handydandy

the dip stick on the tsx is so hard to read and i cant tell where the oil comes up to on the stick...

im coming from an audi, and it was much easier b/c the metal was darker and it wasnt as smooth. it had little holes all over inbetween the too low and too high line mark on the stick.

so any advice on how to see the oil level on the dipstick?

ck123

uh......how is it hard to read...? the top circle indicates you have full oil and anything above that is extra. The buttom circle means you are down 1 quart.

Or are you doing it wrong? First you need to pull the stick out of the car and wipe it down with a tissue or cloth, then put it back in and read it.

EuRTSX

I do it a couple times to read it correctly.

acn684

and u shoudl do it when ur engine was warmed up, but cooled enough tnot to scaled you...

Still Water

Search is your friend. Guard against thinking to much. After wiping it dry, check again by looking at it on a slight angle to see what's wet with oil and what's not - done.


BTW - I was always taught to read it when the engine was cold or very close to it.

Un-Kut

the only time i get an accurate reading is if the car was sitting for a couple hours... any time before that, i get weird readings and the oil is ALL over the dipstick even after cleaning it off and re-reading the levels...

JTso

iTrader: (2)

It's because the hole where the dip stick goes is also the oil drain return of the cylinder head. It takes a while for the oil to drain back to the oil pan. If you take a measurement while the oil is still draining (slowly). You will end up seeing oil smear on the side of the dip stick messing up the reading.

Still Water

As JTso so correctly described above - For an accurate reading, check your oil when the engine is cold/cool and when removing & reinserting the dip stick be sure to "allow" it move on its own and don't force it. Turn and move slowing is the best course of action. You will find that it's not hard to read to correct oil level.

scheißterhöffer

Anyone ever experience this? I typically check my oil in the morning, car has sat 10+ hours, same spot in same garage, level, aside from fact that all garages I think are built to drain outward. I check it one day, maybe dipstick is at half. A week later I check it, and dipstick is at 3/4 mark. How is my oil level increasing when measured under similar/exact conditions? It's caused me to add too much oil before and just seems strange.

Still Water

Unless the Oil Fairy is visiting your car in the middle of the night, what you describe can't be happening. If you're only talking about a 1/4 or so on the stick, I would guess the maybe you're not always seating the stick all the way down. I've noticed a little bit of a notch or snap to pushing it all the way down. All other things being exactly the same what other possibility could it be?

scheißterhöffer

No, I'm consistently seating the dipstick all the way down. The only explanation I can come up with is some variability in the amount of oil retained in the filter.

Still Water

Unless someone has a better one that's as good an answer as any. Makes sense to me. Then you'll have to try a different brand/type of filter to address that variable. Some filters have a anti-siphon valve that would at least help oil the engine on cold starts. I don't know if the Honda OEM filters have them but I do know, from past posts here, that when asked & debated, oil filter choices is a hot and heavy topic. I'm no expert on the subject but you know what they say about opinions...

Do keep us posted.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

It's the oil filter anti-drainback valve letting the oil drain into the pan after a period of time. It's desirable to keep the oil in the filter after shutting down but most filters fail after a while. That's the same reason if you let the car sit for a while before removing the filter, the filter will come out dry and no mess.

Still Water

Then the moral of the story is "don't worry about a small difference on the stick rather change your filter more often?"




BTW - That's why I ran/run high quality Syn Oil in my last three cars. Cheaper than fixing the engine plus a little extra peace of mind.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

I should clarify that the oil filter does not fail to filter out dirt. It's the valve itself which doesn't retain the oil inside the filter long enough.

ChrismanTSX

Got my first oil change in two weeks. I'm switching to synthetic!

Still Water

Yes, I understood that. It's just that I think the failure of the one-way valve in and of itself is good cause to consider replacing the filter. This does bring up the question, dare I say, which is the best/better filter to use where the valve design is less pron to failure, etc.?

Still Water

How many miles do you have and what are your driving conditions?

ChrismanTSX

I just turned 7000km (4300 mi). I do a fair bit of mileage on the weekends, but I have very short trips most of the weeks (i live 5 miles from the office, and most of my clients are within a 10 mile radius).

I'm in Montreal, so it's getting fairly cold already. Average temp is around 40F, high 20's at night. Of course, that's balmy compared to what's coming in February!

Still Water

Sounds like you're ready for a switch to Syn oil. I myself am running Royal Purple but have used Mobil 1 for many years. Either way I think you'll be happy with the switch-over especially with the temp drop. If you haven't already done so, your research will show you some interesting temperature/operating range facts.

Enjoy your new ride and do take advantage of this sites knowlegde pool. It is really top notch.