This post will teach you an important money-saving skill: how to take care of the oil in your car. I learned it recently and wanted to share it as part of a story that, unfortunately, didn’t have a happy ending for me. I debated whether to post this at all because of what happened afterward, but I’m not going to skip an important money-saving tip just because I have bad luck with cars.
And bad luck with cars I certainly have. My first car, a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country, lost its engine after just six months. Because it was really old, I replaced the car. The second car was the same model and just as old, but with 40,000 fewer kilometers. It worked well for 2.5 years, but the constant expensive repairs on an old car were adding up to almost the cost of a newer one. So I bought a newer used car: a 2012 Kia Soul with far fewer kilometers. It was smaller too, so more fuel-efficient and manageable now that my kids are older and my son has his own car. (On camping trips, for example, we can split things between us.)
My Kia was working fine for a few months and I was happy with it. Then one day the oil warning light flickered on and off. I figured it was a sensor glitch. It happened a few times.
A few days later the engine started making strange noises and the oil light turned solid red, like in the first image. I immediately called my mechanic to ask what to do and where to get oil, because I knew driving like that wasn’t good for the engine. He said any gas station would have the right oil. Fortunately there’s a station down the hill from my home, so I coasted there gently, barely using the gas, and kept the AC and other power draws off.
I bought the oil and then honestly wasn’t sure what to do. I asked a few people there if they knew how to add it, but they were clueless. Then a man in his 60s came over and showed me what to do.
First, you lift up the hood of your car and find the engine. It’s the big thing in the middle. Mine says GDI on it.
There will be a dipstick next to the engine (the yellow thing in my car) that you pull out to see the oil level. You need to let the engine cool off for ten minutes, because the oil will be moving around in the engine while it’s hot so it won’t give you an accurate reading of the oil level.
Take out the dipstick and wipe it clean with a rag, tissue, or wipe. You’ll see two markings that show the safe range—your oil should be between them. Not above the top mark and not below the bottom mark. On mine, the markers are two dots.
The oil level on mine was so low it was nearly non existant. Definitely below the lowest point.
So now what?
Now you add oil to the engine.
Unscrew the oil filler cap on top of the engine to access where the oil goes.
A funnel helps so you don’t spill. We didn’t have one, so the kind man who was helping me grabbed a large water bottle from the trash, cut off the end, wiped it dry, and used it as a makeshift funnel. It worked. The engine took about half the container of oil until it reached the full line. The light went off and I was able to drive home.
It could have ended well, except for my luck. The next day, after a round trip to the city, the engine started making strange noises. I turned around to head to my mechanic, but the car died on the side of the road. The engine needed to be replaced. So that top-up didn’t save it.
Still, it’s good to know how to add oil. Check your level about once a month and top up if needed, like I showed. In the US you can do this yourself cheaply or pay a quick-lube shop a bit more. Where I live, a single bottle of oil cost $40, and having a mechanic do it would be $120 or more, so it’s a convenient money-saving skill.
If your oil level keeps dropping, take the car to a mechanic to find the cause. You want to catch leaks or heavy consumption before the oil runs out and the engine is damaged, which is likely what happened to mine.
Oh well. I learned a skill. I had something to teach you. And now I have a new engine that works well. And hoping for no car trouble for a long while.
Do you take car of your oil in your car on your own or do you go to a place to get it done? How much does it cost you?
