Oil filling itself?

I can't find anyone else that is having this issue in a search. When I bought my car a few weeks ago, I got it used from a subaru dealership and they had just done an oil change before I bought it. I drove it home and around a few days, then after reading so much about our cars using oil, I got scared and checked mine. It was well overfull, up to the twist in the dipstick. I drained some out until the oil was right at the fill line. That was about a week and a half ago. I went out to check it this morning and the oil level was back up at the twist.

 

The only difference is that the car had been warmed up and let to cool for 15 minutes after I drained the oil and rechecked. Today, the car was completely cold before I check. That shouldn't make a difference in oil level, should it?

Were you on an incline ? maybe you scrapped some oil of the side of the dipstick tube when you pulled it out. Sometimes the dipstick is hard to read and you'll have double check. Learn how your dipstick reads and where it levels out on both sides.

 

No, the oil can't fill itself. Wish it did.

Not meaning to sound crass, but I know how to read a dipstick and the crack about the oil filling itself was a joke.

 

When I checked my oil both times, the car was parked on the level surface in front of my house. If it was off once, it would be off both times because it's parked in the same spot.

Oil temp does matter. There's even a hot full mark versus cold full mark.

^ Instead of waiting 10 minutes, I've found that taking off the oil cap also works.

No offense, but no you don't. Otherwise you wouldn't get the same reading after removing oil (unless the first check was with cold oil and the second was with hot, in which case you still don't understand fully how to check the oil).

 

Best way to check the oil on these cars consistently / reliably is this:

 

• park the car on a level surface and pop the hood
  
• pull the dip stick out a couple inches
  
• wait 10 minutes
  
• pull the dip stick and wipe it with a rag, reinsert
  
• pull the dip stick and wipe it with a rag again, reinsert
  
• pull the dip stick and check the level on both sides. the lower reading is the correct reading
  
• reinsert / remove the dip stick again to check that you get the same reading.
  

The above is assuming that you've been driving the car enough to completely warm the engine before checking the oil.

 

 

I have to wipe the stick at least twice each time or I get false readings. Sometimes I also have to rotate the dip stick 90* to get the reading to be clear. Just the way things are with the oil pan / dip stick design.

 

Talk about stealing my thunder...

 

OP your new to these cars. They are a PITA to get a true oil level reading.

 

I normally wait 8 hours and check mine after work.

 

I have also removed the o-ring on the top of the dip stick to help the vacuum or whatever release the oil back into the pan.

 

If you think this is hard, wait till you change the tranny fluid.

There's even a hot full mark versus cold full mark.

 

+1. A lot of people forget about that notch on the dipstick.

As barmanbean said, it's important to note that the oil level on the back if the dipstick might be different than the reading on the front. The reading on the front of the dipstick can be a lot different from the back too, not just a little. Also, I've had times where I've gotten two drastically different readings one after the other, read from the same side of the dipstick.

Here's something interesting I noticed recently... if you jam the dipstick in really quickly and pull it back out, the oil reading reads higher...

My specB refills itself with oil every 3,500 miles.

 

It also regenerates a new filter, and there's a breath mint waiting for me in the cup holder when it's done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh you bought one of those LGT magic spec's, wish I had one

Here's something interesting I noticed recently... if you jam the dipstick in really quickly and pull it back out, the oil reading reads higher...

 

just the tip...just to see how it feels.....

I had an old Crown Vic one time that had self-filling oil...

 

Learned that oil floats on top of coolant and my bottom end was submerged in foamy greenish gray goo... when the connecting rods decided to perforate the block.