Guide: How to check the Oil Level

Modern cars already bring a check of the oil level with themselves. If the oil level drops below a critical value, the driver is informed about that in form of a warning light in the dashboard.

However, additionally you should check the oil level manually because the automatic display can always be flawed and is never 100 percent reliable.

When checking the oil level, proceed as follows:

1. Ideally, the oil level is checked with the engine hot. So the best is to check when coming home after a short drive.
2. The car should stand on a flat surface. If the car is standing in the ramp, this can lead to erroneous results, because the oil in the oil pan is tilted accordingly.
3. You are checking with the engine off. The best way is to wait for about one minute after driving, so that the engine oil can calm in the oil pan.
4. After opening the hood, pull the dipstick (is usually marked as such) out and wipe it off with a dry paper towel.
5. Tuck in the dipstick back completely and then pull it out again.
6. Now you can read at the bar, how high the oil is. On the dipstick, there is a mark indicating the area in which the oil should be at a minimum and at a maximum.
7. When topping up the oil, you should try to slowly approach the ideal level on the dipstick. That means, refill something, than check the current oil level and so on. Ideally, you should try to achieve approximately the middle between the minimum and the maximum value on the dipstick.

I wish you a safe journey!