When the oil is clean, place the yellow tip against a paper towel and the oil will transfer to the towel, showing you how much is in there.

At the very least, as long as the stick is wet beyond the very tip, your engine is not dying of thirst for oil.

 

My car lost approx 1/2-3/4 of a quart before its first oil change @ 9100 miles. That is according to reading the stick.

 

I have found that if you hold the dip stick so the light reflects off the yellow part at the correct angle that you can see the wet oil. If you have been driving just before checking, just pull it out, wipe it off with clean towel, reinsert it, pull it out a second time and read it. I usually check mine in the mornings after the car has sat all night.

 

Thank you guys. I am surprised no one out there manufacture a more durable replacement with just metal with notches or holes on it. The demands (or complaints) seem like a profitable item.

 

Did my first oil change today at 5800 miles.

Question about oil consumption and the dip stick reading.

The 06 MCS owners manual says 5.1 Q of 5W/30 oil. Which is what I put in today (actually only 5, figuring that I'll top it off later). When I emptied the oil drain pan back into the empty bottles it only filled 4 quarts.

Now, I'm comfortable with some oil consumption, especially on a new engine and I haven't topped off the oil since I got the car (I do check it). What bothers me is that even with checking the dip stick, I didn't see that the oil was a quart low. Is the readout that insensitive to the oil level, or what I just not reading it closely enough?

BTW, I installed the fumoto valve and so far it looks great. I should be able to easily handle my next oil change.

Keep Motoring

 

Maybe the 5.1 quarts is total capacity. The amount you replace when you change oil is always less as some oil remains in the engine.