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Because the dipstick enters the pan at the front of the car and rests there at the front, yes any incline would give you a bad check on the level.
If the car is facing uphill,it would be a low reading. Facing downhill would show fuller than actual.
FYI. Checking a hot engine's oil level is never accurate. Oil is still accumulated through out the engine(especially up in the cam,valve area). Takes it a good 10 minutes or so to fully drain back.
Dipstick tube is the black pipe going into the oil pan.
Last edited by firemangeorge; Dec 14, 2018 at 09:39 PM.
Ok, I haven’t had a chance to fix this yet or determine what it is.
But, I have been sure to pull over when the light comes on and check the oil. Oil has been good.
Recently however, light came on and was at two marks on the dip stick. I let the car sit and then it was barely registering on the dip stick. I started it up for a minute and then checked again and it was 3/4 marks on the dip stick. I drove it to get oil and it was again two marks on the dip stick. I added less than half a quart to get it to 3/4 at that time and then drove it home. Where now it sits.
by the way, unlike last time, this time the car was level every time.
I plan on changing the sensor, but now I want to check the compression and maybe attempt a leak down test.
The car went from barely using 1/4 mark on the dip stick between oil changes to now requiring a lot of oil it seems before an oil change is needed.
To start: The "book" says anywhere between full and add is OK. Neither of mine had gradients, just 2 marks and the difference is about 3/4 quart (probably a litre).
As I read your post running the engine makes the level go up?
In my experience: checking the dipstick immediately after shutdown will be lower than if it sits for 10 minutes.
thats what I don’t understand. The car has been fine up until the oil has started hiding places?
one more thing that I am totally unsure of, I disconnected the crank case ventilation tube at idle to see if there was a lot of oil coming through there. There was oil, slight like usual but there was also air puffing out of there at a constant idle rate. Is that normal. I tried a catch can in the past and caught a little bit of oil but not nearly enough to empty after several oil changes.
That’s fairly normal, I removed my oil catch can, I will reinstall it for the long highway trips, because I only get oil sucked out at higher RPM, this keeps the throttle body , oil free.
