Automotive

Check Engine Oil – Hot or Cold? What is the Proper Way?

Checking engine oil is a very important thing that you need to make frequently. So, it is very important to check engine oil properly. You are probably curious about how the engine oil must be checked, hot or cold. Here you can find detailed information about this topic.

How to Check Engine Oil? Hot or Cold?

Check Engine Oil – Hot or Cold

First of all, we need to understand that the temperature of the engine oil can rise to 25 degrees Fahrenheit if you run your engine. And most people make the same mistake to check engine oil right after turning off the engine. So, it is very important to check the engine in a cold way to see the correct engine oil levels.

Why Check Your Engine Oil When It’s Cold?

The reason behind it was very simple. Because if the engine oil is hot, the oil expands. And it will lead you to make false readings on your dipstick. So, you need to alleviate this expansion if you want to make correct measurements.

If you want to measure the engine oil level in your car, you just need to follow these basic steps;

  • First of all, you need to run your car for 10 minutes if your engine is completely cold. Because we are not making the measurements on the directly cold engine oil.
  • After running your engine for 10 minutes, you need to stop the engine for 15 minutes.
  • After 15 minutes, you can make the measurement.

This is the way that you can make exact measurements for your engine without any problem.

How to Measure the Engine Oil?

As you see above we gave the method that you can apply for your engine. To do it, you just need to follow these steps.

  • Open the hood of your are after letting your engine cool for 15 minutes.
  • Make sure that you placed your car on an even surface. Because the oil level can be inclined on a non-even surface and your reading will be very false.
  • After opening the hood, find the location of the dipstick in your engine. Oıt will probably be right below the engine cap. And you will see that there is a very simple holding place for that dipstick.
  • Take the dşpstick gently from its hole.
  • After taking, it, wipe the tip of it with a help of a wiper or towel. And re-attach it correctly.
  • After reattaching it, take it back. And look at the engine oil level. The oil level must be between two lines on the tip of the stick. So, you can easily wipe your stick out.

If the engine oil level is below the bottom line, you are running out of engine oil. And you need to add some.

Also if the engine oil is higher than the line, you need to extract some engine oil from your engine.

These are the general things that you need to know about engine oil levels.

Can Oil Be Checked When the Engine is Cold?

Lots of people are making this mistake in general. Because the engine can get contracted in very cold air. And when you run your engine, your engine oil will get warm at a certain level. So, if you want to make more precise readings, you need to check the engine oil in war. And we explained the general method to get your engine to warn enough if you are living in very cold regions.

Is Oil Level Lower When Cold?

Yes. It is the nature of the materials. If you bring a liquid in a cold, it will contract. And when it contacts, the volume will decrease. And you will make readings will not completely accurate and correct. You will read the engine oil level lower than the noırmal level.

What is the Correct Way to Check Engine Oil?

You just need to apply the methods that we explained above. You need to take your engine temperature warmly. And apply the other methods to check the engine oil level accurately as we explained above.

Does Oil Level Go Down When Hot?

No. If you heat a liquid, it will expand. And we can not talk about the decreasing oil levels in general. So, you need to cool down your engine to a certain level, which is 15 minutes on average, to measure the engine oil levels in general. And you will be able to measure the engine oil level of your car correctly.

Last Words on Hot or Cold Check Engine Oil

These are the general things that we can state about this topic. We tried to give all the necessary information about this issue momentarily. Also, we explained the general reasons and logic behind them.

If you have additional comments and questions about this topic, you can leave all of them below. Also, you can send us feedbacks from the contact us page!

Check the related topics about the engine oil;

Change Engine Oil Soon Warning Light – What to Do?

Check Engine Light After Oil Change – General Causes and Fixes

How Long to Let Engine Cool Before Adding Oil? EXPLAINED!

Uğur Uygun

Hello everyone, I am Uğur. I am a mechanical engineer who has experience in different R&D departments of HVAC companies. With my best friend, I decided to build this website to share out knowledge and experience. And also, I am interested in automotive. So, I am writing about automotive and automotive-related articles here. Sharing my knowledge and experiences on these topics is a very big pleasure for me. I am willing to answer all of the questions people have about these topics.

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