Saw a poor 1.6l Gamma engine go to an early grave today, check your oil people!

I have had a few pretty smart people ask me why I check my oil. "Doesn't the car have a low oil light on it?" is their reasoning for not checking oil.

One of those people is a newer Hyundai owner.

My wife's low mileage Tuscon uses about half a quart between 3750 oil changes with 5w30 valvoline. It starts using oil right at 3k miles.

My higher mileage ford escape doesn't use a drop at 5k OCI's
 
I have had a few pretty smart people ask me why I check my oil. "Doesn't the car have a low oil light on it?" is their reasoning for not checking oil.

One of those people is a newer Hyundai owner.

My wife's low mileage Tuscon uses about half a quart between 3750 oil changes with 5w30 valvoline. It starts using oil right at 3k miles.

My higher mileage ford escape doesn't use a drop at 5k OCI's
At my high end manufacturing and development factory workplace, the people in the office would actually get MAD at me for checking my oil. As if I was somehow forcing them to check THEIR oil and I was questioning their reasoning not to!

- That's a new car! What are you checking the oil for?!
- You don't have to check oil, what are you doing!
- Will you shut that hood, it's a bad look.

My drive way at home is not flat, so I used to check the oil on Thursday late afternoon after work in the parking lot
before I left for home.

If some one has a hood up in the lot Ill ask if they need assistance - I don't harass them! Jeepers!

Must be the bone headed New Englander suburbanites
 
At my high end manufacturing and development factory workplace, the people in the office would actually get MAD at me for checking my oil. As if I was somehow forcing them to check THEIR oil and I was questioning their reasoning not to!

- That's a new car! What are you checking the oil for?!
- You don't have to check oil, what are you doing!
- Will you shut that hood, it's a bad look.

My drive way at home is not flat, so I used to check the oil on Thursday late afternoon after work in the parking lot
before I left for home.

If some one has a hood up in the lot Ill ask if they need assistance - I don't harass them! Jeepers!

Must be the bone headed New Englander suburbanites
That's the type of situation I'd likely tell them to mind their own **** business and look the other way if they don't like it!

Actually recall living at an apartment complex yrs ago in which a young guy asked if there was a problem as I had the hood up checking fluids, etc. Told him it's called PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE... try it some time!
 
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I have had a few pretty smart people ask me why I check my oil. "Doesn't the car have a low oil light on it?" is their reasoning for not checking oil.

One of those people is a newer Hyundai owner.

My wife's low mileage Tuscon uses about half a quart between 3750 oil changes with 5w30 valvoline. It starts using oil right at 3k miles.

My higher mileage ford escape doesn't use a drop at 5k OCI's
That's kind of the same thing as never checking blood pressure and just wait for a stroke to act as the idiot light, lmao!
 
At my high end manufacturing and development factory workplace, the people in the office would actually get MAD at me for checking my oil. As if I was somehow forcing them to check THEIR oil and I was questioning their reasoning not to!

- That's a new car! What are you checking the oil for?!
- You don't have to check oil, what are you doing!
- Will you shut that hood, it's a bad look.

My drive way at home is not flat, so I used to check the oil on Thursday late afternoon after work in the parking lot
before I left for home.

If some one has a hood up in the lot Ill ask if they need assistance - I don't harass them! Jeepers!

Must be the bone headed New Englander suburbanites
Same, I usually check my oil in work parking lot where it is flat. Guy leaving work stopped and asked if everything was ok, I said yep, just checking my oil level
 
With no side effects... I've been adding about an extra .5 to a full quart in my own and other people's cars for a very long time.

Also, it's great when you're doing UOA. No make up oil in the samples that way.
 
Of course everybody has a different train of thought, importance of preventive maintenance, etc. and I'm not bashing too much. I say that as I drive on Interstate 85/40 in the middle of this state quite often and can't begin to count how often I see cars disabled/abandoned on the shoulder with flat tires, bottomed out suspension, etc. Of course some things do happen quickly in transit, but I would bet most of those issues could be avoided with regular preventive maintenance. To each their own I suppose...
Some time ago, I posted that I was concerned about a noise and a subtle vibration I was getting from the Camry, and asked for some suggestions about what to look for. Someone on this board ragged on me for trying to find a "subtle" problem and added that he only fixes things when they break.
 
Actually recall living at an apartment complex yrs ago in which a young guy asked if there was a problem as I had the hood up checking fluids, etc. Told him it's called PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE... try it some time!
As someone who’s been the one to ask if everything is alright when noticing someone under the hood, we can’t read your mind to figure out what you’re doing and we’ve already established that it may not be as common place as we’d like for people to check their fluids.

A simple, “No, but thanks for asking” would suffice in this situation.
 
As someone who’s been the one to ask if everything is alright when noticing someone under the hood, we can’t read your mind to figure out what you’re doing and we’ve already established that it may not be as common place as we’d like for people to check their fluids.

A simple, “No, but thanks for asking” would suffice in this situation.
To each their own... I often tell people to not ask as they probably won't like what I have to say, lmao.
 
There is absolutely ZERO doubt in my mind that newer engines burn more oil. Look at any FB20, any K24 or J35 post-0w20 change. The Fiat 1.4. They all drink oil. Why? Fuel economy. Low tension piston rings, lighter and lighter weight oil, higher operating temperatures. It's inevitable.

My 250k Grand Cherokee, 4.7, known as an oil burner, goes through less than 1.5 quarts between oil changes. I drive it HARD. I have noticed that extended idle time seems to increase the oil burning, along with an increase in blue smoke from the exhaust. However, driven hard and driven daily she performs flawlessly.
 
Every vehicle burning oil on the road today initially came out of the factory not burning oil and at some point after that started burning oil. Some of these vehicles not for tens or hundreds of thousands of miles and so I still think the regular check is prudent.
Not necessarily true-my company '18 Transit 250 3.7 burned oil from DAY ONE! Usually 1 qt. In 2000-3000 miles, and the catalysts gave up at 105K. We also had a 3.7 Transit grenade because the driver never checked the oil-& Ford "Premium Care" didn't record his free oil change in Oasis-Ford DIDN'T WARRANTY THE ENGINE!! They bought a junkyard one for it, and continue to buy the worthless crap to this day...
 
My sister in law was driving her mother’s Honda Pilot and the oil light came in. She proceeded to continue driving it another 10 miles until she got home.

The engine was toast and the vehicle was scrapped. She angrily insisted that you no longer have to stop if the oil light comes on and it just means to check it sometime soon. She continued to fight on that point despite the evidence to the contrary.

Of course, it was her mom’s vehicle and it had been run out of oil. I used to do the maintenance for them but the MIL got re-married so it isn’t my responsibility anymore 😇
 
It's amazing from other forums how many people never check their oil. Worse yet, they get offended when it's suggested oil should be checked regularly. I've had numerous people "explain" to me how it shouldn't be required to check it so long as you change it every X miles. I'm old and curmudgeonly so that's when I usually reply that's the same answer all the stupid people give.
I change my oil every 5k. It's usually down 1/2 qt. Regardless, I check it once a month during the oci or everyday on a trip out of town
 
I used to be religous about checking oil level.
But both my Nissan Xterra with the 4.0 V6 and my Pathfinder with the 5.6 V8 do not seem to burn a drop of oil between changes.
The other week I took my pathfinder and drove 2000 miles in summertime round trip heat through the Mountains on Appalachian interstates and rarely dropped below 85 and some of it above 90, flirting with triple digits too ( I run H rated tires even though its an SUV not easy to find Hrated tires that are also AT rated)
It was well loaded on the return trip too ( I was closing out a storage unit in a state I used to live in)

Checked the oil, does not appear to have used any. or maybe... and I do mean maybe, a very tiny amount just on the edge of what I can detect. maybe a 16th of a quart... but I am not sure, could also be zero.
So when I check the oil every week and the reading is always the same, no matter how much or how hard I have driven, it takes away from my diligence...
Alternating between Valvoline synthetic high mileage oil in 10w-30 and Mobil1 0w-40 (I like the internals to be Exposed to different detergent packs) every 5000 miles.
Only exception was when I had the Xterra in germany and during COVID oil change places were closed for a bit and I crept up to 7600 miles on Valvoline synthetic high milage 10w-30, a fill I had gotten before I went to germany.
The german Nissan dealer put in Shell Helix 5w-40 and that was my fill until the vehicle returned back to the US
A far as AT tires, falken makes a V rated AT at least for the 2007 Acura MDX. 255,55 18
 
My sister in law was driving her mother’s Honda Pilot and the oil light came in. She proceeded to continue driving it another 10 miles until she got home.

The engine was toast and the vehicle was scrapped. She angrily insisted that you no longer have to stop if the oil light comes on and it just means to check it sometime soon. She continued to fight on that point despite the evidence to the contrary.

Of course, it was her mom’s vehicle and it had been run out of oil. I used to do the maintenance for them but the MIL got re-married so it isn’t my responsibility anymore 😇
Hey S-I-L, you're driving down the road and see a green light. What does it mean? Now you see a yellow light, what does it mean? Ok, good, now you see a red light, what does it mean? Stop, yes, good and the red oil light that came on, being red, means STOP you stupid twit. It's RED. RED LIGHTS MEAN STOP, not continue however you feel like. So you owe whatever this winds up costing.

Sorry, curmudgeon attack, imagined what I'd say to the culprit.
 
Hey S-I-L, you're driving down the road and see a green light. What does it mean? Now you see a yellow light, what does it mean? Ok, good, now you see a red light, what does it mean? Stop, yes, good and the red oil light that came on, being red, means STOP you stupid twit. It's RED. RED LIGHTS MEAN STOP, not continue however you feel like. So you owe whatever this winds up costing.

Sorry, curmudgeon attack, imagined what I'd say to the culprit.
Name calling and just being outright mean is uncalled for
 
Name calling and just being outright mean is uncalled for
Actually sometimes it is. Way too much coddling going on anymore. A big part of what is more and more wrong with society and the degeneration of same. Can't handle life outside the "safe zone" then don't ever leave said zone. One of the major differences between the greatest generation and our current loser generation(s).
 
Actually sometimes it is. Way too much coddling going on anymore. A big part of what is more and more wrong with society and the degeneration of same. Can't handle life outside the "safe zone" then don't ever leave said zone. One of the major differences between the greatest generation and our current loser generation(s).
If you say so. Some people don’t know all the ins and outs of a car and what all goes on. Maybe she thought it was like the check engine light. Just because it comes on doesn’t mean you have to immediately pull over
 
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