Why check your oil? I mean, the garage changes it regularly during the service right? This way you don’t have to get your hands dirty by going under the bonnet, just leave it until service time right? Wrong! Checking your car's engine oil is one of the simplest and most important maintenance activities that needs to be done regularly. Here at Oakdene Autos we are regularly having customers come to us asking what is wrong with their engine… Why is it rattling badly or why is it making that awful noise? easy, NO OIL. People seem to think that they can go from service to service without checking the oil, considering that todays modern vehicles only need the oil changed approx every 10,000 miles that can be a whole year between services, this means that the oil is being checked once a year no wonder these people are having problems. Finding that you are low on oil either because your engine has burnt it or because you have a slight leak before it damages your engine can save you hundreds even thousands of pounds in some cases in repair costs. Running your engine without oil will cause the engine to seize solid, then you will wish that you had taken just that few minutes at the weekend to check your oil. The best time to check your engine's oil is when the engine is warm to the touch. To check the oil, locate the dipstick, most dipsticks will be labeled as "oil." Pull the dipstick out and wipe it with a rag. Replace the dipstick and pull it out again, this time look at the end of the dipstick that was in the engine. You want the oil level to be somewhere between the minimum and maximum marks (preferably nearer the maximum mark), if it's significantly below the line, you need to add some oil straight away and then go to the garage and ask them to look for a leak.


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