refill it when new oil mixes with leftover old oil.

However, if it’s black and the texture is sluggish, it’ll need replacing.

Oil with a milky, creamy or foamy appearance means coolant or water is leaking into the oil. You’ll need a mechanic to check this.

How long does engine oil last?

It depends on the car and how it's driven. Your handbook will tell you the manufacturer's recommended oil change interval.

Most cars are on fixed interval servicing. Often this means the oil’s changed every 9,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.

Some cars are on variable servicing intervals. In this case, the car will tell you when an oil service is due based on how it's been driven and the oil condition. If your car's on variable servicing, then the recommended oil will be specially-made to last longer.

SAFETY TIP: Always turn your car's engine off and wait for everything to cool down before lifting the bonnet and attempting car maintenance.

What you'll need

• A rag or old cloth to clean up the oil
• The right engine oil for your car
• A funnel
• A pair of gloves and goggles for safety

Oil can stain your hands, so wear gloves, and a kitchen towel is handy for wiping the dipstick after using it. The funnel prevents oil from spilling everywhere.

Make sure you have the correct oil for your car. Consult your owner’s manual to confirm the oil type.

SAFETY TIP: Always turn your car's engine off and wait for everything to cool down before lifting the bonnet and attempting car maintenance.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Park your car on flat ground

To start with, make sure your car is parked in the right place, on flat ground. If the car is on a slope, the readings won’t be accurate.

Step 2: Locate the dipstick and wipe clean

Open your car’s bonnet and locate the dipstick. This is usually brightly coloured with a round or T-shaped handle.

Remove the dipstick and wipe it clean. Once you’ve wiped the dirty oil from the dipstick, re-insert it until it clicks back into place.

Step 3: Remove the dipstick again and check the level.

You should then remove the dipstick again to check the oil level. There will be two marks on the dipstick to show the optimum level that your oil should be at. Your oil level should be somewhere between the two.

If your oil level is below the bottom line, or if there isn’t any oil on the dipstick at all, you should immediately top up your engine oil.

Step 4: Fill up your oil using the funnel

To fill up your oil, you first need to locate the oil filler cap in your engine bay. This should have the word ‘oil’ marked on it, or an outline of an oil can.

Then, position your funnel at the top of the spout and pour oil in. Make sure you use the correct oil for your car.

To get an idea of how much oil you need, the gap between the marks on the dipstick usually represents around 1 litre of oil, so you know that if your oil mark was at the minimum, you would require around a litre to top it up. If it’s only halfway down, you probably need half a litre.

Try not to overfill by pouring a bit at a time, and checking your dipstick using the method I just told you about.

How to know what oil your car takes

Using the wrong oil can damage your engine, so check your car's handbook. It's important to use oil that meets the right technical specifications (ACEA, API, VW, etc). It also needs to be the right grade (numbers separated by a 'w', such as 5w30).

If you don't have a handbook, Shell and Mobil have oil matching services on their sites. You’ll either need your registration or the make, model, year, engine and fuel information for your car.

What happens if you run out of oil?

It’s important not to let your engine oil level get too low.

With low oil pressure, there’s less lubricant for the bearings and other moving parts in your engine. Metal rubs on metal quickly, causing irreversible and expensive damage.

If the oil level drops too far, you might see the oil pressure warning light come on when you're cornering.

CONCLUSION

motor oil indicates how new or old your motor oil is. Fresh motor oil is a pale yellow, mid-life motor oil is an orange-to-reddish brown color, motor oil nearing the end of its life is chocolatey brown, and oil that needs to be changed will be black.

Motor oil deepens in color as it cycles through your motor and picks up soot from the combustion process. Any oil that is too old loses its natural viscosity and may no longer protect your motor’s moving parts from wear and tear. Severe damage can result if this happens. This is why changing your oil on time is an important part of keeping your motor healthy, and you safe.

Most modern cars can go 5,000 to 7,500 miles between oil changes, whereas older vehicles will need an oil change every 3,000 miles or so. If you drive your car less than 6,000 miles a year, you should be safe with an annual oil change.

To see our full range of Oils, click the link below:

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