Do you check your oil?

I have 88K on my 2006 double cab offroad 4x4. I have never really checked the oil since I bought it. I do oil changes every 3-6k with Castrol full synthetic. It is due for an oil change with about 4k since the last change, so I thought I would check the dipstick. Sure enough it is still well between the marks.

My question is how long can I push it before I need to get religious about checking the oil?

Any of you higher mileage guys have a clue?

What are your thoughts?

 

i check mine on occasion in anything I own. Just a good idea to keep an eye on it..but that being said,It has never really done me any good or harm. I guess it's just another way to keep an eye on engine health.

 

If your vehicle is a "major" investment for you, check your oil once a month or so. You will learn a pattern of oil consumption, if any, and get a feel for how it is running. When something seems wrong, check it.

If you don't care about keeping your vehicle running at its best, don't bother checking it.

I'd rather spend three minutes once a month making sure everything is the way its supposed to be. Cheap investment of time as an early warning insurance policy.

Chris

 

If the motor starts knocking I know it's low on oil. I'm at about 60,000 miles and have checked a few times and it never burns or leaks any oil. I will start checking more as my mileage increases.

 

Ever other Saturday is car day at my house. The wife and I check all fluids and tire pressure in all of our bikes/cars/trucks. Doesn't take more than a few minutes on each vehicle to check everything out.

Maybe it is overkill but my wife and I are really hard on our vehicles, both of us got our lead feet installed at an early age. So I want to make sure whatever we are driving is ready to get used and abused like a $20 hooker.

*No offense to the $20 Hooker, she was very nice*

 

with regular oil changes, and seeing no oil loss its hard to worry about it unless you see a puddle... but once you sense a motor starts burning oil, you begin to check it more. I always check my oil when the hood is up...

 

Ya, I check mine. I change it every 5,000 religiously. So I normally check in half way between the change. Checking your oil can tell you alot of things just by looking at it, so I like the peace of mind.

 

once a month or everything i open the hood its a quick check so might as well check it

 

My Doctor just checked the oil and said it was fine.

 

I check it every other fuel stop on everything I drive. It's been many years since I've had anything that actually required me to add oil. I just think it's good practice.

My experience has been that if someone lets an oil change go much past 5K, there will be a noticeable amount of oil burned. We lost an engine in a truck at work because the driver never checked the oil, and let the change go to 10K miles. Apparently it burned about a gallon over the 10K miles.
6K dollars later we have the original engine (only 70K on it total) rebuilt. It's now burning a quart every 1K miles. The driver really, really wishes he checked the oil, and he's very thankful to still be employed.

Like others have said, it just takes a couple of minutes. For me I have to know, that's all there is to it.

I did have a head gasket fail once on a different truck. The first sign was burning coolant. Had I checked the fluids on a regular basis, my first clue would have been a low coolant level in the overflow tank. As it was, my first clue was a steaming truck on the side of the road. That's when I started checking fluids regularly.

 

I do a quick once over on my truck when I fill up. I'll check the motor and trans oil, the air filters, check that all the water hoses are still tight and in good shape, check tire pressure, check spare, lug nuts are tight, etc.

 

Isn't that what the oil light is for, kinda like the gas light - time to fill 'er up? When mine comes on, I get a couple of the 5 qt oil containers and top it off, but no so much so that it spills over.

 

You have me thinking - a accomplishment in itself. I think it would be a good idea to check the oil level when I change the oil. That way I will see if there is enough usage to warrent checking it in between oil changes. I have a 2.7 - it's a good motor. My gen 1 2.7 had 130,000 on it when the frame rusted out and didn't burn or leak any oil between changes. I now have 50,000 on my gen 2.

 

The nearest gas station to my house is Full Service, so they check it along with all the other fluids, tire pressures, and clean my windows every time I fill up there.

Its worth the $5 tip...

 

The oil light comes on when there is less than 2 qts in the pan. Are you certain your driving habits will keep oil under the suction line with only 2 qts?
They call them idiot lights for a reason.

 

I know, I know ... don't feed the trolls, but it's fun.

 

Got into the habit of checking every fillup when I was a kid.
Didn't used to have to, but when stations started going self-service, it became my job.

Once I started driving my own newer vehicles, I've found it a bit of a waste to check every fillup, but I'll pop the hood and do a quick fluids and belt/hose check a couple of times a month.
My '95 Suburban with 300k on it used to burn a quart every 3k.
My motorcycle is unpredictable... it'll go 3000 miles and not burn a bit, then it'll suck a quart in 800 miles... but it has a sight glass so checking is easy.

 

My '05 C7500 work truck has an oil level light.
10qt capacity, when the light comes on it's 2 quarts low.