Checking the oil

[Crazylegs]

it doesnt matter who taught who what, nobodys dad or instructor are Honda.

while that may be ok for a landy and other military vehicles, for a DC5 (as clearly stated in the manual) it should be checked when warm.

so folks, the answer is to check the oil when warm.

It doesn't matter what car it is, I'd have thought it shouldn't be checked when warm otherwise it will give a false reading meaning you could end up topping up too much.

You can have your own opinion as will I and others but cars I believe should always be checked when cold. I'm on my 4th Honda now and every single one has been checked for oil when cold and I've not had a single problem with oil consumption on any.

 

[blueguy]

It doesn't matter what car it is, either way it shouldn't be checked when warm otherwise it will give a false reading otherwise you could end up topping up too much.

You can have your own opinion as will I and others but cars should always be checked when cold. I'm on my 4th Honda now and every single one has been checked for oil when cold and I've not had a single problem with oil consumption on any.

I'm not taking sides on either method but just wanted to clarify - if the oil is warm, there is possible expansion, therefore how would you end up topping up too much?

 

[Coldfuse]

I think its safe to say either method is fine. I have done it both ways, arguable hot oil is more viscous so will drain back down into the sump faster aswell.

 

[Crazylegs]

I'm not taking sides on either method but just wanted to clarify - if the oil is warm, there is possible expansion, therefore how would you end up topping up too much?

From my understanding, if the oil is hot (or warm) in this instance then it will show as too much oil. If you do a reading of the oil from cold then it gives a 'true' reading of the car's oil level, if that makes any sense.

I guess if the manual says to do it when warm then it must be right. In saying that my ex's old 1.2 Polo also stated that in the VW manual that it should be checked 15 minutes after the engine has stopped so warm not cold. It could be that engines these day are improved to make better use of oil consumption and therefore are more efficient, who knows.

I'm going to continue to check mine when cold though as it's what I've always done.

 

[qamvti]

It's the way I've always done it, it's what they taught us in the military with land rovers and other vehicles. Not one of them has ever gone bang on me either

When I had mine I checked mine cold also no problems at all and never drank oil like some DC5. The honda manual says alot that people dont do. For example change bolts when replacing parts.

 

[bennn]

I think its safe to say either method is fine. I have done it both ways, arguable hot oil is more viscous so will drain back down into the sump faster aswell.

If its cold it will all be in the sump anyway...unless you've started the car and turned it straight off?

 

[bennn]

I'm not taking sides on either method but just wanted to clarify - if the oil is warm, there is possible expansion, therefore how would you end up topping up too much?

You wouldn't top up too much (unless you hadn't given the oil a few minutes to drain back to the sump) From cold the level will read slightly lower than when warm.

In reality there is not much difference and it wouldn't hurt if you did put in an extra 500ml or so anyway.