So, we know you check your oil before every flight but...

How often do you check your vehicle's oil?

  • Daily, I'm as anal retentive with my vehicle as I am with my plane.

    Votes: 2 1.5%

  • At every fill-up. Not as anal retentive as my plane but close.

    Votes: 3 2.2%

  • Not quite every fill-up but fairly often.

    Votes: 22 16.1%

  • a couple of times between changes.

    Votes: 55 40.1%

  • Oil? What's oil?

    Votes: 30 21.9%

  • Other.

    Votes: 25 18.2%
  • Total voters
    137
  • Poll closed .
jesse said:
If those 217 hours had all been in one airplane you would have likely added oil many many times.

I've encountered one engine so far in all of my flying that can make it to a 50 hour oil change without needing to add oil.

The main reason we check oil in airplanes before every flight because most airplanes require you add oil at some point between changes. The other reason is that oil leaks develop pretty often and as have been mentioned the result can be catastrophic.

I lost several quarts of oil recently in a 15 minute flight.
Click to expand...

You're probably right about one airplane. While I fly mostly in one airplane, I'm not the only one flying it. And I'm sure others are adding oil.

It does bring up the story though. I took my dad along for a flight in an airplane I fly regularly but have not traveled in (so local flights only). The result is I'd never started it warm, just cold. We flew from Orlando Executive (KORL) down to Lake Wales (X07) - just because I'd never been there. I parked the plane, shut down and went inside to check out the jumping operations (which were really hopping. They kept a twin otter cycling as fast as they could shut down, load and start up again). So, maybe 15 minutes later, I went out, did an abbreviated pre-flight (including the oil check which was 4.5 quarts in a normally 6 quart engine). I thought, well it was right at 5 when we started, so OK. Cranked up and noticed that the oil pressure was below green, just slightly. Hmmm. Tried it at run-up RPMS. OKish. But lower than I was used to seeing it. So I shut down, added a quart of oil and restarted. Still a little low. Hmmm. I started the take off run and at full throttle, it was fine. So I watched it like a hawk all the way home. Nary problem.

After getting back, I texted the owner and asked about low pressure. He said when it's warm it does that. I'd never noticed because I never started it warm.

John
 
timwinters said:
...how often do you check the oil in your vehicle (one that's not ever given you a reason to suspect it's using oil).

I got to thinking about this the other day. I check the oil in my plane EVERY TIME I fly. Even if it's just an intermediate stop on a cross country flight to fill up.

But...

I only check the oil in my vehicles twice per oil change.

1. The first fill-up after the oil change to make sure they (or I) didn't screw up when changing the oil.

2. Right before I take it in for an oil change to make sure it didn't start using oil since last oil change.

That's it.

What do you do?
Click to expand...

When ever I fill up. I have nothing else to do while waiting the 15 mins for gas pump to finish. :mad2:
 
jsstevens said:
My daily driver has a real, honest-to-goodness analog oil pressure gauge. I check the oil if (and it hasn't happened but once in 3 years) that gauge drops any.
Click to expand...

You mean when you let the engine idle?

A real oil pressure gauge has pressure proportional to RPM. It drops at idle normally.

There are some vehicles (some 80's and 90's Ford trucks, for instance) that have a doohickey that sure looks like a gauge, but it's really a switch and gives you no more information than an idiot light.

My oil gets checked at every fill-up or when there is indication of a problem (generally, they SMELL long before they make puddles, for the really common cam cover leaks).

To the guys who say they don't use oil, you're quite wrong. All engines with piston rings use some oil. If the volume doesn't go down, you're filling it with crap, generally combustion products (mostly water, perhaps some fuel from dry starts). It's very common for short drive vehicles to "use" quite a bit of oil from a long highway drive because it boils some of that stuff off.
 
Last edited:
MAKG1 said:
There are some vehicles (some 80's and 90's Ford trucks, for instance) that have a doohickey that sure looks like a gauge, but it's really a switch and gives you no more information than an idiot light.
Click to expand...

My 2001 F150 is that way. Looks like an analog gauge but in reality is just a switch. About 50,000 miles ago I started to get problems where it said I had no oil pressure. I replaced the switch and still had the problem.

I know it sounds terrible, but, I eventually just bypassed the oil pressure switch all together and hard wired it. 50,000 miles later if I do have low oil pressure it sure doesn't seem to matter :)
 
MAKG1 said:
You mean when you let the engine idle?

A real oil pressure gauge has pressure proportional to RPM. It drops at idle normally.

There are some vehicles (some 80's and 90's Ford trucks, for instance) that have a doohickey that sure looks like a gauge, but it's really a switch and gives you no more information than an idiot light.

My oil gets checked at every fill-up or when there is indication of a problem (generally, they SMELL long before they make puddles, for the really common cam cover leaks).

To the guys who say they don't use oil, you're quite wrong. All engines with piston rings use some oil. If the volume doesn't go down, you're filling it with crap, generally combustion products (mostly water, perhaps some fuel from dry starts). It's very common for short drive vehicles to "use" quite a bit of oil from a long highway drive because it boils some of that stuff off.
Click to expand...

No, it's a real analog gauge that varies with RPM and i know where it normally runs at my common commuting speeds. I watch for variance. It also has real analog oil temp gauge as well as a coolant temp gauge.

John
 
jesse said:
My 2001 F150 is that way. Looks like an analog gauge but in reality is just a switch. About 50,000 miles ago I started to get problems where it said I had no oil pressure. I replaced the switch and still had the problem.

I know it sounds terrible, but, I eventually just bypassed the oil pressure switch all together and hard wired it. 50,000 miles later if I do have low oil pressure it sure doesn't seem to matter :)
Click to expand...

Most of those problems end up being poor grounding or critters eating your wiring (field mice do that, for instance). They (and the oil passages leading to them) can also get plugged up with oil sludge.

Poor grounding at the engine block can lead to drivability and starting problems.

True low oil pressure on a vehicle with hydraulic lifters can give you an audible warning in the form of valve clatter. If that happens, you can leave the RPM where it is or lower it, but do not raise it once lowered, and pull over as fast as you can safely.
 
Last edited:
Rarely check mine. Neither vehicle have ever used much oil so I just keep an eye on the oil pressure. I check it or change it before setting off on a long road trip. I'll pull the dipstick if I happen to be under the hood for any reason. Of course, if they ever start using oil, I'll check it more often.
 
232,000 miles on it (it has been in the family since brand new) and have never checked the oil between changes. I change my own oil so I see how much comes out.

I'm actually quite surprised the oil isn't full of antifreeze from a head gasket because I drive it pretty hard.
 
Only check the oil before long trips. Between the F250 and the Rav4, neither has ever hinted at burning/leaking oil. The Rav is pushing 125K miles, and the Ford is upwards of 90K. Couldn't be happier with either vehicle. Bought the Ford for pulling horse trailers to my wife's endurance racing events, and the Toyota is for pulling me around on my exploring/decompression trips to nowhere. The Toyota will probably be doing just fine into the 200K+ miles. The truck gets rode hard and put up wet a lot, so it's useful life will probably be somewhere in the 120K range.
 
bnt83 said:
232,000 miles on it (it has been in the family since brand new) and have never checked the oil between changes. I change my own oil so I see how much comes out.

I'm actually quite surprised the oil isn't full of antifreeze from a head gasket because I drive it pretty hard.
Click to expand...

Head gaskets don't blow from combustion pressures.

They blow from cooling system failures and overheats.

Your car will work just fine if you drive it hard. It was designed for that.
 
Twin turbo Porsche Cayenne 1qt every 1000-1200mi or 1qt every 800mi if I'm heavy footed. It lets me know when it's thirsty.
 
I checked the oil this morning... but only because I added washer fluid and the yellow-handled dipstick caught my eye.
 
Rigged4Flight said:
The truck gets rode hard and put up wet a lot, so it's useful life will probably be somewhere in the 120K range.
Click to expand...

You might be surprised!

I have an 02 Chevy 1/2T with the little 4.8L. I ran it all across the country at 70...80 mph pulling a 16' trailer loaded to the gills. Up and over mountains, screaming along in 2nd gear...etc.

It's now pushing 200k miles and runs like a top. Burns no oil.

Oh, wait...

...you said a Ford!

Never mind.

:goofy:
 
Well, y'all inspired me to pull the dipstick on my car just now. I've had it a year as of yesterday, has 12,800 miles and appears to have used about 5% of a quart.

Granted, the engine probably has about 4,000 miles. Recommended oil change interval is 20,000 miles.
 
FormerHangie said:
My car is the plug in hybrid version of the Ford Fusion. About two thirds of the driving I do is battery only, so the engine doesn't get that many miles on it.
Click to expand...

Oh, excellent! Can you share your opinion of the car? In our new situation my wife's next car will likely be the Fusion Energi, Volt, or similar. She has a 7mi roundtrip commute every day and a plug in hybrid is perfect for that situation.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Oh, excellent! Can you share your opinion of the car? In our new situation my wife's next car will likely be the Fusion Energi, Volt, or similar. She has a 7mi roundtrip commute every day and a plug in hybrid is perfect for that situation.
Click to expand...

I have been very happy with the car. When I get home I will write up what you can expect from PHEV.
 
Like I said previously, I have the Ford Fusion PHEV, which they refer to at the "Energi". This car has the 2 liter Atkinson cycle gasoline engine, with the same electric CVT as does the hybrid mode.. What it adds to the hybrid versions is a larger battery pack and a charger. If you're not using climate control, the car will run about 22 in-town miles on the battery alone, after that you'll need the engine.

I do most of my local driving on the battery. Because all the torque is available from zero rpm, it's pretty snappy accelerating off the line up to about 35 mph. After that, the acceleration is less impressive, but it's more than enough to keep up with, or a little ahead of, traffic. If you need more than that, the engine is available to help. In a year of driving it, I think I've done that maybe five times, unless you're fairly aggressive, you'll stay on battery only until you run out, or choose to go to hybrid mode.

My round trip to and from work is about 28 miles, a little more than the battery range. Typically, I drive the first four or five miles on battery in the morning, then put the car in what Ford calls "EV Later" mode, which puts the car in hybrid mode. I'll stay in that for six or eight miles, depending on what I'm planning for the day. I then usually drive home on battery power alone.

If you have to drive in traffic, it's much more pleasant to do so in an electric, it's vibration free, and the takeup from a stop and transition to deceleration is much smoother than is a conventional car.

You can choose to set the car in three modes: automatic, where the car manages when it wants the engine to run, EV now, where the engine doesn't come on until the battery is depleted, and EV Later, where the car goes in hybrid mode and maintains the battery charge at the level it was when you chose EV Later mode. Me being me, I tend to fuss around with this. When my wife drives the car, she leaves it in automatic mode.

The climate control does affect the range. It takes a lot of energy to cool a sunbaked car or to heat a cold soaked car, and that affects the range. If the temperature is in the 30's or lower, the engine will come on as part of the heating of the cabin. A/C uses less energy than does heat. Also, if you're plugged in, you can set a departure time, and the car will bring the interior up to temperature for you.

When you're out of battery, the car goes in hybrid mode, I'm not sure if this is true of all hybrids, but I was surprised how little the engine runs in hybrid mode while driving in town. On the highway, the engine is on most of the time, typically only shutting off for deceleration or for downhills.

I like it a lot and would have a hard time going back to a conventional drivetrain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top