Do you check your oil?

The fact is I have never needed to check it in 6 years and 88k miles. I am sure, I will need to eventually. Do any of you regular oil checkers seem to be burning much?

It just seems like with newer engines and especially newer oils it isn't as critical.

I know oil and engines have come a long way, since I was in high school.

Any high mileage people willing to share their oil consumption?

 

After break in, I switched to amsoil. After 86k it uses less than a quart 5k.

 

I check mine every other fill-up. I like to check it and say hi to my blower!

 

When I was 14 I was driving an old worn-out Chevy with a 396 V8 in it to and from my farm job. I had to check the oil every day because it used about a quart every fifty mile round trip; even sitting it used oil as the seals were shot.

Flash forward to my Toyota pickups, which hardly used oil at all. Even my '87 Toyota pickup at 17 years of age and over 220,000 miles used less than a half quart between oil changes.

I check the oil in my current Tacoma after I change it to make sure that it's full and then just every once in a while, more for something to do while waiting for the tank to fill than out of any real need. My Taco is six years old this summer and doesn't use enough oil between changes to tell for sure whether or not it's actually gone down on the dipstick.

However, I don't do any extreme or constant off-roading anymore either; I just use my truck's off-road capabilities when they are needed (usually mud and snow season). If you have an engine that you suspect might have a mechanical problem or if you operate the vehicle in deep water then by all means check the oil often. In the military we usually had to change the oil in the gamma goats every time they swam a river.

 

my 2008 has just over 8000 miles, I just changed it a couple weeks ago,,

 

I used to work at NAPA. One day a customer came in and bought a quart of oil. Five minutes later he came back and bought a second quart of oil. Ten minutes later, a third.

I was thinking "hmmmm, adding oil in the parking lot?) Then he comes back inside and buys a case of oil. I am not one to ask questions about others' business, so I say nothing.

Maybe 15-20 minutes later, the same guy comes in and asks me how many quarts of oil a 74? Ford Galaxy will hold. I say "I dunno, five or six quarts maybe."

He asked me to go outside and look at his oil level. I was curious, so I went. He takes off the oil filler cap and tells me he's put 15 quarts in his engine and the oil still isn't to the top of the "oil reservoir"

I showed him how to use an oil dipstick.

 

WTF what was he filling lol?? Coolant tank?

 

Did you tell him he WAS a dipstick?

 

He was filling the engine oil. He thought that the oil level would be correct when it reached the bottom of the hole in the valve cover where he had removed the oil cap.

 

Mine is a 2011, so I did check every fill up til I was sure it burns nothing, now I check every few tanks. Or if leaving town because who the hell sells 0w 20??

 

I am too polite sometimes.

 

I think some of these oil change minders are a mixed blessing. My Tacoma goes off at 5,000 miles which is fine since I use syn. My wife's Honda was at 8,000 and minder said it had 70% to go. Maybe some one better in math then I am can tell me when it would say to change the oil - 20,000 ? I also wonder if it is just a scheme to make you buy an new car when the motor goes because of extended OCI ?

 

Wife's '04 Rav4 runs about a quart every 5-6000. She has 120k on it.

 

Different minders operate differently.

Toyota's is stupid. It is simply a reminder clock that goes off every 5000 miles. There is no intelligence behind it. Same for the one in my '07 Explorer.
The GM (and perhaps Honda?) monitor engine RPM, load, temperature, and other parameters to give a good estimate of oil life.
This estimate is based on using the factory recommended oil and weight, so if you are running synthetic in an engine where the factory does not require it, you're doing even better and are more than safe following the oil minder.

My '06 Duramax would indicate that a change was needed anywhere from 8k to 13k depending on conditions. There has been a lot of debate and analysis of the GM OLI and the general opinion backed up by used oil analysis is that you can trust the automated systems... they are ALWAYS going to err on the conservative side. No manufacturer wants to pay for repairs, or be trashed on the net, because someone had a problem following the OLI.

Did her minder say there was 70% to go, or 70% used? I've seen them both ways. I think the one in my Explorer (even though it was just a "clock") indicated "used", so at oil change time it said 99%.
I think the Duramax showed remaining.

 

Nope Mine's an 10' and it does not leak so whats the point?

 

Wow! And you guys calling me a troll?! LOL! (I thought only my wife called me that.) Just keeping the mood light. Never thought someone would actually do something like that. Takes all kinds I guess. Noobs are everywhere.

I check my oil at rather irregular intervals. I always check it before I change it and after I refill. My 74 Nova would suck down some oil. The Taco doesn't so much, so I don't worry about it much.

 

Don't check it as often as I should

But always before heading on a road trip. And once a day while traveling

 

this is my 4th new toyota, i have never check my oil. the key is oil changes. make sure you do that every 5k and you should be good.

 

Once a week: oil, tires, fluids, lights on all three vehicles.

Ray

 

Every time the hood is up for me too.