Beginner Car Care Checking Your Car or Trucks Engine Oil

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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.

Hi. I'm Mike from 1A Auto. In this video, we're going to really tackle a very basic car care item. This video is going to be geared more towards, really, the new driver or somebody that doesn't know really anything about their car but is curious to learn.

Start with the vehicle on a level surface. If you have a garage, that's level, or a gas station filling area is level. Then open the hood or the engine compartment. Your hood lever is usually on the bottom left side of the driver side. You can see here. It usually has kind of this open hood universal symbol.

You can see here, Ella opens up the door, looks for the handle. First she kind of looks up underneath, then she finds it and pulls firmly. Now there's a secondary safety latch underneath. You can see this one pulls up. Sometimes they'll pull to the side. If you have trouble, consult your manual.

Next, locate the engine oil dipstick. On most newer vehicles, they try to make it pretty obvious. You can see, on the Jetta, it's right there circled in blue. On this newer GM truck, it's right there in yellow, right next to the oil fill. Then on some vehicles, you may have to just do a little bit of looking. It's not in immediate view, but if you look down a little further, you'll see it.

Now remove the dipstick and wipe off any extra oil. As you see here, Ella struggles a little bit, but with a little bit of force, the dipstick pulls up and out. She's already got her paper towel there and wipes off the end. Wipe off any extra oil.

Okay, before we go further, let's get familiar with what the dipstick is. You can see we have three here. The top one is from the VW Jetta we're working on, the middle one is from an older car, and the bottom one is from a later style GM truck. Zooming in on the ends of the dipsticks, you can see the middle one's marked best. They all have their different way of showing the range where the oil should be. It should be between the add and full marks on the middle one, then there's min/maxes on the top, and then the bottom one just has a grid on it.

Next, reinsert the dipstick all the way into the tube. Ella pushes the stick right down in, fully. Make sure it's all the way down there. Very important: if you don't make sure that the dipstick is pushed all the way back in, then you will get a lower reading and it will spur you to add more oil. Running the engine with extra oil can be dangerous. It can lead to damage to your catalytic converter, as well as damage to other internal parts. Put the dipstick in all the way.

This is where we get to the good stuff. Now remove the dipstick and check the oil level. Ella pulls the dipstick back out, with a little trouble. She has her rag in hand. Uh-oh, she makes one crucial mistake. Tipping the dipstick back like this can actually cause a higher than actual reading, so you want to hold the dipstick to either level or actually tipped down slightly.

On our Jetta here, this actually has to be one of the worst dipsticks, but the oil level's right about at the max level. Here you can see on the GM truck on the front side, I put the oil level about there. Sometimes if you turn them over, it can be easier, and on the backside, you can see that the oil level stops right there between the third and fourth marks. You can see here on our older vehicle, it's a little hard to tell on the front side, but then if you flip it over, you'll be able to see that shiny mark where it ends. That's the level right there. Then after checking, you'll re-insert the dipstick again all the way.

Now if you need to, determine your oil grade and add if you're below the minimum. On our GM truck, it's pretty easy. The oil cap plainly says SAE5W30. The oil grade will also be published in your manual under the oil section. When you go to purchase oil, the oil is very plainly marked with the grade and viscosity.

As far as filling it, you need to find the oil fill cap. On most newer cars, they're pretty obvious. Here on the Jetta, and about to be circled in red, is the fill cap. On the GM truck, again, right there with the dipstick, the oil cap is front and center. Sometimes the caps can be a little hard to deal with as Ella finds out. Righty tighty, lefty loosey. This is my left. It doesn't hurt to bring in a pair of pliers if need be. Usually if you're below minimum, adding one quart of oil, which is one small bottle, usually does the trick. Pour the liquid in the funnel. As Ella so astutely points out, use a funnel to help you not spill. After you add the oil, obviously replace the fill cap and check your oil again and make sure that you are back within the acceptable level.

Thanks for tuning in. We hope this video helped you out. Next time you need parts for your car, please visit 1AAuto.com. Also, check out our other helpful how-to, as well as, diagnosis videos.