It seems like checking the oil in my car always amounts to a little educated guesswork. The oil is almost on full but not quite, its between the lines, almost at the top line, etc.. How about a digital dipstick that you put in and it tells you exactly how much oil you will need. Just put in the digital dipstick, take the reading, put the proper amount of oil in, take the dip stick out and wipe it clean, and put the original back into its place. Most of the plastic oil containers come with measuring levels on the side so this would be a snap.
-- bkornele, Feb 17 2004

The distributors don't want the added manufacturing expense of adding eye-droppers to the caps of their quart/liter flasks of motor oil.
-- jurist, Feb 18 2004


I was under the impression that several high range manufacturers were using digital readouts for this on the dashboard already... I may be wrong.
-- sven3012, Feb 18 2004


[sven] is right, but it would be good to have a real-time readout under the hood too.
-- SystemAdmin, Feb 18 2004


I think the point of having an oil reservoir is that you don't have to supply a precise quantity of oil to the engine - the lubrication and cooling system is designed to draw what it needs. I would suggest instead that the driver be warned when the reservoir level dropped too far. As far as I know, most dashboard oil indicators indicate insufficient oil pressure, which may be announced too late for the driver to react. A reservoir level indicator could be triggered earlier, avoiding oil pressure drops altogether.
-- Don Quixote, Feb 18 2004



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