I just bought an older model 1997 Citroen Combi Automatik and took a look at the oil from the garage I bought it from. On one side the oil level was more then full, on the other side it was just barely showing on the end of the stick. We looked at that stick like 10 times. He said he has seen that before, but I have to take to the road and I am un certain if I should add even more oil.

Any thoughts?

I'm no expert but I was told over filling the oil level is even worse than under filling it.

Well in this case I only added a 1/2 liter, but I never knew what happened with over filling. Still would like to know the answer to my immediate question.
Thanks

When you say 2 sides, what do you mean exactly?

Did it look something like this?



Do you know the procedure of checking the dip stick level?

I have always checked my oil, take it out, clean it off, put it back in, take it out again and have a look. It looks like that, but on the other side of where the oil is, it is dry. So that's my confusion.

Were you parked on a hill?

Is this your first car?

Can't check oil, no idea if it's diesel or gas... And well, you bought a Citroen - and an automatic one at that!

Why are you so quick to discount what the mechanic tells you when you clearly have no idea yourself?

The hill would have to be vertical to be able to explain that result!

What happened is probably this.
When you push down the oil stick in the narrow oil stick pipe, the oil in there gets pressed up the stick and since it is thick it will go where there is most room and the stick may be located in one side of the pipe which leaves more space for the thick oil on one side of the stick than on the other......yeah?

Make sure that the engine is warmed up to normal running temperature before you shut if off. Let it rest for 5 minutes and try again.

Maybe you also need to unscrew the oil filling cap in order to equalize pressure in the crank case.

Maybe you should read the car hand book, there is a lot of sensible accurate advice in there!

To me it seems that you have almost no oil in the sump, and you are only looking at the oil on the dipstick tube, not the oil level in the sump.

The dip stick must have oil on all sides of the stick, and between the "full enough" and "need filling up" marks. As you have only a little bit of oil on all sides of the stick, you need to put about another liter in.

You can do a course on car maintenance at the Migros club school or the Volshochschule.

Slightly off-topic, but do you have an opinion on absolutely everything which gets posted on this forum Sbrinz ?

Are you cleaning off the dip-stick before measuring the oil? Remove it, clean it with a scotch towel or rag, and then measure it on a level surface (push it back in all the way and then take it out - gently).

If there are no hot-cold markings, then (I usually) make sure it's filled up to the correct level on cold (i.e. top off the oil on a cold engine). Worked for my Jag and my MG, so I'm sure your Citroen will remain happy.

Seeing oil on one side of the dip stick and not the other means you're not actually measuring the oil, but rather whatever's left in the dip-stick shaft. The oil is either too low (cold engine), or still in the crankcase working itself down into the sump (hot engine).

Sorry, but when I saw the words Dip Stick I immediately thought of Del Boy and Rodders!

You should make sure the vehicle is on a level surface before checking the oil level.
One side of the dipstick should have 2 dots I would imagine, 1 close to the tip and 1 a little higher up on one side of the stick.
The oil level should be between the 2 dots, closer to the dot located higher on the stick and not the tip of the stick.
The oil level on the other side does not matter.

DO NOT OVER FILL ANY VEHICLE WITH OIL!!! Overfilled or underfilled oil level in any vehicle is not good as it cause premature bearing failure.

When in doubt on checking the oil level, I would refer to the owners manual or you could always take it to the nearest garage.

Post a pic of the dipstick with or with out oil and that would help me or anyone on here to help solve your problem if you are still unsure.

Hope this helps!

My 1995 BMW 328 with 314,000 km uses very little oil between changes (12,000 km). I never need to top it up, this sounds very odd.

The ultimate oil checking device



Link

..... and just think of the fun you can have with it afterwards, doing a bit of DIY medical diagnosis.

Usually. If you cannot answer the OPs question, why feed him a load of nonsence. Give him the facts, and let's all go to bed - OK?

Do all your arguments end up as an orgy? I might start to disagree with you.

Too much information!

We are dealing with a person who don't know Otto engines (benzin/gas) from Diesel engines.

How should such person be able to identify the dip stick at all?

Having to much information is better than having none at all.

vehicles only have 1 or 2 dipsticks under the hood of the vehicle. On American vehicles most dipsticks are labeled oil and the handle is yellow. The trans dipstick handle is red and or labeled trans.

But, again like I said before when in doubt refer to the owners manual if available and or take to the nearest garage.

Just trying to help out the OP.