Oil change - a quart low

Just had my oil changed and the guy said it was a quart low. This is after ~4k miles, and the truck has 32k miles on it.

Is this normal?

I guess I'm only a little concerned because last week my friend was following me and he said he saw a small puff of white out of my exhaust. But maybe that's normal too. Could it just have been vapor?

Thanks, motor heads.

 

Just keep your eyes on it. It wasn't empty and that's what counts.

 

I know this might sound like a dumb question but have you checked for any leaks? And are you sure it was full correctly the last oil change?

 

a quart in 4000 miles is excessive

 

I haven't, and I'm not. But I park in my garage, so I'm pretty sure it's not leaking.

I'm going to be doing all my oil changes from here on out, I just didn't have time for this one.

 

Maybe the last they left a bit low and it have a bit since the last 4 months and yeah and make sure you start the car and let it sit for a bit and check the oil twice

 

The last time I did mine (at 40k miles) I had this same thing. I was doing my own oil too. I think it was because I wasnt on enough of an incline, or that I didnt warm up the engine enough before. I have been keeping an eye on things, and I havent seen any issues yet. Ill be ready for another oil change in about 1500 miles, so we will see..

 

Come on we had time at the camp site to change it

 

Hah! I know. But I was so cold and tired by then all I wanted to do was crawl into my sleeping bag.

 

I would just keep track of the oil level for the next 5000 miles. Check the oil level with the engine cold and the truck parked on a level surface, and then check it again every 1000 miles under the same conditions.

 

I'm having trouble reading this dip stick. I drove for 10 minutes and checked it. But, I don't know, maybe I'm an idiot, but I can't see any distinguishable line for the oil level. I clean the stick off, go in and out, and then the entire lower half of the stick is smeared with oil.

 

Does your dipstick not have the two dimples near the bottom?

I've found that best way to check the oil is to do it first thing in the morning or after the truck has been sitting (on a level surface) for a few hours. I just pull out the dipstick carefully and read it without cleaning it off and putting it back in, because as soon as you pull it out the firs time it will get oil along the dipstick tube and make it hard to read if you pull it out a second time.

 

White

White smoke is not burned oil. That's usually water or coolant.

 

Yeah, it does, but like I said, the oil is thicker down there, but then just gradually spreads up the stick, making it too hard to read where the 'level' is.

I'll try your method. I thought you were supposed to check the oil when the engine was hot....

 

You can check it hot or cold - it doesn't matter much as long as you give the engine a few minutes to let the oil settle when you shut it off.

http://www.cartalk.com/content/when-are-you-supposed-check-your-oil-when