Could the design and placement of the engine oil filler be worse? I had to dump out half a quart from a new bottle of oil just to be able to pour some in without getting oil all over the place.

Are you guys carrying a funnel with you, or do you have another method of topping off the oil level?

Thanks.

 

I've never had the joy of doing this standing in a gas station. So no, I don't carry a funnel but I keep one in my garage...

Yeah, it's pretty inconvenient without a funnel.

 

I don't carry a funnel with me, but I do have one in my garage. I thought I'd need a longer one but the regular one I've used for years managed to work.

What sucks is their filter placement. Oil catches on the case and runs all over the bottom of the pan. No good meestah.

 

Why is your car burning up oil to get it low in the first place that's the real question

 

If you're at a gas station, a water bottle makes a good field expedient funnel. Dump it out, cut off the bottom and you're in business.

 

Yes it is a pita.

I just have a funnel at home and I check my oil at home.

 

awesome lmao

 

The same gas station that sells you the qt of oil; usually has funnels for sale, or even free paper funnels.

Heck I don't even bother checking the oil at the station, because I'd just check at home where I can take some action on it.

 

Are you pouring from quart bottles or 5 qt jugs?

Its practically impossible to cleanly pour from a 5qt jug without a funnel of some sort, but i was able to pour out of a quart bottle well enough.

 

My '09 Sport has been burning a quart every 5000 miles since day one. I'm now at over 110k and consumption is no worse: like clockwork, one quart every 5k. Dealership insists that anything less than a quart every 1k is "normal."

I add using the paper funnels that most gas stations provide. And I carry an adjustable wrench to loosen the filler cap.

 

yah, it is awkwardly placed for sure. i definitely use a funnel.
i only check oil level at home when the engine is cold. otherwise the oil has not dripped back into the pan to get an accurate reading.

 

Ditto here, except it's more like a quart every 7000 miles for Jadzia. What with changing oil when the MM tells you to, she does need a quart between changes. Extended service intervals mean that checking oil levels should be done routinely because it IS possible for the oil level to drop below the minimum between services.

 

I guess the point is why are you in a situation where you've bought a quart of oil and need to use it right then and now, but have no funnel.
If you have no funnel, just don't bother purchasing or the quart of oil unless you can buy both a quart and have funnel at the same time.
If you have a funnel at home, don't bother topping off until you get home, the car will be fine.

Dumping out half the quart of oil is both economically and environmentally irresponsible. Where exactly did you dump it? the trashbin?

Low on oil is not something that comes out of the blue; and is something you have a grace period to address. It's not like a flat tire where you must stop and fix your problem. If you drive 5miles on the flat, you now you have a destroyed rim.

(Having no oil is a different story, where you probably need to find out the root issue of why all your oil disappeared suddenly before even continuing)

 

Yeah, we cut the top off a used quart can and carry it with us as a funnel. The screw on cap works well to confine the oil rag.

 

Put me in the "funnel at home" crowd. It's not the world's most convenient oil fill, but it's not too bad.

In case you haven't been clued in yet, it's a lot easier to pour from the quart jugs "upside down", with the long spout part at the top side of the bottle rather than the lower side as it probably seems natural to do otherwise.

My first car ('84 Mazda 626, 2.0L engine) had the oil filter approximately directly across the firewall from the glove box; the only way to reach it was to stand at the driver's side fender, reach behind the engine, betwixt the air filter and the starter motor, and grope around blindly. Various frame members and stiffeners and such blocked access from underneath. By the time I owned the car, it had been through enough oil changes that the wire to the starter solenoid tended to work lose when reaching around/through it to change the oil, and had to be reseated about every other oil change for the starter to do its thing.

My second car ('96 Geo Prizm, 1.6L engine) was a tiny bit of an improvement; the filter was on the front of the engine, right next to the exhaust manifold. One could at least see it, but minor burns on one's knuckles were not improbable.

Somehow, the Fit's oil filter placement really doesn't seem very bad to me.

 

I check my oil in the morning at home when I think about it. My car has started using some oil in the last 10-15k miles recently (at over 100k now). I probably don't use but maybe half quart during the whole oil life.

 

I tried to google infor on it for you, to no avail. But the funnel itself is about maybe 3-4 inches long. It screws right onto the oil bottle, and has an adjustable flow at the other end so it won’t start pouring until you turn the lever for it to flow. It’s amazing. And I’m going out to work on my car shortly I will take a picture and send it to you. It has saved me a LOT of wasted oil!! I got it as a Christmas present one year a while back so I can’t even tell you where it was from. But I’m sure we can find it for you. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!

 

My earlier statement might have been a bit cranky. I have since gotten used to things (including doing my own valve adjustments on this model). I always use a long funnel when adding engine oil. Which means I do my top-offs at home.

 

Honestly, the best time to check your oil on a vehicle with a wet sump (majority of vehicles on the road) is first thing in the morning on level ground, with a stone cold engine.
Any other time will lead you to inaccuratly low readings.

The practice of checking it at fuel stations started many years ago and was useful at the time.
But as engines became more efficient and long lasting (less oil burning with age) the belief that checking it at a fuel stop was merely to make more money for the gas station.

 

I do that.

But I was thinking about topping off on a long (2,000 mi.) trip.