First things first, oil in an engine is as critical as blood in the human body. Many vehicle's owners never check or even pay attention to the oil level in their vehicles' engine. Every engine requires a certain amount of oil for proper oiling of an engine's internal rotating and non-rotating parts, and too much oil is as bad as too little oil within the engine. Every auto manufacturer has this certain required amount in the owner's manual, and if you cannot find it, just call your local dealer, and ask speak to someone in the parts department, they will tell you, or the internet, but don't always trust it.
The next item is oil weight. Every engine requires a certain weight. Some people go to their local auto parts store and get whatever oil is on sale. This is very bad. The "weight" of engine oil is directly related to the oil's "viscosity". This just means it's thickness. For example... 5w-30 is a lighter weight than 10w-30 ( there are many other variations too ). Some engines with the wrong weight can either rev up to quickly, or rev slowly with an almost "sluggish" feeling. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the proper oil weight that your particular engine requires. Some engines are not designed for the fast revving, as some engines are not meant to rev "sluggishly". Too fast can blow oil seals and make internal friction (meaning too much heat too fast) of parts almost melt. This will kill an engine. As a side note, whenever you see a vehicle blowing a purple, blueish, or dark greyish smoke out of thier tailpipe, this means that the oil seals are letting oil pass into the combustion chamber, this in the automotive industry is known as "blow by". The seals are letting oil pass by because the owner either had too little oil (heat melted them), or too much oil (the oil had no where else to go but go up through the seals that are supposed to keep the oil down).
So now, let's check your oil level by checking the dipstick.
Note: park your vehicle on a flat surface, you will have an inaccurate reading if you do check it on a hill or slight slant, it doesn't matter what direction your cars nose is pointing.
Most dipstick's have a bright color painted on the handle, for example, my honda civic has an orange handle, all are found near where you would add oil into the engine. So have a clean rag handy, then with slow pressure pull the dipstick out of the engine. You may have to pull firmly initially because there are (usually 2) small O-ring's located on the top of the dipstick to work as a gasket / oil sealer, again, so that oil won't leak out of it. Once you have it loose, pull it out, and get the rag ready to clean distick off completely. Do not look at and or go by what the initial dipstick reading is, remember, when your engine is / was running, oil is splashing around inside the engine. Now, wipe the dipstick off nice and clean, then put it back in the engine hole you removed it from. Remember to firmly push it back in for the O-ring's to re-seat and or re-seal. Take it out again and see what your oil level is.
Now, on your dipstick there are 2 holes within the metal strip. With the handle in an upright position, the upper hole tells you where your oil level should be, the lower hole tells you that you need to add oil. If your reading is at the top hole, your good, if your anywhere between the holes, that means you need to add some oil, if your below the bottom hole, or don't see any oil anywhere on the dipstick, this means your engine is deperately low on oil. This is not good. If your oil level is above the top hole, this is just as bad. The appropriate level needs be towards the upper hole, but again, not above it.
From the above information, you now know how to check your oil and add oil of necessary. Oil should be checked periodically, like once every week if you drive far distances, like if you have a traveling job, or once every 2 weeks by local commuters. The reason for this is, is that you will be able to tell how much oil your engine is consuming (if at all). If you do check it every one to two weeks, and it's the same, keep it up, don't assume that just because you've checked it every week within the past month and it's been the same, and you think it's probably still the same, it may not be, gaskets and seals wear out, and even on new cars.
