On my '96 Mazda Millenia I need to read the engine oil level.
When the car is off, the oil level is between the two lines. But when the car is running, the oillevel is under the lowest line!

What should I do? Add oil or is my level good?

I know the Mazda has a oil level warning light, but seeing that some of the electronics are messed up, I think it might be better not to depend on it..

 

Never-ever-never check your oil when the engine is running. Said another way, your engine oil level is right where it should be.

 

Yeah, engine stopped from warm for a few minutes (after gassing up is good). The car should be on fairly level ground too. The next time you add oil, make a mental note of how far up the stick the level goes after adding 1/2 liter (or whatever) and waiting a couple of minutes for future reference. My '99 Protege 1.8L engine takes 2 liters of oil to go from the bottom mark to the top.
Don't whatever you do overfill an engine; it can cause major damage.
The other point is that that red warning is NOT OIL LEVEL. It is LOW OIL PRESSURE WARNING. It is a simple pressure switch; no electronics whatsoever, and if it comes on, you absolutely must stop immediately and either add oil, or get towed, failing which you will trash your engine in a matter of minutes.

 

Thanks, I forgot to mention, that the oil light does not show though!

@Shipo: I read there are cars that you have to check the oil level at a running engine (stationary). In my case I just started the car, and while the engine was running without pressing the gas pedal, pulled the little rod to read.
So it was low RPM,and the engine was warm like hand temperature.

But that said, thanks, I know my engine oil is good, and probably will take a while before refilling.

 

Hmmm, I've been wrenching on cars for over three decades, and I've turned more than one bolt on cars that date back to the 1920s, and yet I have never even once seen a car that required the engine to be running to get an accurate reading on the oil level.

Are you sure you're not confusing checking the transmission fluid for automatic transmissions? I ask because the vast majority of slushboxes require the engine to be running and the transmission to be in neutral to get an accurate reading.

 

I am not sure at all, in fact, we bought a car this sunday, and I'm just reading up, and repeating what people mentioned on another forum or thread. My interest in cars only started this Sunday. Before that I had some basic training and drivers licence about the pressure of tires; but that's where my limits of knowledge are.

The car they where referring to (on the forum claiming you should read engine oil when the engine is running) was a 911 Porsche.
Regardless, the post also said that the majority of vehicles needed to be measured with the engine off.

Interesting find about the transmission! I can not even find the pin to read the transmission oil level on my milly. I am not much of a mechanic.
Give me electric stuff and I'll fix it, but mechanics, and cars are not really my field, but someone's got to learn how to maintain the vehicle, no?

Especially now with the bad economy where mechanics try ripping off new customers; I feel the need to do most of the smaller things myself, and hopefully learn enough to at least be able to identify a problem before getting my car fixed and overrated on workinghours and parts.

If all carmechanics would be honest and trustworthy, I wouldn't mind paying for their services, but I have the impression a lot of them in Miami dade are quite corrupt. Some even selling deadly cars (where the steeringwheel was only mounted with one and a half screws of the four).
I speak of my latest buy, I couldn't believe it myself; why in the world would someone sell a car with only one screw mounted tight, and one loose, and 2 not even mounted but rolling around in the steering wheel!

Any case,I'm glad I saw it first (before I'd think of driving on the I-95 and note it there @ 70mph)!

Anyways, thanks for confirming that!
I'd love to know how to read the transmission oil too (at least where the pin is located)

 

I'm afraid I cannot help you there, I've never worked on a Millenia, and I'm a self-professed manual transmission bigot and in my life I've only owned a couple of cars (minivans actually) that have had slushboxes.

Do you have the Owner's Manual for your car? If so, you should be able to find instructions on how to check the level of the transmission fluid in the manual.

 

Very well said. This post helped me a lot on How yo determine engine oil level. Are you a car mechanic? lol anyways, thanks for this very helpful post.

 

A newbie in cars ProDigit? You just get your license or what? Sounds like it, if not, sorry. Was gonna say, keep asking questions about cars and keep turning those wrenchs by yourself or with another! That's how you'll learn!

 

Thanks, I indeed just got my license, and know very little of cars.
We now have some issues with one (or more) of the oxygen sensors, I'm taking it to a friend.
I used to hang out in a VW beetle garage of a friend a lot when I was a kid. I kind of snatched some good ideas there, but I far from know everything there is to know about those cars, let alone about a totally different car!

He was kind enough to suggest me what engine oil I need to put into the car, but because of the build, I think he skipped checking or refreshing the transmission oil.

I remember him saying (because we needed to stay in a budget),that he was not willing to take out the transmission to change the oil, because that would be a lot of work).

The car we have is near to dead, has +160kmiles on it when we bought it, and still was driving on the original gas filter.
I know very little of cars, I just wanted to know the basics to do them myself, like adding some more engine oil etc...

So far we've got no problems with the transmission, but I wonder if oil needs to be added there,or refreshed or not and after how many months?...

I wrote mazda for the usermanual, but they said I had to purchase that, and it costed quite an amount of money too!
I felt it was a shame they don't place those manuals as pdf files on their site for free!