Checking your Oil

Ill do after the truck has been running about 5 minutes then I cut it off and check it

 

I always do a cold check. Or as cold as possible. This gives a better, IMO, read on oil level.

 

According to the Cirius/XM snake oil salesman that airs on Saturday and Sunday afternoons adding a half gallon of oil at a time can cause a truck to consume more oil than normal. He says you need to wait until it needs a full gallon.

 

Add/check it whenever the motor is off, it's Not rocket science.

 

dont if you check it while its on it give you a false reading

 

Dont forget to taste it, if it tastes burnt it needs changing !

Adam

( you probably should not try this without first getting special API / American Petroleum Institute training )

 

As long as truck is level and been shut down long enough for oil to run back into pan it's fine. The difference of 5 minutes or all night isn't gonna matter much, if it does you have serious drain issues internally. Oil temp effects it a little but not enough to matter. I wait to add till they are at the add mark. As long as the oil is within the safe mark oil pressure shouldn't be effected. The amount of oil pressure isn't as important as consistency. What I mean is your motor may have 50 psi at X condition. The motor built right after yours may have 40 at the same condition and be fine. If they loose more than 20 psi or so from first start idle to warm idle with fair outside temps I'll call it then you may have reason for concern. Loosing oil pressure in a pull doesn't sound good either

 

The proper time to check the oil level is when it is cold, you check the coolant, the engine oil, the PS fluid.
As the oil warms up it expands, 5 to 10 minutes is long enough if you need to check it when it is warm. Opening the hood, cools it down a lot quicker, if it is at the ADD mark, when hot/warm fill to the full mark.
You should keep a record of the fluid use every day, after an oil change the oil use should be very low as the oil gets dirty, the engine will use more, that is the maximum 1/2 life of the oil.
If you check the oil daily, when cold, I believe you should keep it at the 1/2 way mark, between add and full.
Just a thought!