I was hoping to poll owners on their experience checking their oil levels. Does anyone find a large difference checking in the morning when the engine is completely cold versus after it is stopped for a few minutes after a good bit of driving (for example, checking when you are putting in gas)?

On Saturday morning I checked my engine cold, and it is a shade under full on the dip stick. After a 10 minute drive, at the gas station, after perhaps 3 minutes stopped, I checked again and it was almost a full 2 x's low on the dip stick!! Both times I checked on the "driver" side of the dip stick so I am sure I am not mis-reading it. I have had the car for a year and a half and have never noticed this before. The car has 14,000 miles and no longer burns much oil. I changed the oil approximately 500 miles ago, putting in the 5.1 quarts. Intermitent cold checks since this change a month ago always showed full on the dip stick. This was; however, the first time I used Mobil 1 synthetic oil after always using the dealership oil. Also, outside air temperature is not a factor as it has been 60-70 degrees consistently every time I have checked the oil.

QUESTIONS: Is this normal? Is it the Mobil 1? When is the optimum time to check the oil, I would imagine cold, after the oil all has had a chance to settle in the pan?

Thanks for your attention.

 

This "issue" seems to pop up from time to time. Checking the oil level in this car appears to be a bit of a challenge for some folks. The manual says to check the oil "HOT". The problem many people have with this method is that they are reading the dipstick in the "splash zone". Key to reading the oil level when hot is to immediately pull out the dipstick and leave it out for the 3-4 minutes BEFORE you check the oil. This allows the oil that normally sits around the tip of the stick to flow away.
I've checked the oil both HOT and COLD (like before the first start of the day). My hot reading is 1-1.5 "X's" below what I got when checked cold. This is normal as it can take an hour or more for the oil to get back down into the pan. In some diesel trucks, it can take many hours before you can get an accurate oil level reading. I don't bother checking the oil anymore when HOT unless I suspect something is amiss. A couple of "X's" different at the top of the hash marks is no big deal one way or the other, unless you're really anal retentive.
Checking the oil shouldn't have to be rocket science in this car. It's just a bit quirky, that's all.