You are playing with semantics here when you say “couldn’t, had, could”. The fact is the oil level dropped on the dipstick and by definition anything that is no longer full can be topped off. Whether or not you want to, could have, should have, etc. doesn’t change the fact that a top off can be done.I assure you I'm not defensive. Please note that I stated I never "had" to top off. I did not say that I "couldn't" top off. So yes, they "could" have been topped off but they did not "have" to be topped off. Do you understand now?
I’m sure most all of us here have families of our own.i'm here to read the fights. so far i'm not disappointed.
you all need girlfriends
Most OMs say don't add oil unless the level is at the "add" or "low" mark on the dipstick. So that would technically become the point of "have to" add oil to satisfy the OM.You are playing with semantics here when you say “couldn’t, had, could”. The fact is the oil level dropped on the dipstick and by definition anything that is no longer full can be topped off. Whether or not you want to, could have, should have, etc. doesn’t change the fact that a top off can be done.
Hey, no need to get defensive!I’m sure most all of us here have families of our own.
I'm married with two kids. Infer from that what you will.i'm here to read the fights. so far i'm not disappointed.
you all need girlfriends
Makes sense. I can tell you that I live in a hilly area and I definitely use the accelerator liberally. I'm sure some designs are more prone to those than others.If you are constantly coasting down long grades there is a lot of vacuum created in the cylinders which sucks oil up through the piston rings. If you constantly have your foot in the accelerator the PCV valve is wide open allowing oil mist into the intake manifold.
I didn't really see a question in your post. If you want to know age, mileage, and use it ranges from 1 year to 21 years, 11K miles to 287K miles, and from "grandma driving" to "wannabe rally racer". Most of these are fleet vehicles so they aren't treated fantastically.That's fine, but still doesn't reveal how far you you've taken the vehicles in question.
In my unscientific survey, there seem to be fewer complaints of non-abused, moderate-mileage Fords guzzling oil than some other brands.
That's interesting. I can tell you that I've gone all over the place with oil. Many brands, many types, different viscosities, conventional and boutique synthetic all in the same engines dnd have never found a correlation. The GM vehicles all leak from the rear main seal no matter what I do. One the 2015 Transit 250s with the 3.7 leaks and has had synthetic it's whole life.I try to top off at half a quart down personally. I feel like I've committed a mortal sin if I top off and it's over a full quart down.
As far as my vehicle history, I've only had issues with cars springing leaks when switching from conventional to synthetic. On my mother's first Taurus, car I did my first oil change on at 16 years old, I filled it from 60k to 130K with all synthetic of various brands and 3-4K oil changes, and it never went down more than maybe a quarter quart in that time. Conversely, her Five Hundred had dealer oil changes from 60-100k or so, didn't use oil between changes (likely using bulk conventional in 2011) and when I switched to Motorcraft semi-synthetic it started leaking. (Now doing awesome with consumption with Supertech conventional HM.) My old Galant, same story, 5w30 Supertech conventional, even with an oil pan gasket leak, never went down more than a quart between changes at 5-6K oil changes. Switched to a synthetic Rotella diesel oil for 1-2 oil changes, sprung a giant front main seal leak.
I'm not exactly saying never ever switch to synthetic, but it's more like if you've been consistent with your oil changes your chances of springing major leaks are a lot lower, imo. I used to think switching high mileage cars to synthetic springing leaks was some Boomer myth, but now my personal experience tells me otherwise unless I know the car's service history.
You don't "need" to top those off though. You can just let the oil drop and wait for the engine to explode...Am I missing something? I always assumed the dipstick was there to let you know when to add oil and check level. If it’s low it needs to be topped off. You don’t have to do that.
You don’t really have to do anything at all. I could crap my pants and walk through the mall like every day was a Black Friday sale, but I don’t.
But I get the point...he’s going 10,000 mile oil changes or more and the lowest he’s seen his oil level drop is to the “low” level on the dipstick. Now, let’s say it was bellow “low” and wasn’t registering anything, but he was right at the point where he was going to do an oil change and therefore didn’t “have to top off”. Does that count too? Yes, yes it does, because like I said, you could let your hair grow down to your grandmother‘s shoelace and you don’t have to get it cut. You just don’t.
As for me personally? I have two vehicles that don’t “need to be topped off/up”. One is a 2008 Honda CRV...I could go 6,000 miles and that thing doesn’t seem to really register any usage on that dipstick. The other is my 2016 Avalon, same thing. But I’ve had three cars/trucks that do like to get topped off. 2012 Mercedes ML350. Needs to be topped off at around 3,000 miles. 2007 Lexus Ls460 - needed nothing for top offs until it started reaching 120,000 miles or so, then just got worse and worse until I was topping off every 500 miles. And a 2018 Chevy Silverado needEd to be topped off with a 3/4’s a quart in 4,000-5,000 miles from day one. And I’ve seen many Silverados come in for their 6,000 mile oil changes with nothing registering on the dipstick at all (I’d say maybe 40% of them that I service).
First, I'm replying to what you said. You brought up semantics for some reason I'm not sure about. Second, "can", "have", and "need" are all different words used in English to mean different things. Replacing "have to" with "can" completely changes the meaning of a sentence. It's not semantics. These words are not interchangeable.You are playing with semantics here when you say “couldn’t, had, could”. The fact is the oil level dropped on the dipstick and by definition anything that is no longer full can be topped off. Whether or not you want to, could have, should have, etc. doesn’t change the fact that a top off can be done.
Thank you. This is the commonly accepted meaning when someone says "need to" or "have to" top off oil.Most OMs say don't add oil unless the level is at the "add" or "low" mark on the dipstick. So that would technically become the point of "have to" add oil to satisfy the OM.
They were never low. I said they were towards the bottom end but still well within the good range. That's not "low". Low is typically considered below the add mark (or safe operating range). Now, some people around here consider a 1mm drop in level to be "low" so, this is just my opinion.Very misleading title.
Eh, the oils low! I’ll just change it.
What didn't you understand? You replied and answered.You don't "need" to top those off though. You can just let the oil drop and wait for the engine to explode...
I'm sorry but I'm not understanding your point in the first half of your post.
What you and I consider low are 2 different things. To me, “towards the bottom” is low.They were never low. I said they were towards the bottom end but still well within the good range. That's not "low". Low is typically considered below the add mark (or safe operating range). Now, some people around here consider a 1mm drop in level to be "low" so, this is just my opinion.
I have also never decided to change oil because the oil level was below the full mark.