I just completed a trip from Philadelphia to St. Augustine, Florida (900 miles) in my max. Before the trip i switched to Amsoil synthetic and i was worried about the oil on the trip...i stopped and checked it after the first 300 miles and it seemed like it was very high. I stopped about another 350 miles later and let the car cool down for about 1 hr. After this i checked the oil and the level was just at the the low mark. Why am i getting these varied readings? When is the best time to check the oil, whit the car at operating temp or cool? I know this may seem like a stupid question but i dont want to do any damage to the engine.

 

The best time to check your synthetic oil is after the engine has cooled overnight. That way all the oil has had a chance to flow back down to the oil pan. You are on the right track. Engines can deal with an low oil level, rather than a high oil level.
Check the level when the engine is cold. Day to day is what I do for mine!!

 

I thought I was the most **** person on the Board! Whats with the fixation on checking the oil. If the oil was changed, the drain plug put back in properly and the oil level checked afterwards, what is the problem?

I have never added one ounce of oil between oil changes in the 10.5 years I have owned my 95 SE because I haven't had to. Consequently I don't even check it.

Am I missing something? I am assuming the synthetic oil was addded when the vehicle was relatively cold rather than hot.

 

check it every hour on the hour

 

I thought it was 10 before the hour

 

from my understanding synthetic oil can sometimes get burned up more readily than dino

 

I that true? If so, just another reason why I will continue to run Castrol GTX 5W-30 dino.

 

Moreover, different cars burn at different rates. Both of my cars go through a quart or so of synthetic every oil change (7500 miles).

To answer OP, I agree to check in the morning, when it's cold and on a flat surface.

 

Some engines have been known to leak or burn oil.