How to check engine oil

It is important to check the engine oil in your vehicle frequently to monitor its level. This will prevent the engine from being damaged as the oil acts as a lubricant which also cleans and cools the engine. Doing this little exercise is a good way to maintain your car and will make the engine lasts longer and run smoothly and save you from having to pay the expensive fees of repairing or buying a new engine.

How to check the engine oil level?

You can easily check the oil level in your car’s engine by following these little steps below:

• Lift up your bonnet and look for the engine oil dipstick (If in doubt, check your car manual to locate the dipstick).
• Pull the dipstick out and wipe it with a clean cloth so that any possible oil residue previously on the dipstick is cleared.
• Now locate the oil level marks at the bottom of the dipstick (This will help you in checking your current oil level in a minute)
• Put the dipstick back where you took if from, making sure it goes all the way down.
• Take the dipstick out again and check the engine oil level by observing the oil residue now left on the dipstick.

If the engine oil is below the required level (below the low mark), you will need to add some oil to your engine. You may have to do the same steps above again until you are satisfied that you have sufficient engine oil.

What type of engine oil do I need for my car?

All car manufacturers recommend a particular type of oil for their cars. It is good practice to get that same engine oil but generally it may be more expensive than ordinary engine oil. If you do not know what type of engine oil to buy, then you can go into any local car shop and ask for a general engine oil for your particular car make and if the staff there don’t know, you can always take any decent engine oil (Always go for a branded one like Castrol if you can afford it).

In an emergency only, for example if you see the red light warning coming up on your dashboard to indicate you are running out of engine oil and you are far from any car shops, you can use any type of oil, be it cooking or hair oil to prevent your engine from overheating but you should change it as soon as possible – and that should be on the same day!

If you had bough engine oil before and you've had it for some time now, like more than 3 years, it is best to buy new ones because after some time, unused engine oils are not as efficient and worthy of engine requirements because of age.

Oil if not changed will gather dirt and will damage the engine and if there's not enough of it, the pistons will be rubbing against the cylinder as they move up and down and that will cause a lot of heat on the metals. This can be dangerous when driving and it is therefore recommended to change your engine oil every 500 miles that you make.