How to Check Oil Level in a Car？

How to Check Oil Level in a Car？

Knowing how to check oil level in a car is important for every vehicle owner. Find out what is the normal oil level for your car and how to top up engine oil today.

How to Check Engine Oil Level


After you have a container of the correct type of engine oil for your car you need to be sure that your car is parked on a level surface. If it is not then your readings will not be correct and you might put too much or to little oil in your engine.

Then you need to find the engine oil dipstick and oil fill cap. The dipstick is typically bright yellow or orange and the oil fill cap will usually have writing on it indicating that it is the oil fill cap.

After you have located the oil dipstick, you need to start your car and let it run for a minute or two. This will make the engine oil warm and will make it easier to read the correct level. Then you need to pull it out and check to see where the oil level is on it. This reading is just an initial reading and will not be super accurate.

After the initial reading you need to wipe off all the oil with disposable towels. Be sure that it is very clean. The cleaner it is, the easier it will be to read the oil level correctly.


How to check oil level in a car: You should have some markings that look similar to the image below. Virtually all manufacturers have their own way of marking the oil dipstick so you may need to read your owners manual to be able to understand yours. In the example below, the normal oil level should be between the two small hole markings:

After wiping the dipstick clean, put it back into the dipstick tube. Make sure that it goes all the way down and seats correctly on the tube. Wait for a few seconds then pull it out again and see where the oil level is. In the image below, the oil dipstick indicates that the oil level is full: