Cars and Oil

[TheTigerUK]

I often watch the YouTube channel "The Car Care Nut" who is a ex Toyota AD mechanic and now has his own shop, he recommends every 5000 or 6 months whichever comes first for oil and filter change on Toyotas.

[Pitfitter]

Minimum to maximum on a dipstick is usually 1L, if 1L made it appear on the dipstick it wouldn’t be dry, damn low yes, all dependent on sump capacity from maybe down to 30% to 60% full, found many trade ins came low on oil but survived, no unusual noises should be ok, I wouldn’t trust Halfrauds to fill it with correct oil, Toyota should be ok, I hope. Good luck.

[poloman]

Thanks for all the top info - she is stuck at work (on call) so hasn't made it to Halfords so thats my job for tomorrow.

The engine was off when we checked - we'd driven it to the station which is about 5 minutes from home and noticed a rattling sound when accelerating, no lights on anywhere. Popped the bonnet and checked the oil with the engine off. Drove 2 minutes to the garage, swore profusely as the oil filler cap wouldn't come off so drove home, found some pliers and some rags to protect the plastic filler cap from the pliers and any overspill as we emptied the bottle. A couple of minutes later, something was on the dipstick so that'd be amazing if it was just below "low".

I'll watch that YouTube channel now - and give Toyota a call tomorrow too to be on the safe side.

[walkerwek1958]

If the car was serviced in November I wouldn’t expect it to be very low on oil in such a short space of time. Sensible way forward is to buy a 5 litre pack of the correct oil, top it up and monitor the level. Check for obvious leaks or drips on the driveway, there will be a simple answer to this conundrum. Possibly the right quantity of oil was never put in at the service?

OP needs to have a look under the car with a torch and see whether there’s anything that looks distinctly oily.

Took this thread as a prompt to check wifey’s Focus, sure enough it needed topping up.

[poloman]

I rang Toyota and they said it was fine - an old car with a decent mileage - they offered a consumption test - aka fill it with oil and come back in 1,000 miles.

walkerwek1958 - that's pretty much what I'm doing - got 5ltrs arriving soon and will be checking it regularly.

Wife is, despite assurances from Toyota, now looking at new cars :(

[hogthrob]

I rang Toyota and they said it was fine

Sounds a bit like "Yeah, they all do that, mate".

[Craig]

Many years ago a colleague collected his car from an independent garage after a service and discovered they had forgotten to put any oil in after draining it!

Ever since I always check the oil level myself before leaving the garage after a service. I do feel a bit silly doing this but drive away with peace of mind. I discovered once that my oil had actually been overfilled so was able get this quickly rectified.

I then check my oil level every 1000 miles to keep an eye on things.

My colleagues Vauxhall Calibre suffered no ill effects after a short drive and hopefully the op will find the same.

[Brian]

Sounds a bit like "Yeah, they all do that, mate".

This is exactly what the dealer said to me when I asked why my wife's toyata was burning a pint every thousand or so !!:-)

Her last two cars have been mazda 3s and evry time they have returned from a service they have only been filled to half way up the dipstick mark - a measured amount of oil as I understand it from the garage mechs


B